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How do you clean closed cell foam brushes?

I.B. Washincars

I.B. Washincars

Car Washer Emeritus
I just bought a used IBA that has the "Closed cell foam" brushes. The wash has a very low wash count, but was run on reclaim and the brushes are quite dingy. I've never needed to clean the brushes on my present IBA (with 5X the washes), so don't really know where to start. Anyone have any advice on removing the brown tint from my blue brushes?
 
You need to make sure the brown is on and not in the brush. I found that on some foam it seemed as though the color came off leaving whatever the natural color was. Scrape the surface and see if the Brown comes off. If it does a bleach or algaecide solution for swimming pools might work. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so. If the color has come out - no solutionwill work.
 
The brush is blue, thru and thru. I have an identical machine that this one is replacing. Many of the foam fingers have torn off in it's lifetime and it looks the same inside as out. Since the brushes don't absorb water, I feel the grime is on it and not in it, but that's just an assumption.
 
HF based products can clean reclaim stains off walls with enough scrubbing. Might be worth trying...

I know one guy that switched to a cleaner with a lot of solvents in his tunnel and said that over time his cloth cleaned up.
 
If you want to remove it all at once use a good solvent based cleaner preferably with d'limonene in it. If you use a wash product with a solvent or d'limonene in it it will take a while to clean it. I would not recommend HF or any acid for that matter. Road grime is best removed with solvency or strong alkalinity with some solvency.
 
I think that product would work well and that is a very good price. D'limonene is more expensive than traditional distilled solvents. Some products may indicate that they have it in their formula but only have an orange scent. The reason i say to use d'limonene is due to the fact that it is a natural solvent made from orange peels that works like distilled solvents but is not as harsh. It is also found in some presoaks on the market. I would suggest that after you clean the brushes you might try using one for a while after the cleaning if you can find one in your area.
 
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