Review: Montana 10" Boars Hair Brush - Does It Scratch?

[swanicyouth]

I've been meaning to put together this review for a while. In fact I already did put it together - and it got accidentally deleted from my IPhone.

The brush comes with an optional pole handle from AG for $10 additional. I'm telling you to skip this pole. It will break at the threads. The threads are plastic and hollow and snap off very easily.

This is the pole that's $10 additional:



I've broke two of them, even with the most delicate of handling. This is an example of how they break:



I've since found this next design locally, the thread part is much more beefier (and looks replaceable if it ever does break):



The other good thing about the local design, is the thread lock to expand the pole is much easier to use, as the thread lock is external:



The on AG sell "locks" by expanding a rubber stopper inside. It locks in an opposite thread direction as the pole threads into the brush. So, you are often in a fight to thread the pole into the brush and unlock the threads. During a car wash when your hands are wet this is more than annoying.

Or, you can just use a regular broom handle, this green one is from the grocery store. The threads are standard:



AG is now carrying a HD pole handle:



While this option looks much better, you can see the threads still look hollow. I don't know about this one. It looks exactly like one I've seen sold locally and it person it looks like an improvement, but is still recommend scouring the net for my "local" model or a regular broom handle pole. The handle of the local model looks like this (left):



Ok, enough of the poles, lets get onto the brush. Its available from AG. I believe its made by The Universal Brush Company (TUBC), as they sell many styles of high quality Boars Hair Brushes. That company has been around since the 1940s per their website. TUBC seems to use "hog's" and "boar's" hair interchangeably, so it seems they are the same.

However, I'm suggesting you buy the brush from AG, as their really is no difference in pricing with AG shipping and discount codes. But, if you want a style of boars hair brush AG doesn't carry TUBC is the place to go.

So, the contention is: do these brushes scratch? I've been using this brush for over a year (mostly every wash), and I can tell you IME the answer is no. In fact, it works better than a mitt because it retains zero dirt in the rinse bucket. These are MY conclusions.

The brush has a rubber strip liner to prevent it from causing "scuffs" on the paint if you accidentally bump it:



The "hair" is locked in sections (holes) in plastic:



The density of the "hair" is perfect for car washing:



Lets talk about the quality of the brush. If you peruse TUBC's website you will see a lot of boars hair brushes. Why am I convinced they are the supplier for AG?

TUBC brush (interestingly sold as an aviation brush):



AG brush:



They look exactly the same. It looks like they started using black plastic to mount the bristles in since those pictures were taken, as that's what mine is anyway.

In going right to the source (TUBC) and reading their website, you can see they have been at it since the end of WW II. That's a long time. They mention these brushes are often passed down from father to son. I believe it. The quality is excellent. First off, the brushes do not shed hair.

You may loose a single hair that gets stuck in a wiper or cowling during a wash, but that's only if the hair gets stuck and gets ripped out. The hairs do not shed or fall out - period. The quality is very high. The brush actually has a "flow through" design where you can use it with a hollow pole and a hose:



So, all this is no good if the brush scratches? Does it? My answer is no. I been using it over a year on my SUV (over 40 washes) and I've seen no evidence of it scratching. So, I wanted to do some "bench testing" so people interested in using the brush have more than my word to go on.

People always bash the CD test and I'm not quite sure why. Obviously, our cars aren't made out of CDs. But, a CD face, like clear coat paint, is an extremely scratch sensitive surface. In fact, I say a CD will scratch easier than the softest clear coats. So, I think there is some validity in the statement that if something doesn't scratch a CD face in a certain method of use, its UNLIKELY it will scratch clear coat paint.

Some testing. First, I got 3 CDs brand new from the Dollar Store:



Here is my set-up:



First, prior to this set-up, I started with a dry brush and a waterless wash which I suspected wouldn't scratch. I got the brush dry and sprayed about 4 sprays of OptiClean on it's face. Using medium pressure, I brushed the CD face with the same amount of pressure you would wash a car with. I did three sets of 5 passes.

What were the results? It scratched the CD! This is not how the brush is designed to be used (waterless wash), but I wanted to get a baseline:



If you look just to the right of the beam you can see some fine scratches. That was caused by the brush. The CD was new and was defect free prior.

On now to the real test. The soap I decided to use was Maxi Suds II. I choose this soap because its a medium slickness type of soap. I didn't want to use a super slick soap like Duragloss or Ultima, I just wanted to use an everyday soap.

