Must Have Wheel Cleaning Brushes that make cleaning wheels fast and easy

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Mike Phillips

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Must Have Wheel Cleaning Brushes that make cleaning wheels fast and easy


I wash a lot of wheels and tires. I'm lazy by nature but OCD at the same time. (how does that work?). I ALWAYS wash wheels and tires first and then wash the car. Besides avoiding water spots and the fact that the order you wash a car is relative. When it comes to any job, I've always practiced tackling the hardest aspect of the job first. This is another reason I wash wheels and tires first. Washing body panels on a car is pretty easy and straightforward, but when you wash wheels and tires you have to sit your butt on the ground and w-o-r-k. That's 2 reasons I knock out the wheels and tires first.

At all my detailing classes I also focus on EXTREME CAR WASHING. Yeah I know, kind of dramatic huh? But in my opinion and experinec,e THE most important aspect for most detail jobs STARTS with getting the car SURGICALLY CLEAN. Every other step gets easier and your results are better if you first start with an incredibly clean car.

Wheel and Tire Brushes

When it comes to getting your wheels and tires clean, how fast you can do it and how WELL you can do it always comes down to your TOOLS. If you have crappy brushes it's going to take you longer, you're not going to do a very good job so you get crappy results. What I teach in my classes and what I practice is to invest in great car washing tools. You'll get the job done better - faster. And then you can move on to the next steps.



Here' what I use...



Wheel and Tire Brush Bucket

If you ever join the IDA - one of the questions on the Skill Validation tests is how many buckets does it take to do a proper car wash and the answer is 3 buckets. The third bucket being your Wheel & Tire Bucket. There you go, I just gave you an answer for the test.

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Some soap for the brushes - helps to clean the wheels better and also helps to clean the brushes when your done.


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Start by putting your DRY brushes in the bucket.

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Speed Master Wheel Brush

The Speed Master Wheel Brush makes getting the barrels and backs of the spokes clean fast and easy. The only way to do a better job would be to remove the wheels so for most people, this brush is a must-have tool.


To get your car's wheels clean - start with the Speed Master Wheel Brush and clean the wheel barrels.

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Next, bend the flexible vinyl coated shaft to make a U-shape

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Now clean the back of the wheel spokes...

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Removing stubborn brake dust and road film in hard to reach areas

The Speed Master Wheel Detailing Brush works great to get into tight areas around the brake calibers to agitate and remove stubborn brake dust AND ROAD FILM.

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IF you don't know what Road Film is and where it comes from, read my article here, the pictures tell the story.


Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film




More action shots of the Speed Master Wheel Brush....


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Then if you're the OCD type of person that needs the back of the spokes clean, (no one will ever see them but what the heck), then bend the brush to get the back of the spokes.

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Get your here,

Speed Master Wheel Brush


:)
 
More...



Speed Master 3 Piece Wheel Detail Kit

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Speed Master 3 Piece Wheel Detail Kit includes 3 different sized tools:

  1. - 19 inch Speed Master Wheel Detail Tool – 3 inch diameter.
  2. - 13 inch Speed Master Wheel Detail Tool – 2 inch diameter head.
  3. - 9 inch Speed Master Wheel Detail Tool – 1 inch diameter head.


Then start scrubbing the barrels with a side-to-side and back-n-forth action....

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Next work the smaller brushes in and out of tight areas between spokes to remove built-up road grime and brake dust.

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Get yours here,

Speed Master 3 Piece Wheel Detail Kit



:)
 
Continued...


Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush


The perfect wheel cleaning brush
This is my favorite wheel cleaning brush. Why? Because the bristle are perfect for effective cleaning. They are stout enough to agitate the wheel cleaner but still flexible enough to bend and flex so the ends of the bristles can get into intricate areas. At the same time they won't scratch so they're safe for any finish.

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Not only are the bristles the perfect combination of not to soft or not to stiff but the ends are flagged so they thousands of tips can agitate wheel cleaner in tight cracks, crevices and other wheel designs.

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After you use the Wheel Woolies black wheel brush one time you'll agree they are the perfect wheel cleaning brush. I use them for cosmetic engine detailing for the same reasons I like them for wheel cleaning.

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Makes cleaning any type of wheel fast and efficient....




The most awesome wheel face brush...
I teach a lot of classes and one of the things I remind people of is out of all the "things" you do to your car... washing is the most common and most repeated thing you do. So it only makes sense to have GREAT car washing tools and products to make a job I really don't like doing as fast as possible while keeping my results professional quality consistently. Make sense?

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Not too soft not too stiff - the perfect balance...

The bristles on the Boar's Hair Wheel Face brush work so well because the bristles are the perfect balance of medium stiffness, that is not too hard and not so limp they are useless.


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Get yours here,

Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush



:)
 
Continued...


