NON-Review of EZ Motorcycle Detail Brush

A

Accumulator

Well-known member
I recently ordered a pair of EZ Motorcycle Detail Brushes from TOL, based on the positive opinions of other Autopians. They arrived yesterday and I checked them out this morning.



This is a *NON*-review because there's no way I'm gonna touch any of MY wheels/undercarriages/whatever with those things! And I'm not gonna risk marring my wheels just to have some "real" test results. Not even the winter wheels of my worst beater car. The bristles are NOT remotely soft enough for that sort of application on any of *MY* vehicles. I've marred stuff with much softer materials than this. And no, *IMO*, the additional lubrication of a cleaning agent wouldn't be enough to make them safe. There's just NO way I can see those bristles NOT inducing at least MICROmarring to anything *painted* (as in clearcoated wheels, BTW) that they would touch. They might be fine for plated surfaces, but *I* don't have any application where they would be appropriate.



I'm gonna stick with boar's hair brushes and soft foam swabs. Interesting that people are often leery of using the boar's hair, it's so much softer that the EZ brush that it's actually silly to compare the two.



Perhaps the EZ brush has been changed since its introduction. Some of the people who like it are folks whose opinions I truly value. Or maybe this is just one of those "opinions vary" things. Or maybe I'm just very (too?) cautious about this sorta thing.



Anyhow, go ahead and try it, but *I* wouldn't test it on any wheels that you really care about. Those of you use them without problems- cool, more power to you. I'm sending mine back.
 
4DSC said:
Hmph, interesting. And the description and some of the word of mouth sounded so promising.... http://www.topoftheline.com/ezmotdetbrus.html



Would you say the bristles are kind of coarse and/or hard, like a lot of bottle brushes?
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Yeah, I was bummed that I didn't like it and yeah, that's how the bristles seemed TO ME. Not quite as bad as a regular bottle brush, but hard enough to worry *ME*.



I used to have a wheel brush sorta like that, only it had VERY soft flagging at the tips of the bristles. The EZ brush looked/felt like THAT one did, but *after the flagged tips wore off*. Once the flagging was gone, it was scratch-city, hence my unwillingness to try the EZ brush (or use any other plastic-bristle brush). Unfortunately, I can no longer find the one with the flagged tips. Irene at TOL said their supplier quit offering them. They were great as long as you replaced them too SOON instead of too LATE.
 
I have it as well.



The bristles are very frightening for a car's exterior :scared



I have used it on lawn care equipment with wonderful results.



The construction is very sound and sturdy and the bristles collapse and fit in the tightest possible spaces, yet retain their shape. The rod the bristles are attached to, bend and conform to many different angles.



However, I share nearly all of Accumulator's concerns. That's why I have used it on non-car related things. I have only used it on cars with really nasty door jambs in order to get behind the hinges and into the nooks and crannies for an initial scrubbing before going to a finer detail brush or cloth.



To me, for the money, it ain't worth it.



This would be a WONDERFUL product only if the bristles were much more delicate. It would be a great behind the wheel brush to name on use. You can still use it for this purpose, I'd just be careful.



Accumulator, if you detail your engine, this may be an excellent tool to get in those tight areas. Just a thought if you're not returning it.
 
Spilchy- I'm gonna send 'em back (grrr about the shipping, though). I thought about what I could use them on, but my engine compartments are all too nice to need that sort of scrubbing...thought about using it on the suspension, etc., but they're cleaner than that too, even this time of year. Just no need for bristles that stiff on any of my vehicles. Your lawn equipment application was good thinking, but I guess I'm not gonna be that meticulous with that stuff (though I do appreciate the beading on the snowblower :) ).



It *IS* too bad they don't offer a "better" version, say, with flagged bristles. I'd pay good money for that. I'd REALLY like it if someone figured out how to make such a brush with boar's hair bristles! I keep coming back to the boar's hair brushes..at least they don't scratch things up (as long as I use them right).
 
I am sad to hear of the bad experience with the EZ Detail brush and I understand your concerns also.



