All About Brushes – Interior Use
by Rodney TatumParticularly with respect to interior detailing, we often discuss chemical cleaners but often dismiss the instruments that are touching the car.
I want to remind you that with respect to cleaning/detailing, the role of the brush is to agitate; lifting foreign substances (grime) from surfaces, often with the help of chemicals, to better allow you this remove grime often via rinse, suction, or microfiber towel. Each brush in your detailing arsenal is uniquely suited to accomplish this task. Not every brush is created equal. Many brushes listed here are moderately to dramatically different with respect to attributes and noticeably unique with respect to the practical benefits of each size and shape. This will not cover EVERY brush sold by Detailed Image, but I wanted to give you an outline and blueprint of the majority of brushes sold here. The focus here will be on interiors.
The greatest outlier of brushes may be the DI Brushes Pet Hair Removal Brush. The purpose of this pet hair brush should obviously be self explanatory. But how is this brush different than other detailing brushes with respect to making it more effective at pet hair removal?
The brush is constructed of rubber bristles. The brushing action of these rubber bristles creates an electrostatic effect. It essentially has a magnetic effect on hair.
But there are other brushes that stand out (differently), like the brush picture below.
The Atlasta SoftTip Brush (above & below) is a very unique tool. Like the pet hair brush, there is really not another brush that can effectively compare to it.
It is called a ‘SoftTip’ brush in title. Although by feeling the tip you can plausibly say that, effectively it is a very abrasive scrubbing brush for precision (spot cleaning/obscure) cleaning. The density, volume of tightly packed bristles, allows for you to really agitate carpet fibers. Its slender shape allows you to get to hard to reach areas. But unlike other slender brushes like the Detail Factory Ultra Soft Synthetic brushes , you are NOT going to be using it on delicate surfaces. In that respect, they are near opposites.
This brush is an option for carpet and floor mat scrubbing. The DI Brushes Scrub Brush is shown below.
I am not crazy about this brush. When it comes to detailing, the ergonomics of the DI Carpet Scrub Brush (for $12.99) is better all around. But when you factor in the price (below) the iron brush only $3.99 there is a positive to owning a couple of these brushes, especially for a couple of specific roles.
The 1st benefit to owning this brush for cheap is it can be used to clean other carpet and fabric brushes. The 2nd positive is to dry brush off floor mats, to either start a detail of the floor mats or for quick maintenance. Yes, I could use the DI Brushes Carpet Scrub Brush (my workhorse for carpets) as well for this role. I wanted to give the dirty work choir to the less expensive option.
The DI Brushes Carpet Scrub Brush (below) is my preferred carpet brush from the standpoint of stiffness and ergonomics.
A gentler version of this brush is the DI Brushes Horse Hair Upholstery Brush for fabric seats pictured below. This fabric brush has more gentle fibers. These are good for seat cleaning.
The Detail Factory Ultra Soft Boars Head Brush (below) is very gentle but not too gentle (unlike the synthetic one) for being able to lift and agitate stains. It is not too aggressive where it may damage sensitive areas. It is a safe all around spot and isolated area cleaning brush.
For remote and somewhat delicate areas it is good to have a couple of these brushes on hand for dedicated projects. Headliner stains are one area I would use this brush for.
The Detail Factory Ultra Soft Synthetic Detail Brush is a great gentle duster. It is good for brushing dust off of very sensitive areas like navigation screens. The one thing with these brushes are they can be too gentle to accomplish cleaning tasks.
The DI Brushes Upholstery Piping Brush
This a specialty (in shape) brush used to reach narrow areas like below.
These are not all, but many of the brushes I use on a regular basis for interior detailing. I hope this gives you an idea of your potential needs when you are shopping for detailing brushes.
You also can for great value and convenience purchase many of these brushes as a kit (Interior Brushes Kit). Click here to check out the entire bush category, which contains all of the brushes mentioned in this article, and more!
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