Famous Detailing Brush



Big cleaning from a tiny brush

If you consider yourself a tick on the OCD side, then you probably already own this brush. If you don't? Then get one. You'll never wash your car without one again and you'll find hundreds of other uses for this brush that will make cleaning and detailing your car faster and easier.

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The bristles are made from pig hair. and the ends are feathers or flagged which means they are split to create double and triple the number of bristles agitating the surface when you're cleaning.

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IMPORTANT

BE CAREFUL WHEN CLEANING AROUND RUBBER AIR VALVE STEMS

As rubber valve stems age the rubber breaks down, cracks and deteriorates. If you BUMP them with a brush you can break them off and now you have a FLAT TIRE.


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Get yours here, in fact, get 2 - brushes do wear out you know....


Famous Detailing Brush



:)
 
Continued....



Autogeek Knee N’ Back Pad


The Autogeek Knee N' Back cushion is also great for sitting on while sitting on the ground in front of wheels and tires.

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Besides being a LOT more comfortable than concrete it also keeps your pants from getting wet when there's rinse water around the car.




Get yours here,

Autogeek Knee N’ Back Pad



:)
 
Continued....


Tire brushes

There's a million ways to skin a cat. (sorry PETA - just an old saying, I like cats).

My preference for effectiveness and safety is to use a cordless tool with a brush attached and let the MACHINE do the work.



Machines always outperform puny humans

Sure you can scrub tires by hand, I do it, but my preference is to machine scrub. Below are some examples. The best option in my opinion and experience is the brush on the Cordless FLEX PE14, after that the Cordless Mighty Mini with an Aqua Cyclo Brush. After that the low profile brush by hand.



How to machine scrub tires using the Cordless FLEX PE14

The art of photography....
Holding the camera in one hand while squeezing the spray with the other hand and timing the exact moment to get this type of "action shot".

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Yeah buddy....

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Have to admit, normally I would hold the FLEX with both hands but in this moment the other hand was manning the camera.

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Get yours here,


Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Short Bristles

FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher

TUF SHINE Tire Cleaner 22 ounce

SONAX Wheel Cleaner Full Effect








Review: Machine Tire Scrubber by Mike Phillips - NO SHOCK HAZARD WHILE WASHING YOUR CAR!


Recently we brought in a cordless spot repair polisher and I was asked to test it out. I charged the battery and the affixed a couple different types of buffing pads, placed it against a body panel turned it on a just as expected, the little hand held drill looking tool spun the pad against the paint. I sent in my feedback that the tool did in deed work to buff paint but what where I think it really shines, (no pun intended), is as shock-proof machine tire scrubber.


What am I talking about?

I'm talking about machine scrubbing your tires instead of hand scrubbing and I'm talking about using this little handheld cordless polisher as a machine tire scrubber. You see, this tool unlike a drill uses an attatchment design that uses a 5/16" fine thread spindle not a universal adjustable chuck like most drills.

Guess what?

The Cyclo brushes have a 5/16" fine thread spindle. This means they will thread onto this cordless polisher and turn it into a cordless machine scrubber.


Check it out...


Here's an old 2-door Chevy with some period correct tires....

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Here's the Mighty Mini Cordless Polisher with a Cyclo Aqua Upholstery Brush

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Picture kind of does the talking...

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Works great to machine scrub plastic trim and cladding....

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Get yours here,

Mighty Mini Cordless Polisher aka Machine Tire Scrubber

2 Pack Cyclo Polisher Aqua Soft Carpet Brush






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Tire cleaning by Hand

Did you now there's a SCIENCE to the bristles of brushes? You bet there is. I'd say it's hard to find anyone that can verbalize the reasons for different types and sizes let alone someone that can type it out. When it comes to scrubbing tires you don't want to use a brush with long bristles.

Why?

Because using your hand, arm and shoulder muscles to scrub a vertical surface a LOT as in over and over again, taxes your muscles and then you simply don't do a very good job of actually getting the tires sidewalls clean. What works better for the tire and for the human is a brush that uses SHORT STIFF BRISTLES like the hand-held brush you see in the picture below. What works even better is to machine scrub your tires.

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Step 1: Spray a liberal amount of tire cleaner to the tire.

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Step 2: Scrub tires thoroughly to agitate the tire cleaner to loosen and remove tire blooming, road film and oxidation.

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Note the brown, mud like color in the tire foam? This is the blooming, road film and oxidation coming off the tire.

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Step 3: Rinse thoroughly...

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In this close-up from the above picture, you can see the wave of brown ick blasting off the tire sidewall...

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Repeat process

If you really want your tires clean, for example to apply a tire dressing or a tire coating, then repeat the tire cleaning process until you see a white colored tire cleaner foam on the sidewall. This is the visual indicator that the tire cleaner is completely clean.