I put 1 ounce of soap in a 2.5 gallon bucket and mixed it up with 2 gallons of water. There is some confusion over the dilution of this soap, maybe it has been reformulated. CG website is now saying its an ounce per five gallons. My bottle says one capful per ONE gallon (cap is one ounce).

I used a dilution that was sort of in between. The solution was mixed well with the brush and the brush was allowed to soak 30 minutes in the soap solution. I find this to really soften the bristles and its recommended by AG. This "soaking" step is critical in the proper use of any boars hair brush. I was a non believer that soaking made a difference until I tried it myself. The clear bottle contains DI water and the half milk jug contains regular water.

The process was to do 6 sets of five passes of the brush on the CD face. After 3 "sets" of five, the brush was re-dipped in the soap solution and the CD was dunked in clean regular water in the milk jug. The CD was handled by the edges at all times. The face was never touched. The routine was repeated.

After performing the six total sets, the CD was then rinsed with IPA, then DI water (face was never touched) and it was going to be left to dry. I did not want to dry the CD with any towels for fear of the towel introducing marring and cloud the results.

The CD showed zero scratches. You have to just trust me here, because its very hard to take a picture of a CD face and show no marring. Its much easier to catch scratches. Here is an after picture of the CD (the dots are water/IPA spots):



The dots and marks on the CD are water spots and IPA that dried, but you have to trust me - there was no marring. Apparently I didn't get all the regular water or soap off the CD and there were "water spots" left. Spraying it with IPA left more spots. But I didn't want to skew the test, so I left it. Live and learn.

That was just a one time test in perfect conditions. I wanted to repeat the test using the same CD, but with a real world wash mixture that could have some dirt in it. This time I used "left over" or spent car wash solution. This mix was used to wash my SUV and was left over. So it was "dirty" or used wash. Its Duragloss Car Wash an ounce per gallon.



This time I used the exact same CD and the same process. However, I was smart enough to blow dry the CD with a Metro Blaster (after) so I could get better "after" pictures, not clouded with water spots and IPA dots. After test two with "used" wash solution:



So my conclusion is the brush DOES NOT scratch if used properly (soaked for 20-30 minutes prior to use). Here is why I conclude this:

1. This CD has had 60 passes with the brush under medium pressure using 2 soaps. The CD has no marring or scratches. I'm guessing each time you wash your car, you make a maximum of 4 passes per area, so the test simulates about 15 washes.

2. I've been using the brush for over a year and I've seen no evidence of it scratching on my SUV.

Here are some paint pictures (bright sun and flashlight) on paint maintained by this brush:



(the black dot is a dead bug on the paint)







3. The Montana Boars Hair Wheel Brush, which is composed of stiffer hair (older boar) has not scratched my clear coat wheels.



I've also been using this brush for over a year. If Boars Hair was going to scratch anywhere, it would be here. Wheels are dirtier and brake dust is abrasive.

BMW wheels maintained with Montana Boars Hair Wheel Brush:



13 year old Nissan Wheels maintained with the same brush. These wheels are not perfect, but there is no marring on the faces. These wheels have probably been cleaned 75 times with the Boars Hair Wheel Brush:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqi390RO_g8

I'm pretty sure if these brushes scratched, I would have seen it by now.

I really like this brush for a couple reasons:

1. On an extendable pole, it works great to clean the roofs and glass of SUVs. You can clean the whole roof from one spot.

2. Off the pole, its the perfect size to use as a handheld unit for cleaning large panels. Its just seems much faster than a mitt. I work in a snake pattern from the top down holding the brush like this:



I'm at the point now where I just use this brush to clean my whole SUV (minus the wheels and running boards - I use the Montana Boars Hair Wheel Brush there). It feels good in your hands (no pole) and gives you a lot of control.

3. The brush seems to pick up the perfect amount of suds and solution from the wash bucket. Not too much and not to little. Since its easy to shake out, your soap bucket doesn't get diluted with a ton of rinse water.

4. The brush rinses 100% clean. You don't need to use multiple mitts to wash upper and lower portions of the car. The boars hair retains no dirt at all. You can clean the dirtiest portion, and give it a blast with a hose before placing it in your rinse bucket (so you don't contaminate the rinse water) and your good to go. Any extra dirt blasts out with a hose when cleaning extra dirty areas, like under the bumper, and you won't contaminate your rinse water. Even when using multiple mitts, dirt eventually ends up I'm your rinse water.

