How to machine scrub with a rotary polisher - Tires - Vinyl Tops - Non-skid - Anything - DA Carpet Brush

[Mike Phillips]

How to machine scrub with a rotary polisher - Tires - Vinyl Tops - Non-skid - Anything - DA Carpet Brush



The Cordless FLEX PE14 with a Heavy Duty DA Carpet Brush - Long Bristle - The only way to scrub!







In the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point,




I think of shared enough how-to articles and reviews showing a rotary buffer being used to machine scrub just about anything and everything that a common question I get now days is,


Where can I get that brush?


And what they are talking about is the brush I show on the FLEX Cordless PE14 when I'm machine scrubbing. So to same be typing time and help show others the way, here the info you need to get into machine scrubbing using a rotary polisher.



The back of this brush is approximately 4 7/8" in diameter. So you want what is sold as a 5" rotary buffer backing plate.




This is a Lake Country 4 3/4" backing plate - it measures in at approximately 4 5/8th - just a tick under 4 3/4". This is kind of the norm for backing plates, they usually run a tick smaller than the advertised size. I'll explain why below.





It's easier to center and align a backing plate to a brush or a buffing pad if the diameter of the backing plate is smaller than the diameter of the thing you want to attach it to BECAUSE you can see to "center" it. If the diameter of the backing plate is LARGER than the the back of the thing you want to attach it to you CANNOT see how to position it so that it's centers. This means you would be guessing and this leads to wasting time.







Here's a tip....
The attachment strength of the velcro LOOP on the back of the brush to the Velcro HOOKS on most backing plates I've used is STRONG. That's a good thing as the brush won't go flying off. BUT - it can be difficult to remove the brush. I recommend purchasing a backing plate and make it your DEDICATED backing plate just for your brush so you won't be removing it often.

When you do go to remove it, find something with a think-like blade, I use a Griot's Garage wrench but a Butter Knife would work, and slice into the area between the backing plate hooks and the velcro loops to separate the brush from the backing plate and not only will it be easier to remove the brush from the backing plate - it will also prevent you from pulling the velcro loop backing material off the hard plastic back of the brush.





Here's polisher, brush and backing plate





Brush centered onto the backing plate....




Backing plate spun onto the spindle of the rotary polisher. You are now ready to machine scrub!








And just to note, you can use this brush on any rotary polisher BUT if you're working around water of any sort - for common sense safety reasons I would highly recommend investing in a cordless tool.


Also the brush I show and use is the brush with the 1.5" long bristles. There is also a brush with 1" bristles. It works but the longer bristles offer more flexibility when scrubbing and from experience, this works better than the shorter bristle brush.


On Autogeek.com


The Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush features deep 1.5-inch nylon bristles and it is the length of these bristles that lets them conform to curved surfaces like tire sidewalls better than the short bristle brush.

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles



This is a good match for either the long or short bristle brush but any brand where the diameter is smaller than 5" should work just fine.

Rotary 4 ¾ inch Flexible Backing Plate



FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher

The FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher has a 1400 watt motor with a no-load speed range of 150 - 1,450 rpm. When powered by the 5 amp battery pack, the FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher can use a cutting wool pad at full power for 30-35 minutes – the perfect amount of time to polish a couple panels. The average charge time from dead to fully charged is approximately 40 minutes – and you can have a back-up battery on hand to keep going while the other battery is still charging!



If you need more aggressive scrubbing action and the surface you're scrubbing is FLAT then the short bristle brush is a good option.

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Short Bristles

[Mike Phillips]

Here's a few pictures and articles showing machine scrubbing with a rotary polisher and this brush.

I'll continue to add examples of machine scrubbing related projects come my way. In no particular order,



Review: Machine applying RaggTopp Vinyl Cleaner and Protectant - 1967 Camaro Convertible







Review: P&S XPRESS Interior Cleaner and Shape Up Dressing - 1963 Plymouth Fury Muscle Car!





How to machine scrub tires using the Cordless FLEX PE14





Mickey Thompson ET Drag Slicks - Tire Coating Class - Mobile Tech Expo








How would you clean these? -The Rubber on Running Boards