What is a Drillbrush 4-2-O Kit?

A quick look at the Drillbrush website will show that we have a lot of products.

A LOT OF PRODUCTS.

Between single brushes, kits, and accessories, we have over 300 products available to help our customers clean faster, easier, and more productively. But despite everything from scrub pads to 38-piece combo kits, one type of kit remains our most popular by far;

The 3-piece Drillbrush 4-2-O Kit.

Based on our data for our highest selling products, Drillbrush customers go crazy for the 4-2-O, with all six standard colors being in our top ten best sellers and the Medium Yellow 4-2-O being the all-time top kit.

But why is the 4-2-O so popular? What can you do with a Drillbrush 4-2-O kit? In what ways has Drillbrush expanded on the 4-2-O kit to innovate in the cleaning space? And where can I get one?

We’ll answer all these questions and more by doing a deep dive into the Drillbrush 4-2-O kit and how it’s become synonymous with drill-powered scrubbing.

Origins of the 4-2-O Kit

The car wash where Anthony LaPolla invented the Original Drillbrush, a key piece of the 4-2-O kit.

Drillbrush was invented by Anthony LaPolla as a means to clean vehicle rims at his self-service car wash in 2005. The first brush he created was a bullet-shaped scrubber modeled after a toilet wand that would become known as the Original brush (aka the “O” in 4-2-O.)

Needing a more effective flat surface scrubber, LaPolla created a round 4 inch diameter brush with its own mold (the “4” in 4-2-O.)

These two would be paired together in Drillbrush’s first kit, the 4-O, which we still sell to this day, often in its unique blister pack.

A Medium Yellow 4-2-O Kit, featuring an Original, 4 inch, and 2 inch Short brush.

The 4-O sold well, but as an innovator, Anthony LaPolla is constantly looking for new ways to expand the line into more applications. Noticing that some spaces are too small for the Original and 4 inch, he created the 2 inch Short, a detailing brush for spot cleaning and tight surfaces (and the “2” in 4-2-O.)

When LaPolla added the three brushes together into a kit, he never would have guessed that this would be the combo to put Drillbrush on the map. The 4-2-O kit was a massive success, particularly in Medium Yellow, and would go on to be Drillbrush’s defining kit, gracing the top of storefront pages and TV shows for decades to come.

Why Is The 4-2-O Kit So Popular?

Its versatile cleaning applications are one reason the 4-2-O kit is so popular.

It makes sense to have a kit featuring all of your brushes, but why did this three-brush combo in particular become such a runaway success? What caused the 4-2-O kit’s meteoric rise? It’s a little hard to pin down, but we think we have some ideas.

Versatility

What’s the primary hallmark of a great cleaning brush kit? Actually being a great kit! All of our 4-2-O kits are great for their listed applications, but the Medium Yellow Bathroom kit has even more going for it to push it above the rest.

Bathroom scrubbing is always a popular use-case for Drillbrush products. No one likes bending down in a cramped bathroom scrubbing soap scum out of tile grout by hand, so having a high-powered tool to blast through stuck messes is a must!

But the medium-bristled brushes are more than just a one trick pony. Medium brushes are excellent general-purpose cleaners. They’re not rough on carpeted mats or linoleum flooring, but are tough enough to clean out dirt, debris, and stains.

One of the reasons we divide our Medium brushes into Yellow Bathroom, Green Kitchen, and Blue Marine and Outdoor is because there are more applications for the medium bristles than there are brushes in the kit!

Even our softer and stiffer faire can have uses outside of their listings on the box. Soft scrubbers work wonders around the home as well as on vehicle surfaces.

Stiff Red brushes are billed for outdoors, but can have uses on tough indoor stains in garages, bathrooms, and kitchens.

And for the Ultra Stiff Black brushes, not only are they exceptional grill brushes, they work well in industrial and lawn care settings, can remove loose paint chips from aged surfaces, and can be used on surfaces as tough as roofs and concrete.

With brushes that are perfect for most basic cleaning tasks, the 4-2-O is a popular option for new Drillbrush users.

Beginner-Friendly

For folks new to drill-powered cleaning, it can be hard to figure out which kit they should purchase to get the most out of their brushes.

Starting with a singular brush is good for one type of surface scrubbing, but may leave you stuck in certain areas. But buying a large brush kit with 20 or more items may be overwhelming, especially if you haven’t determined if drill-powered cleaning is right for you.

The three-piece 4-2-O kit is perfect for burgeoning brush users because it contains a manageable number of brushes that cover most common surface types from flat walls, to corners and contours, to spot cleaning and detail work.

The 4-2-O kit is so popular because it’s an excellent entry point to the world of drill-powered cleaning and is the most commonly bought kit for those starting out and is a common practical gift for relatives around the Holidays. And with tens of thousands of positive reviews on Amazon, it must be doing the job well!

Legacy

The 4-2-O kit is one of our older kits, being our first three piece item in our store. As such, it has the distinction of being one of our earliest successes.

Much like a snowball rolling down a mountain, the buzz about the 4-2-O grows over time, getting bigger and bigger until it has grown to be our flagship product.

While we have made new bundles and additions to the 4-2-O kit, you can’t beat the positive reputation of the original!

What Can The 4-2-O Kit Clean?

4-2-O kits are available in every Drillbrush color and stiffness, meaning 4-2-O kits can clean everything from bathrooms to BBQs!

So what can a 4-2-O kit clean?

Pretty much anything!