Dirt doesn't seems to get "stuck" in the brush like a mitt and continue to drag across the paint. The brush agitates the dirt and emulsified it in the soap solution so it can be hosed off the paint. Your rinse bucket (2BM) seems to stay much cleaner longer. You likely could even skip a rinse bucket and just blast it off with a hose after each panel.

5. The brush easily conforms to the surface you are working on an easily gets into cracks and body seams where mitts can't go. Areas like where the bumpers meet the body and the cracks where the doors open are easily cleaned.

6. Unlike a mitt, there is no maintenance or washing of the brush involved. Since it doesn't hold onto dirt, you can just rinse it with a hose and let it dry.

7. It works perfectly and fits perfectly in a 5 gallon bucket. It almost seems like a grit guard was meant to work with a brush like this. The bristles seem to just work better with a grit guard than a mitt when "scrubbing" dirt off in your rinse bucket:





Unlike a mitt, you don't have to bend your hand flat against the grit guard to agitate the bristles clean. You just press downwards and twist.

8. The brush ain't cheap. Its $70 for the brush with no pole. If you wait until AG has a 20% off sale and spend enough to get free shipping, you can get it for $56. I believe that is what I did. However, I can easily see this brush lasting a life time. The quality is high, and it shows no signs of falling apart over a year later. It just feels like your using a quality tool when you use it and I like that.

Thanks for reading, I hoped I've swayed someone out there with a large vehicle to give this brush a try, as you can work better and faster, and use it on all types of surfaces.

[Evan.J]

Swanic Killer review! You pulled out all the stop on this one. Nice job. Those do look very durable and paint safe might have too look into it should I need a change of pace from my MF mitt. Thanks

[NewNickel]

Great review. I wish you had posted this early yesterday afternoon.

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

Excellent work on the review.

[steamshooter]

Great review! Methodical and honest. You gave the brush every opportunity to scratch and tried to make it so. I think a lot of folks dismiss it out of hand because it because it's a brush. I've been eyeing this brush for some time. My Suburban has a lot of real estate up top (everywhere for that matter) and a brush like this could be the ticket.
Thanks for the review.

[SonOfOC]

Fantastic review! Really drives home the point to follow procedures.

[swanicyouth]

Great review! Methodical and honest. You gave the brush every opportunity to scratch and tried to make it so. I think a lot of folks dismiss it out of hand because it because it's a brush. I've been eyeing this brush for some time. My Suburban has a lot of real estate up top (everywhere for that matter) and a brush like this could be the ticket.
Thanks for the review.

For a Suburban its the way to go. Just get a good pole (or a broom handle) and remember to soak it. The brush works to get in all the cracks and body cladding an SUV can have. I love using it "by hand" with no pole. It cleans the wiper area and gets into all the nooks and crannies no problem.

I set up my Werner Work Platform towards the front left corner of my SUV. Then I put my 2 buckets on a dolly next to it. Because the brush is on the pole, your able to dip and rinse the brush without getting down from the platform. I'd have to move the platform all over and get up and down 10 times if I was using a mitt. It also makes cleaning all the glass and convertible tops a breeze.

I think the brush gets a bad rap for 2 reasons:

1. People don't let it soak

2. People confuse it with cheaper nylon brushes.

However, these same people have no problem using BH brushes on expensive painted clear coat wheels without scratching.

I'm pretty hardcore with this stuff. If this thing showed the slightest scratching I wouldn't be using it. I have many wash mitts including BMW Sheepskin, Griots Wash pad, AG Sheepskin, AG Chenille Noodle Mitts, even the Junkman Auto Zone green noodle mitt, and a new Wookies Fist:



If the brush scratched, I just wouldn't be using it.

[ArkayoDeetayo]

Swan, first off great review

I was always skeptical about using brushes on paint, especially soft ones, but someone as OCD as you are (that is not an insult btw), and you trust this tool, I might have to just spend $60 and try it...since you say its great quality and last a life time...I replace my wash mitt like every 2 months or so, at $10 each, its about the same price for a years worth (but the brush is going to last longer than a year I hope)...but even though it seems high quality, it just seems a bit expensive to pay $60 for a high quality broom head...you know the thing I sweep my floor with

[Bill1234]

I did a review here, It definitely came in handy as we washed a firetruck

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ir-review.html

[poweraid]

nice review ! I've been using a boars hair brush for a while now . I agree with your findings . let it soak , supplied handle is junk , makes easy work to get on top of truck and suvs . I use it to wash whole vehicle at times .