u/Critical-Friend-69

Dear community, its been a blast since the last post where i got an alessis nitro max last month. Im a begginier drummer and just trying to get into the groove. As shown in the picture my drum padd are accumulating drum sticks wood powder and i wanted to know what i should do about it. Is it safe to use a tooth brish to clean.
Some general doubts i had regarding usage was 1. are these cymbals rugged enough or should i try to hit it less harder than i normally would so that they dont get damaged in the long run.
2. Would appreciate any general tips on any settings i can apply to increase the volume a bit apart from routing through the computer or an amp.