DiamondWash
Well-known member
Well I have to replace my rear brushes, the lower 5 sections on each rear brush and at $3900 for FoamBrite, has anybody had both products FoamBrite and Neoglide on their SoftGloss?
FoamBrite vs Neoglide
- Thread starter DiamondWash
- Start date
I may be totally wrong here, but I thought all the closed cell/foam materials were the same, just named differently by different manufacturers. I think Wesumat calls it Star Foam Ryko calls it Foam Brite - Kirikian calls it Neoglide there are others too, I believe.
Jimmy Buffett
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,022
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 36
The samples that came with my Astromatic catalog feel just the same as my Foambrite for what that is worth.
DiamondWash
Well-known member
What about hardware? I see in the pictures that it looks like a huge metal core with c-channels, is a pain to rebuild the hardware from Ryko cores to C-Channel?
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
These products are not the same and they are not retained the same way either. Foambrite is made in Italy specifically for Ryko. If you want to change to neoglide you will have to retro the entire brush and possibly even change gearboxes. I did an estimate for a customer once but I do not remember the specifics. I have yet to see a retro-ed Ryko with Neoglide but I have compared the two materials. The neoglide is a lighter material so it will require more arm pressure to clean a car. The neoglide is stronger and less forgiving than the foambrite. The foambrite was designed to stretch or break off if entangled to the point where it might damage a car. The neoglide requires ALOT of pressure to tear off. I am not sure how the neoglide is fastened to the shaft or how big of a section the brush comes in. The Foam Brite comes in rings less than 12" tall so specific sections can be replaced. This is nice because I notice different sites wear different parts of the brushes depending on what vehicles are being washed in that area. It looks like if you are going to convert you will need to commit and replace ALL the brushes. I would stick with the foambrite because the wash was designed for it and I think it will be more cost effective in the long run. I am pretty sure you would also lose your clutching ability at the mirrors if you went to neoglide.
Thank you,
Mark
Thank you,
Mark
Jimmy Buffett
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,022
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 36
I'd just call Kevin at Astromatic (www.carwashconsignment.com) if I was you.
DiamondWash
Well-known member
I am going to have to stay with Ryko FoamBrite but I wish Ryko would redesign the FoamBrite rings to something like a c-channel design it would help dramatically in replacement costs wouldn't you agree Mark? Ryko FoamBrite is not cheap!, carwash consignment gave me a quote for a total retro-kit for a SoftGloss very well priced maybe later down the road I might reconsider.
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
I do not think Ryko will ever use "C" channel for the foambrite. I think part of the reason it is expensive is because they fuse the foambrite into the high density foam core. One advantage of the foam core is if the brush did crush hard against the vehicle, it cannot scratch the surface like the aluminum "C" channel cores can.
I found this thread very interesting, but was hoping for a more objective analysis. Someone here recently hinted that if I sold a product I could not give an objective point of view. That may or may not be correct. So with all the operators out there, do any of you have actual real life comparisons between these two materials? Mr pro states that one is lighter than the other and stronger. How does this relate to wash quality? I really don't know but would like to. I would also like to know the cost difference between the two. Does the higher priced version clean better? Is the difference worth the extra money? Has there been any real life testing showing the properties of the two? Tires and all sorts of things are tested independently. This could be a great marketing opportunity for Ryko to factually demonstrate that its product is superior.
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
"I found this thread very interesting, but was hoping for a more objective analysis. Someone here recently hinted that if I sold a product I could not give an objective point of view. That may or may not be correct."
You do not know if you can give an objective point of view?
"So with all the operators out there, do any of you have actual real life comparisons between these two materials?"
I too would like to hear about owners experiences with these products.
"Mr pro states that one is lighter than the other and stronger."
(Me being objective).
"How does this relate to wash quality? I really don't know but would like to."
From what I have seen the knock off is lighter and requires more brush pressure to maintain surface contact, stronger means it is less forgiving and more likely to cause vehicle damage.
You do not know if you can give an objective point of view?
"So with all the operators out there, do any of you have actual real life comparisons between these two materials?"
I too would like to hear about owners experiences with these products.
"Mr pro states that one is lighter than the other and stronger."
(Me being objective).
"How does this relate to wash quality? I really don't know but would like to."
From what I have seen the knock off is lighter and requires more brush pressure to maintain surface contact, stronger means it is less forgiving and more likely to cause vehicle damage.
Last edited:
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
Continued
"I would also like to know the cost difference between the two. Does the higher priced version clean better? Is the difference worth the extra money?"
I am not sure of the price difference or how you would even make a comparison since you will have to change all of the brushes along with the shafts, mounting system and gear boxes to convert to the knockoff. With the foambrite you just replace the section that is worn. I do know that by converting to the knock off material you lose many functions of the wash itself. The kit eliminates the clutching ability of the machine and will be more likely to cause damage to rear wipers, antennas and mirrors’. The wash uses ultrasonics to profile the vehicle and this determines when the clutch is on and when the wash applies higher pressure to the arms for greater brush contact.
"Has there been any real life testing showing the properties of the two? Tires and all sorts of things are tested independently. This could be a great marketing opportunity for Ryko to factually demonstrate that its product is superior."
I doubt Ryko would test an aftermarket product that disables many basic functions of the wash. The Softgloss is a vehicle washing system and the clutch is part major of this system.
FYI:We just installed our first "Soft Gloss Max", I will take some pictures and post them when I have a chance.
"I would also like to know the cost difference between the two. Does the higher priced version clean better? Is the difference worth the extra money?"
I am not sure of the price difference or how you would even make a comparison since you will have to change all of the brushes along with the shafts, mounting system and gear boxes to convert to the knockoff. With the foambrite you just replace the section that is worn. I do know that by converting to the knock off material you lose many functions of the wash itself. The kit eliminates the clutching ability of the machine and will be more likely to cause damage to rear wipers, antennas and mirrors’. The wash uses ultrasonics to profile the vehicle and this determines when the clutch is on and when the wash applies higher pressure to the arms for greater brush contact.
"Has there been any real life testing showing the properties of the two? Tires and all sorts of things are tested independently. This could be a great marketing opportunity for Ryko to factually demonstrate that its product is superior."
I doubt Ryko would test an aftermarket product that disables many basic functions of the wash. The Softgloss is a vehicle washing system and the clutch is part major of this system.
FYI:We just installed our first "Soft Gloss Max", I will take some pictures and post them when I have a chance.
Last edited:
soapy
Senior Member
When Neoglide first came out I was one of the first to convert a Ryko bristle machine over to the Neoglide along with Kevin from Astromatic. Ryko did not yet have retro kits availible for the softgloss. I did have to change gear boxes on all the arms and also reconfigure the counter weight box on the top brush.
I liked the way the neoglide cleaned and left the car finish. It was more agressive on mirrors and it would have been a plus to have the ryko clutches on the arms. Winter wiper blades that are covered with rubber were also a problem. Trailer hitches really tore up the neoglide material.
I liked the way the neoglide cleaned and left the car finish. It was more agressive on mirrors and it would have been a plus to have the ryko clutches on the arms. Winter wiper blades that are covered with rubber were also a problem. Trailer hitches really tore up the neoglide material.
