I am referring to disc brakes here in specific, but this would very much apply to regular rim brakes as well.

After pulling out the pads on all three of my bikes, and scrubbing them down with a metal brush, I find that the braking performance is now stronger and smoother. I will now get into the habit of doing this regularly, as all three bikes had heavily caked on brake dust/dirt mixed together which is then glazed into the pad due to the heat. I used a softer bristle brush to remove excess dust after removing the dirty layer. Avoid using a rag unless it is perfectly clean as you will just rub oil into the pad.

Almost never. Although sometimes I might get something on the rotors while cleaning or lubing my bike and I'll spray a little isopropyl or ethanol on them and wipe them clean.

I was pretty disappointed with the performance on the front mechanical brake on my gravel bike, which degraded quickly after a month or so of hard, infrequent use. After cleaning the pads and rotors, and doing some gentle re-bedding, I find that the stopping power is much more acceptable.

Interesting how all three of my bike responded somewhat differently after doing the same pad and rotor cleaning for each set of brakes respectively.

good braking habits involve linear, gentle application of braking force, which allows for enough gentle heat transfer to ensure good bedding between rotor and pad while keeping the rotor surface relatively clean.

Doing hard, random stops, especially in dirty conditions is pretty awful for the longevity and overall performance of your brakes. keeping the surfaces clean and occaisonally applying some gentle braking down a steep hill would be really helpful in such conditions.

I'm not sure I agree with the gentle braking. Especially if it's long periods going down long slopes. Gentle braking I reserve for the times I need to feather the brakes, usually the rear for me. Otherwise, when I need brakes, I use them. IMO, slowing down quickly generates less heat over all then dragging a brake forever to slow down. I'm not saying do a max effort braking though. Though depending on the situation and exactly how you are using the brakes, YMMV.

Hard stops are obviously the reason for the most wear, particularly because the pads and rotors are forced to contact each other without sufficient heat being applied during the initial stages of braking.

Sounds like you've got it figured out already -- I don't see the point of the thread/poll.

It not obvious to me.

For cars, trucks and even bicycles, most of the stuff I've read suggests firm braking is better for brake pad and rotor life. Dragging ones brakes is ineffective for stopping and just creates unnecessary heat which is bad for every thing.

Now if you are talking about hard stops where the bike or any other vehicle is going so fast that the braking can't be accomplished before the parts get too hot, then I might agree.

Mostly to bring this to the attention of the visitors to this thread. My knowledge on brakes stems from experience directly from automobiles.

The pad compound for disc brakes on most bikes i've seen are high performance, designed primarily for hard, irregular use. These type of compounds are dusty and require more cleaning than others.

The linear use of brakes can't always be followed for safety reason. If you rarely get the chance to get some smooth, long stops in, you'll want to take apart your brakes to clean and allow for re bedding more often.

Assuming your pads are coming into contact with the rotors evenly, occasional linear, controlled stops at maybe 75% reasonable effort without locking your tires is super critical for long term performance.

Iride01 You're exactly right.

Why is it that companies like Shimano that make disc brakes and pads never suggest these sorts of cleaning rituals?

Apart from sanding superficially contaminated pads, at best this is unlikely to do anything useful. You are probably far more likely to further contaminate your pads than you are to restore them using the procedure you suggest.

So this is really a PSA of dubious value disguised as a question you already have the answer to, with a poll whose results are irrelevant. Carry on.

I would never want to have that dust infused black dirt on my brake pads... the same ones that I rely on to keep me safe during a good thrashing. Enough said.

It is an undeniable learning experience for fellows such as yourself

Nothing I've learned here has anything to do with brakes.

I will file the surface of rubber brake pads that are glazed or use the file to smooth them if they have a ridge (caused by rims that have an indentation) and then clean the rim using isopropyl alcohol. This can improve braking if the pads are still relatively pliant but not if they are old and hardened. This often provides some improvement in braking but falls short of what can be achieved by replacing the pads. Filing does not work for disc pads and I have not found a way to clean them but I do use isopropyl alcohol and sometimes Brakekleen to clean rotors. This can sometimes cure squealing but often replacement of pads and rotors is needed.

I started to respond to all the things Moisture gets wrong in this thread, but it would be a lot easy to just state the parts I agree with.
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That’s about it.

Take the pads out and tap them on a hard surface. The "dust", which is from the pads themselves, will fall off. This the the magical force of gravity at work. Wipe off the pistons while you are at it.

I picked "No" in the poll as that was the closest option to never. I don't consider brake dust to be contamination.

This is all nonsense...But then, that was a foregone conclusion, since Moisty is the OP.

It still makes for fun reading, though.

I’ve got one bike with some vintage Campy Omega dark anodized rims, on that one I clean the pads quite often, trying to keep brake surface from becoming silver. So far successful, my others with silver rims never.
Tim

I squeeze the brakes easy when I wont to come to stop slowly, I squeeze them a bit harder when I want to slow down fast. I adjust them when needed. That about all the thought I put into the brakes. I figure they get clean enough when I clean the bike.

I can't recall ever having cleaned brake pads on any vehicle I've ever owned

I did actually just sand, torch, and clean the pads on the front of my mtb today. They somehow got contaminated. We’ll see if it helps.

Hey cabbage man, any updates?

The mechanical disc brakes on my Opus now have pretty sufficient stopping power after taking the pads out to sand them down twice. I also swapped the pads front to rear on the second go to help distribute things out a little. The pads seem to get contaminated easily which doesn't help when most of the use these brakes see is hard used, short distance speed scrubbing.