7 Strange, Unusual, and Creative Ways to Use a Drillbrush

The Drillbrush line of products features brushes and pads in all shapes, sizes, and stiffnesses to handle just about any household mess you could throw at them. Because they’re so versatile, you can clean anything from bathtubs, to car rims, to kitchen sinks.

But with all of those use-cases, you’re bound to find some surprising uses for a Drillbrush that transcend the bounds of cleaning. Our Drillbrush staff, as well as our customers, have found some unique things you can do with our brushes, from simple cleaning hacks to extremely niche situations that sound too wild to be true!

Here are seven unusual ways you can use a Drillbrush.

Hand Brush

Handy!

I know, not too wild to start, but it is somewhat ironic that a small subset of people use our drill-powered brush for hand scrubbing.

One of our employees likes to keep a Yellow 2in Long detail brush by his kitchen sink for situational cleaning applications, such as stuck-on melted cheese and stains near the rivets in pots and pans. Not necessarily wanting to keep his drill by the sink, he just takes the brush and does a quick hand scrub.

Some have also used our flat 4 inch and 5 inch brushes for hand scrubbing by gripping the edge of the block and letting the shaft rest between their middle and ring fingers.

While we recommend using your Drillbrush in a drill first-and-foremost, it speaks volume for our products that they can even compete with traditional forms of scrubbing!

Spreading Suds

Soap-a-dope!

We have a whole video on managing splatter, but sometimes you can use a bit of sud-slinging to your advantage.

When cleaning a large fish tank, we dipped the bristles of a Blue Edge brush in a solution of soapy water. Then, with the brush sporting a hefty collection of suds, we lowered the drill and brush into the empty tank and hit the trigger for full power.

The soapy solution was then flung around onto the walls of the tank. We then got to work scrubbing the interior glass without having to constantly go back for more soap. You can see the video of us doing this here.

You can accomplish this with any brush, but we recommend the Edge, 4 inch, or 5 inch brushes for best results. You can read more about the pros and cons of splatter in our Splatter Blog.

So sometimes making a little mess can help make things cleaner (just don’t tell your kids that!)

Paint and Rust Removal

I find paint removal a-peeling!

We often warn about using brushes that are too aggressive on delicate surfaces, but sometimes scratching the surface can be just the thing you need!

Our stiffer brushes and pads, such as the Ultra Stiff Black Brush, are abrasive enough that they can remove loose paint, peeling finishing, and rust from surfaces. This is helpful for restoration projects, as removing the old paint on a large wooden structure like a picnic table can be a hassle.

You can also remove rust build-up. We’ve managed to remove oxidation on small surfaces like a hammer head as well as on the grates of a weather-worn outdoor grill. Some of our scrub pads are even coarse enough to retexture metal surfaces.

When using stiff brushes, you should be careful about which surfaces you use them on. [You can check out our delicate surfaces blog for more information on safe Drillbrush usage.] However, if you need the surface gone, be rest assured that we have brushes tough enough to do it!

Picking Up Hair

A Hairy Situation!

If you have pets (or a family member that frequently forgoes the trip to the barber), you’ll know the struggle of finding hair everywhere! Whether it's coating your couches or caught in clumps on your carpets, it can be a pain to pick up and result in a litany of lint-rolling.

However, you can also use a Drillbrush to pick hair up! By using a Medium Original Drillrush at a slow speed and with no cleaner, you can use the cling of the bristles to catch the hair and lift it off the surface. Due to the slow speed and dry conditions, the hair wraps around the outside of the brush without getting stuck, making for easy removal from the brush.

If the hair is really stuck, particularly in carpets, using a Soft White flat brush on the surface can pull the hair out with ease! The hair will catch on the tips of the bristles in a circular pattern, making it easy to simply pull off and throw out.

You can see both of these methods in action in our Pet Care Tips n’ Tricks video./a>

Automatic Cat Scratcher

Cat scratch fever!

Speaking of pets, some of the feline fanatics in our customer base (and our company,) have found that some cats really like the Drillbrush. Not for its cleaning properties, but because it makes for a great kitty massager!

Using a soft (or sometimes medium) Original brush at a slow speed can create a nice surface for cats to rub up against. We’ve seen several videos of cats rubbing their head and back against the brush and enjoying every second.

Though, naturally, enjoyment will depend on the cat. Not every cat will enjoy scritches of this manner, and some are even scared of the drill sound, which is why if you do this, you shouldn’t use the drill at a high speed, nor should you force it upon your cat.

You should also take the cat’s hair length into account, as long strands of hair can get caught in the bristles. We recommend this experience for short to moderate hair-length cats only.

But if they dig it, they dig it! Speaking of digging:

Drilling a Hole for a Plant

Wait, WHAT!?!?

Admittedly, the inception of this idea was born out of boredom and hasn’t been extensively tested, but it’s still something you can technically do.

After an ever-escalating running joke at the office about how tough the Ultra Stiff Black Original brush is, it was hypothesized that it was sturdy enough to drill a hole in the ground. So naturally, we decided to check it out.

We went outside, pointed a Black Original at the dirt, and let ‘er rip! Lo and behold, the brush dug downward and created a nice cylindrical hole in the ground, perfectly sized for a small plant!

Now there are caveats to this. The more packed the dirt is, the tougher it's going to be to dig through. It’s also going to put strain on the nylon bristles, causing them to bend and flare out easier. Our dirt was moderately packed, which did a number on the brush, but if you’re growing things in a large planter or in less dense soil, this could be a viable option for you.

Blast off Barnacles

Photo Credit: Nathan Bosworth

This last one was submitted by a Drillbrush user and has to be one of the most specific use cases we’ve ever seen, though it did require some modification to do.

A while back, we received a message from Nathan Bosworth, who modified a Stiff Red Drillbrush by removing half of the bristles and bolting two metal plates to the block. The purpose was to create a tool that could remove stubborn barnacles off his boat. The bristles scrub away the dirt and debris on the surface while the metal plate does the heavy lifting to knock the barnacles off.

It’s an interesting concept and just shows the talent and ingenuity that Drillbrush users have! The DIY spirit is still alive and well when it comes to innovative ways to clean!

Weird Flex, But Okay

We hope you enjoyed these abstract Drillbrush abilities. Let us know if you ever tried any of these methods. If you have your own unusual use-cases, leave a comment describing it, if we get enough, we may make a part two!