opinions and recs please. Mitters/top brush/companies.

[Manko76]

I have a 100 ft conveyor full service wash. A true full service where we take your order and do everything

I did a major renovation a few years ago and replaced everything in my tunnel except my two mitters. One front to back, one side to side.

They are 23 year old belangers. I didn’t replace them because over the 23 years I’ve never had an issue with them. They clean very well. maybe lose 1-2 wipers rear wipers a year and they were usually already rusted out. These mitters never broke down and outside of changing cloth, never really had to do much to them.

That’s starting to change this year. Little issues keep popping up and I am now considering changing them out.

Im inclined to just replace them with current belanger mitters since I got more than my moneys worth out of the first set.

I know some people are die hard top brush and some people I’ve talked to are going away from top brushes due to the added maintenance, and issues with cleaning certain trucks.

What do you suggest and what manufacturer?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[washnshine]

Lots of good options. The newest generation of Belanger mitters will have a much smaller footprint than their equipment from 23 years ago. The only thing I don’t like is their side to side mitters - they tend to split down both sides of the car instead of remaining on the tops. Sonny’s makes good mitters and so does AVW. Combining traditional cloth with a microfiber/plush material will yield the best results. McNeil has excellent top brushes. They are single arm with the option to mount in a reverse configuration of you want to assist with the backs of vehicles - especially SUV’s. These are very light touch components when balanced properly.

Might not be a bad idea to have one mitter and one top brush. You can always retract the top brush of you have an obstruction on the car’s roof, and still have a mitter to cover it. You’d get all the best attributes of both components that way. If you are going for a completely open tunnel look, and you have your wraps retracted by default, top brushes can be retracted by default too and you will have an incredibly open feel in the wash if that matters to you.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Had had Sonny's , Belanger and AVW. Sonnys 901 - doe a great job but noisiest on the car and every year seemed to have to replace Pitman arm, Motor, gearbox or something. Belanger whip across - Decades of use with little maintenance but still noisy. AVW quietest and only maintenance was hang down rods UHMW bushings after about20 years.

 

[Islandwash]

When I opened, I had 3 mitters and over the years went down to just two. Then i replaced one mitter with a Top Brush and fell in love with it. I ended up a few years later replacing the last mitter with a top brush. I feel that the top brushes do a better cleaning job, and the tunnel has a wide-open look. If a customer's car has strange roof racks, I just retract both Top Brushes. I understand the desire to have one of each but prefer to have two Top brushes. It is a choice and there are no wrong answers.