Brush for washing truck

Anyone have any experiences with a boat type brush to was the truck with? Scratching? Swirl marks?

 

brushes will pretty much inevitably scratch your truck. but to be fair....over time, even microfibers can scratch it slightly.
i personally wouldn't use brushes on the paint aside from detail brushes for around emblems and all. i'm 5'-8" and was still washing by hand even when i had my truck lifted with large tires. even with the sequoia, it's still by hand with a wash mitt and 3' step ladder.

 

+1 on not using brushes at all on the paint.

 

This is the answer. I use a Microfiber Madness Incredipole on the roof, tonneau cover, and windshield, but that’s it. I use it on the roof first to avoid anything being transferred from other places to the paint.
You can use a brush if you want to, but it’s absolutely going to wreck your paint.

 

I can't imagine a single time where a boat style brush would be a good idea.

 

thanks for the input. Might just use the brush for the tonneau cover and wheels. Keep the microfiber mit for the paint.

 

Yeah I use a brush on my cover because it tends to hold dirt and grime and get pretty nasty (It was a cheap Amazon cover). For tires, I use an old sponge. Paint, always the least abrasive. Paint is like your skin. Yeah it protects the metal from rust but if you abuse it or use something abrasive on it, you can damage it pretty easy.

I'm also not a huge detailer on my truck. Just gotta keep her shining every once in a while.

 

I've seen a "brand ambassador" use a very soft one in a demo and I was surprised there was no scratching. Problem is over time the brush will trap dirt which turns it into an abrasive brush no matter how soft it originally was to begin with. Personally I would avoid it.

 

Griots Garage offers a boars hair wash brush.

I have used the Griots garage boars hair wash brush and Griots wash bucket which has a grate at the bottom to keep the grit away from getting back on the brush. Key things is to wash from the top down and rinse the brush frequently. Also use a good body soap to help with the lubrication of the soap on the vehicles surface.

 

If you use a good wax often, then I can't see not using a brush for the hard to reach areas. The paint is protected under layers of wax. Bought a few from Amazon and they haven't done a good job or were simply kinda small. Bought my most recent and seemingly durable one at of all places Harbor Freight. Wasn't planning the purchase, but it seems really decent so far.
Ladders, along with chainsaws, hedge trimmers, etc. are something ER doctors stay away from and for good reason. Especially when you start adding water to the mix. Hell, years ago even my own Uncle stopped by for a visit. Two days later he fell off my ladder on my driveway while washing his 1991 Jeep Cherokee. Several broken ribs, a punctured lung and weeks in my house! The problem is you can easily apply lateral force to the ladder when washing without realizing it and it falls over. Not fun, happened to me with a three step ladder putting away Christmas decorations in a closet with ten foot ceiling. I landed on top of the ladder standing up, but broke my foot with a Jones fracture. Not very good because due to low blood flow in that part of the foot, healing is a very slow process. Do what you want, but don't say you weren't warned!

 

Automotive paint care is quite the rabbit hole, although trucks usually don’t get the attention.
To reduce scratching use a quality lambs wool mitt and multi-bucket method and grit guards. There’s a few uses for brushes - engine bay and wheels and tires. Animal hair brushes are usually for fabric convertible tops.
Need to select the correct soap for the wax/sealer you’re using. Vehicle shampoos are usually mild enough to not strip your wax.
If you want to feel what’s really on your paint, put your hand in a zip lock bag and feel the paint through that. Then get the clay out…

 

As a professional detailer here in Colorado, we get all sorts of muck on our vehicles in the winter and it's equally the same in the summer with acidic bug guts, industrial fallout etc. What I tell all my clients and this is a general rule of thumb is LUBRICITY is key to not scratching your vehicles finish the next best thing is to NEVER touch your paint- ever-! Do you ever wonder why all car shows have signs "do not touch" everywhere!? Well that's because they may be onto something!

Toyota's clear coat is generally very soft which is good and bad. Bad because it can be scratched easily- Good because those scratches can be removed fairly easy. I have a ton of clients that want to wash their cars and I caution them repeatedly because most people do not know how to wash their cars. Most think takin them to a car wash tunnel is "car care" and if you need to do that I get it but be sure that car wash is 100% touchless! Now back to LUBRICITY! If you want to wash your truck do so with lots of high quality PH neutral soap. For starters- start at the top and move your way down to the bottom where all the grit is kicked up by your wheels. Use different buckets for different parts of the vehicle. Example: never use the same bucket/mitts you're usin for wheels as you are for the rest of the vehicle.

 

I usually use a foam cannon on my pressure washer, that and the no touch bay at the car wash

 

I use one bucket with ph neutral soap and throw in four microfibre wash mitts. Once used that mitt doesn't go back in the clean bucket.