I am on the total opposite end of this spectrum for I use these brushes on almost all wheels I do, not the outside face, I have a flagged soft brush for that area, but I use them to clean the inside portion of the wheels, wheel wells, engines and the exhaust areas. Not to mention they work great on Harleys also:D



I use these brushes on Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, Maserati and BMW wheels daily and have never noticed any scratching of the wheel surface. I have attached a picture of a Porsche wheel that gets cleaned every week with an EZ Detail brush for the past 8 months or so.



I am sending, or have sent one of these brushes to JGV and perhaps we can get his opinion thrown in as well.



Take care,

Anthony
 
Anthony- As I said, I'm possibly being OVERLY cautious, these days I tend to err on the side of caution in a big way. I'll be interested in hearing how JGV finds them. The more opinions the better!



And everyone should note that I DID NOT ACTUALLY TRY IT, so I don't REALLY KNOW if it would mar or not. *YOU* have used it, so people should weigh your opinion accordingly.



A few of my cars have much tighter caliper/rotor/wheel clearance than the one you posted, and I sure would've liked something that made the back-side cleanups go faster...I just can't bring myself to risk the marring.



This is one of those where we can certainly agree to disagree with no hard feelings ;) :cool: :) If everyone ELSE who tries them likes them, well, I'll be OK with being the odd man out on this one.
 
I have one also and it is a great brush for cleaning the interior, hard-to-reach areas on my stock VW wheels. I haven't found it to leave any marring or scratches. And as Anthony mentioned, I also clean the face of the wheel with a flagged tipped wheel brush and use the EZ brush for interior parts only. I love the fact that it is flexible, and I haven't found any other "cone" type brushes that are. I guess that really sold me on trying it.



You may want to at least try one of them before passing judgement so quickly. If not, it is understandable. Good luck in finding the brush you are looking for.
 
Quote: NON-Review of EZ Motorcycle Detail Brush

~One man’s opinion /observations~

I’m in agreement with Scottwax; in fact the only time I’ve recommended this brush is to clean the ‘inside’ (rotors etc) I’ve never noticed undue scratching, but as you stated each to his own.



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*
 
Macgirl said:
I have one also and it is a great brush ..



You may want to at least try one of them before passing judgement so quickly. If not, it is understandable. Good luck in finding the brush you are looking for.
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Glad it's working out for you. Keep those REAL evaluations coming.



I don't doubt that it's just the right thing for some people and I'm hoping I don't sound TOO, uhm, precipitous or unreasonable about criticizing it without TRYING it. But if it DID mar something, I wouldn't know it until it had happened. Sorta like when we use the "CD test" to evaluate things even though auto paint is harder than a CD.



One thing I DO wonder about, and I truly don't mean to sound contentious, is: why would you use something on the BACK of the wheel that you wouldn't use on the FACE of the wheel? Most of my wheels are finished the same on both sides, and even those that aren't are close enough that I treat both parts the same.



The less-convenient methods I'm using now are safe enough that I just can't bring myself to accept the risk. Having recently spent many hours detailing the backs of 16 summer wheels with more yet to do (clay, PI-III MG, AIO, etc. and that's *after* they would've already looked like new to most people), I'm not gonna take any chances. I spend too much time on this stuff as it is ;)
 
One thing I DO wonder about, and I truly don't mean to sound contentious, is: why would you use something on the BACK of the wheel that you wouldn't use on the FACE of the wheel? Most of my wheels are finished the same on both sides, and even those that aren't are close enough that I treat both parts the same.
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Umm, how to explain.....for me it is the purpose of the brush that was priority. I was looking for something that was flexible so I could effectively clean the back and interior rim of my wheels without skinning my knuckles or removing the wheel. I'm just an enthusiast, I don't show my car, I just like having a shiney, well kept car; I just wanted a brush that could reach the places I couldn't. As for why I don't use it on the FACE of the wheel, well I simply don't need this type of brush to clean the face, it's designed to clean hard-to-reach spaces. BTW, I do remove my wheels twice a year to clean, polish and protect the entire wheel. Driving is harder on them than cleaning with this brush. ;)



Just my way....hope this helps explain your question.



I also would add that if I could find the perfect brush, probably boar's hair, cone shaped and flexible, I'd buy it. But alas, no such animal has been spotted.
 
