Don’t know much about cleaning your vehicle’s brakes? Or, if you even should?

Well, now is a great time to take charge on the matter. 

A myth that people often believe:

If you get your brakes replaced, then you don’t need them cleaned!

This is false; every component of the braking system needs to be cleaned.

Though your brake pads might be replaced often, the rotor, the brake caliper, springs, and spindle still need to be cleaned every time your brake pads are replaced, to maintain even wear and proper friction.

So, although replacing your brakes is inevitable, preventative maintenance will help prolong your brakes’ life. And THAT will save you both time and money! 

What’s a brake cleaner, you ask?

A brake cleaner is a combination of chemicals that break down oils, rust, debris, and dirt.

Our Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner (Part #2520) is a chlorinated formula that effortlessly removes brake fluid, grease, oil, and other contaminants from all brake parts, including brake linings and disc brakes pads, rotors, drums, cylinders, springs, and other related brake parts.

You can visit this purchasing guide to learn the difference between chlorinated and non-chlorinated cleaners.

Do your brakes squeal or make an ear-piercing noise when you use them? 

This is because of build up. An easy fix with our Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner!

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details on why it is essential to clean your brakes… 

First: Ever heard of DTV? 

DTV or Disc Thickness Variation is caused by build-up in your brakes that cause uneven thickness in your rotors.

When your discs are uneven, the pressure is applied to the rotor in uneven places; the disc pads don’t apply enough pressure, creating a vibration when braking. This also is extremely tough on your brake pads, causing them to deteriorate quicker. Not good!

Second: Your ABS

As your wheels and rotors attract build-up over time, the anti-lock braking system (ABS), which is exposed, also catches the debris, dust, and dirt. As you can probably imagine, this negatively affects the accuracy of your ABS. Over time, your ABS will malfunction and not work if it is not cleaned routinely. 

Third: Preventative Maintenance

Yes, yes… we’ve all heard the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”  But this truly is the principle of taking preventative measures.

Cleaning your brakes every so often is a great preventive measure to ensure your brakes are clean, working correctly in order to prevent damage in the future.

Along with keeping your car’s mobility in check, cleaning your brakes can keep your ABS from significant damage! But we already mentioned that.

How to Clean your Breaks — The Process:

• – Protect your eyes, hands, and lungs with safety glasses, gloves, and a face mask!
• – Remove the wheels and tires from the vehicle.
• – Grab your Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner and a drip pan.
• – Begin at the rotor’s top, moving down the rotor, making sure to get every part of the debris, brake dust, and rust. Make sure to hold the spray pan directly underneath the rotor while spraying.
• – Use a controlled burst of spray when spraying the wheel to ensure you are not over-spraying the wheel.
• – Once the entire wheel is covered with brake cleaner, let the brake drip dry, keeping the pan underneath to catch any drips.
• – Once the brake is dry, you are all done! How easy was that?

Now that you’re aware of how to clean your brake parts, let’s dive into some handy brake cleaning tips.

Tips and Tricks

1: Brake cleaning can be done at any time — during tire rotation, brake inspection, or when you are servicing your tires. 

2: Our Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner works on both disc brakes and drum brakes, so no need to buy two separate cleaners!

3: Make sure the brake cleaner you use dries QUICKLY, leaves no residue, has good cleaning ability, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, make sure it does not do any harm to the friction material.

Finally, how often should you clean your brake parts?

As often as you can!

Though, not too often.

Cleaning too much is never a great idea, but you definitely want to make sure that they stay clean. Usually, when you are maintaining your car or wheels, it is good to check out your brakes and clean them when you see debris.

Our Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner does it all without harming your brakes. Check out this handy video we made to show you exactly how to use our Berryman Brake Parts Cleaner! 

Berryman Brake Cleaner can be used on car brakes and ATVs, snowmobiles, tractors, motorcycles, RVs, and trucks!