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Here you can see the tire cleaner foam is now white after scrubbing... this is the sign the tires are clean.

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Get yours here,


TUF SHINE Tire Brush


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:)
 
Okay all done....


Thread is now "open"


Hope this helps anyone looking for the best tools to make getting their wheels and tires clean.

Cleaning wheels and tires is a pain in the butt - but great tools make the job fast and easy.


:_
 
.
Removing stubborn brake dust and road film in hard to reach areas
The Speed Master Wheel Detailing Brush works great to get into tight areas around the brake calibers to agitate and remove stubborn brake dust AND ROAD FILM.

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...
:)

Also works great to fling all that stubborn brake dust and ROAD FILM (and wheel cleaner/soap) all over yourself and surrounding area. :laughing: Bought the set of the speed master brushes and just can’t love them for that reason.

Been meaning to pick up a set of the Wheel Woolies as it seems like they’d do just as good of a job without the fling.

I do love the short handle boars hair brush for cleaning wheel faces though!
 
And yes, even MORE!


What comes next after washing wheels and tires?


Washing and drying the rest of the car!



And just like cleaning wheels and tires - you NEED and WANT great tools to make this aspect of getting your car clean fast and easy and just as important maximizing your efficiency AND doing it all safely.


Must Have Microfiber! At least my opinion :)

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:)
 
So the short bristled DA brush is recommended for tires more-so than the long bristled brush?
 
So the short bristled DA brush is recommended for tires more-so than the long bristled brush?


When I first started using the cordless PE14 and these brushes I started out using the short bristle brush. I'm now using the long bristle brush - the longer bristles do seem to work better.

I couldn't find any pictures of me using the long bristle brush this way - I'm sure I have some, just wrote this article on-the-fly....

My class in Auburn will be using this set-up first thing Saturday morning. I'll get some pictures.


:)
 
Wow! I feel like I’ve just cleaned & scrubbed a set of wheels & tyres. :buffing:

What an EPIC write up Mike! It’s hard to read that & not want to break out the wheel bucket & brushes & find some wheels to do. Like most things - a quality brush is going to perform better every time.

I had seen your set up with the Mighty Mini before but I searched for it a couple of times & couldn’t find a thread about it & for the life of me, couldn’t find the picture I had seen either. So it is a Cyclo Brush! Excellent! I have a Mighty Mini (not called that here) & a bunch of Cyclo Brushes (a shop favourite for me - https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/107880-hard-working-tool.html?highlight= ) I’m going to put this combo together on Monday. A much safer option than having a cord around near water like I do now. :xyxthumbs:

Brilliant thread Mike, thank you. :props:


Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:
 
Wow! I feel like I’ve just cleaned & scrubbed a set of wheels & tyres. :buffing:

What an EPIC write up Mike!

Thanks Aaryn....


I had seen your set up with the Mighty Mini before but I searched for it a couple of times & couldn’t find a thread about it & for the life of me, couldn’t find the picture I had seen either. So it is a Cyclo Brush! Excellent! I have a Mighty Mini (not called that here) & a bunch of Cyclo Brushes (a shop favourite for me - https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/107880-hard-working-tool.html?highlight= )


I’m going to put this combo together on Monday. A much safer option than having a cord around near water like I do now.


Yeah.... I've been shocked before so when we brought the Mighty Mini in to the AG store the first thing I though of was not spot buffing paint but machine scrubbing tires without getting shocked!


:)
 
When I first started using the cordless PE14 and these brushes I started out using the short bristle brush. I'm now using the long bristle brush - the longer bristles do seem to work better.

I couldn't find any pictures of me using the long bristle brush this way - I'm sure I have some, just wrote this article on-the-fly....

My class in Auburn will be using this set-up first thing Saturday morning. I'll get some pictures.


:)

Perfect, I look forward to the pics of the long bristle brush in action... but based on your advice alone, I would already have led down that path. Will be ordering a long bristle head soon.
 
Perfect, I look forward to the pics of the long bristle brush in action... but based on your advice alone, I would already have led down that path.

Will be ordering a long bristle head soon.


I didn't get a very good close-up of the bristles flexing around the shape of the sidewall, but here's from the Auburn class


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Click here to view the original image of 1024x768px.
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Click here to view the original image of 1024x768px.
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Might be a few more pictures here,

Here’s the power of teamwork and BLACKFIRE One Step!



OR here,


Short 1" bristle brush


10 cars detailed in 2 days! Texas Roadshow Detailing Class!


Here's Todd machine scrubbing the tires using the Cordless FLEX PE14 -

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Roberto came all the way to Texas from Puerto Rico to take this class!

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Long 1.5" Bristle Brush


Roberto came all the way to Texas from Puerto Rico to take this class!

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I have a class this Saturday, I'll try to take more pictures of more people using this new technique to get tire clean.


:)
 
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