Snow Brushes

[TranceKrayz]

For those of you who live in cold climates where you get snow, what kind of snow brushes do you use to get the snow off your car? I just realized that those things can put light scratches on your paint if the bristles are hard enough. I don't know how i went through last winter without one though, but I need one this winter. Any suggestions on one that won't damage my paint?

 

[Border411]

I just saw some in Target for like $8 with a telescoping brush on it as well as a pretty burly ice scraper! I think it extended to over 36"s and the bristles seemed to be moderatly soft/hard (However you want to see it) I lived in upstate NY growing up and I know how those winters can be. I think the brush part on the ones that I saw were pretty good for what you need.

 

[Cleric]

If your car is dirty, almost any brush will potentially scratch your paint.

 

[TranceKrayz]

thanks for the replys. you are right cleric, but i'm trying to prevent further damage due to the hard bristles. my toyota dealer gave me a free one and i'm afraid to use it because the bristles are really hard.

 

[AKrunner]

The problem with really soft bristles is they won't remove snow that's real wet or somewhat frozen on. I'm worried about the same thing, tho. I think that's why snow brushes come with firmer bristles.

What I've been tryin to do is to not touch the paint with the bristles, to brush down as close as I can get without hitting the painted surface.

So far it's working pretty well, but I'll know for sure come next May.

 

[mikes4runner]

The problem with really soft bristles is they won't remove snow that's real wet or somewhat frozen on. I'm worried about the same thing, tho. I think that's why snow brushes come with firmer bristles.

What I've been tryin to do is to not touch the paint with the bristles, to brush down as close as I can get without hitting the painted surface.

So far it's working pretty well, but I'll know for sure come next May.

Thats what I do.
Just remove enough so not much comes up onto the windshield that the wipers can't take care of.

 

[Gryphon]

The guy in Montana says don't worry too much about the bristles hurting your paint. I have never seen it happen, and it seems to me if you do, you are scraping way too hard. I seem to usually have a film of snow left after I sweep it anyway.

I use a telescoping scraper to make it easier to reach everywhere. I also knock the snow out of the bristles after I use it. this keeps chunks of dirty ice from forming...and these CAN hurt your paint! Watch out for decals when scraping ice, and give your truck ample time to warm up. Setting your heater controls to recirculate interior air will make the inside warm up much faster. And I do like the alcohol based spray bottles of de-icer. I get the squirt bottle rather than the areosol. Or, you can do the cheap thing and put isopropyl (rubbing acohol) into a dollar-store squirt bottle and use that too. A simple cheapo plastic tarp across your windsheild can save a lot of hassel too.

 

[Koz]

Here is what I do; I use a good stiff brush/scraper on the glass only. I use a car washing brush with telescoping handle (you can get at any auto parts store or even Costco). This brush has extra soft bristles that are used only for washing, but works pretty good for snow. If your car/truck is dirty under the snow you still may be able to scratch the paint with the debris. Even a soft rag will put fine scratches in the paint when clean. You will see them in dark color paint more. You can get rid of the scratches with 3M "Fill N Glaze", but you will have to re-wax the paint.

Koz