Macgirl said:
Umm, how to explain.....for me it is the purpose of the brush that was priority. I was looking for something that was flexible so I could effectively clean the back and interior rim of my wheels without skinning my knuckles or removing the wheel. I'm just an enthusiast, I don't show my car, I just like having a shiney, well kept car; I just wanted a brush that could reach the places I couldn't. As for why I don't use it on the FACE of the wheel, well I simply don't need this type of brush to clean the face, it's designed to clean hard-to-reach spaces. BTW, I do remove my wheels twice a year to clean, polish and protect the entire wheel. Driving is harder on them than cleaning with this brush. ;)



Just my way....hope this helps explain your question.



I also would add that if I could find the perfect brush, probably boar's hair, cone shaped and flexible, I'd buy it. But alas, no such animal has been spotted.
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Same here ;) and as I can't buy that one here neither I can find a on-line shop that sells me one, I'm looking forward the one Anthony is sending me.

The worst thing for wheels is the daily build up of brake dust, tar and others. It's better to clean them inside-out weekly than let it build-up until the day we can remove the wheels.

And there's also the clients cars... :o
 
Macgirl said:
I also would add that if I could find the perfect brush, probably boar's hair, cone shaped and flexible, I'd buy it. But alas, no such animal has been spotted.
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What about this brush? Anyone try this one? I am thinking of buying one....



Wheel brush
 
I can relate accumulator, I havent found a brush I trust on my rims. I have used the CMA brush on friends cars with no bad results just not risking mine.... too easy to just spray some AZ
 
I certainly agree that cleaning with the EZ brush would be better than letting stuff build up :xyxthumbs



For my weekly back-side-of-wheel cleanings, I'm using some swabs from Griot's Garage and Griot's wheel cleaner (diluted a bit with water). On really wide wheels I'll tape it to a longer stick so I can reach in there better. Sure not a perfect solution, but I agree about not bashing up your knuckles or pulling wheels (at least not too often ;) ).



And, heh heh, nah, I don't show my cars either...I'm just sorta nutty about my daily drivers :o
 
Accumulator,



Thanks for info. Before you started this thread, I was really conflicted about whether or not I should buy this brush... I came close several times...only to chicken out at the last second. Not sure why I was so hesitant, because although it isn't the cheapest brush, it certainly isn't anything that should be considered a major expense.



When it comes to my wheels, I also like to err on the side of being overly cautious. I could never feel comfortable using *most* of the brushes I see for sale. This doesn't mean they're no good because obviously a lot of people here are using them successfully and with no adverse effect on their wheels. Even so, I can't get myself to use anything but the gentlest cleaning methods on my rims. For this reason, I never use any wheel cleaner and I only use a microfiber mitt and a bucket of car soap. This has served me well for quite some time now, but cleaning all the spokes on my wife's 330I with a MF mitt TRULY is a difficult task. It takes a lot of patience (and a lot of jammed fingers) to get them the way I want them. For this reason, I was contemplating the EZ Brush…but I’m glad I waited, because after reading your posts, I’m sure I would have felt the same about them that you do.



BTW, have you tried Griot’s Three Wheel Scrubber Brushes? This brush looks like it would work perfectly with the multiple-spoke type of rims my wife’s car has.
 
Intermezzo said:
Accumulator,..have you tried Griot’s Three Wheel Scrubber Brushes? This brush looks like it would work perfectly with the multiple-spoke type of rims my wife’s car has.
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Gee, a Griot's product I'm not familiar with!?! :confused: I'm familiar with their three-FINGER thingie, but not any "three wheel scrubber brush". I'll have to look into that (unless you have a link). Heh heh, they don't send me as many catalogs since I returned over $300 worth of stuff that disappointed me.



Nice to hear that someone is even MORE careful with their wheels than I am :bow



Aren't the BMW wheels sorta like the split-5-spokes on my WRX? Sorry, I'm not current on BMWs :o
 
The split spoke of the WRX wheel is a real pain....My fingers are almost too thick to get in there. For my wash, I get most of it with the wash mitt, but for the ends, I have to use my bare finger, or push a rag in there, because anything else is too thick. Bad design if you ask me......but I guess most auto makers don't design wheels with ease of cleaning in mind. :)
 
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