Available in all six of our bristles colors and all four stiffnesses, 4-2-O kits run the gamut of drill-powered cleaning applications. Add in a few variety stiffness options and it might be easier to list what it can’t clean, but we’ll just go ahead and break down each variant of the 4-2-O and its applications.

The Soft White Home and Auto 4-2-O Kit.

Soft White Home and Auto 4-2-O Kit

The Soft White 4-2-O kit utilizes our Soft White bristles on all three brushes for delicate surface scrubbing. This kit is primarily used for indoor cleaning on glass, wood, and fabric surfaces, as well as on automotive applications in and around the vehicle.

The 4 inch can handle large flat areas, like windows, mirrors, carpets, and wooden coffee tables. On cars, it’s a go-to for windshields and seat upholstery, as well as trunks and interior carpeting.

The Original is great for corners on rims, tires, center consoles, and car interiors. On floor mats, the brush can pull out deep-set crumbs, debris, and dirt. It also works well on wood trim and molding in homes.

The 2 inch is great for spot cleaning on chairs, sofas, seats, and tables. It can also hit small spaces on cars and trucks like side mirrors, rearview mirrors, and trim details.

The Medium Yellow Bathroom 4-2-O Kit.

Medium Yellow Bathroom 4-2-O Kit

Our most popular kit, the Medium Yellow 4-2-O is geared towards bathroom scrubbing.

The 4 inch brush is useful on shower doors, tub floors, tiled surfaces, and countertops. Tilting the brush at a 45 degree angle can also help you get into tight grout lines.

The Original brush can handle the elegant, swooping corners of porcelain surfaces like bathtubs, sinks, and toilet basins. It works well on drain openings, shower shelving, and bath mats too!

The 2 inch is for cleaning small fixtures and structures, like faucets, drain openings and more! From a toothpaste stain on the counter to a soap ring by the tub, the 2 inch can send it packing.

The Medium Green Kitchen 4-2-O Kit.

Medium Green Kitchen 4-2-O Kit

Our Green brushes have a similar stiffness to the Yellow scrubbers, but are designated for kitchen cleaning to separate applications and prevent cross-contamination. (You wouldn’t want to use a toilet scrubber on your stove top.)

The 4 inch is useful on flattop surfaces, like stovetops, countertops, linoleum flooring, and shelves.

The Original can get around sink surfaces and along back splashes with ease. It’s also great for small appliances like microwaves, coffee makers, and air fryers, as well as in the corners and door shelves of refrigerators.

The 2 inch Short is an excellent kitchen touch up brush. A little splatter on the stove? Some gristle stuck to the pan? A spot from a leaky carton of half and half? The 2 inch can make surfaces shine like new!

The Medium Blue Marine and Pool 4-2-O Kit.

Medium Blue Marine and Pool 4-2-O Kit

The last of the medium-bristled 4-2-O kits, the Blue Medium handles Marine and Pool applications, as well as pretty much anything else outside the bathroom or kitchen.

The 4 inch is used on watercraft hulls, like fishing boats, kayaks, and canoes. It also works well on pool lining, vinyl furniture, and pet furniture.

The Original is useful on rounded and complex surfaces, like boat seats, antiskid surfaces, jetskis, pet food bowls, and siding.

The 2 inch is a spot cleaner and detailer for small stuff, like spots on the floor from pets, droppings on boats and decks, and other little touch-ups around the house.

The Stiff Red Outdoor and Patio 4-2-O Kit.

Stiff Red Outdoor and Patio 4-2-O Kit

A grade up from the mediums, the Stiff Red 4-2-O has tougher bristles for heavier messes, outdoor cleaning applications, and patio scrubbing.

The 4 inch is useful for patio tables, deck planks, siding, and more challenging household stains that the Medium might struggle with.

The Original is quite useful outdoors for complicated surfaces. The Original can get into gutters, the slats in shutters and siding, bird baths, deck chairs, drain spouts, and more.

The 2 inch is good for cleaning around window frames, exterior vents, and spots left by birds on the deck.

The Ultra Stiff Black Grill and Industrial 4-2-O Kit.

Ultra Stiff Black Grill and Industrial 4-2-O Kit

Lastly for the one-color kits, we break out the big guns. The Ultra Stiff Black bristles can handle tough cleaning tasks on grill, garage, and industrial surfaces.

The Original is the star of the show for grill cleaning, as its design allows it to easily scrub gristle off of grill grates, heat shields, and condiment racks. Outside of grills, it works wonders removing grass build up under lawnmowers and cleaning out ovens and fire pits.

The 4 inch can remove build-up under grill hoods, scrub spots on concrete and diamond plating, and remove exhaust build-up in garages.

The 2 inch is used for a variety of small spot cleaning. Lug nuts, grill spots, and specs on concrete floors all fall within its purview.

The Variety 4-2-O Kit features Soft White, Medium Blue, and Stiff Red brushes.

Red, White, and Blue Variety 4-2-O Kit

4-2-O kits are not just three of the same bristles each time. We have a couple of variety kits that mix and match colors and stiffnesses.

The first is our Red, White, and Blue Variety kit for general purpose scrubbing. This kit features a Soft White Original, and Medium Blue 4 inch, and a Stiff Red 2 inch Short brush.

The Soft White Original is a gentle, yet effective scrubber for corners and contoured surfaces around the house. From vehicle rims, to crown molding, to rugs, this bullet-shaped scrubber can handle a lot of jobs!

The 4 inch is Medium Blue and has a wide range of applications. It can do everything the bathroom and kitchen 4 inch brushes can; cleaning up bathroom tile and grout, linoleum, and stovetop surfaces. It is also capable outside the house on boat, patio, and pool surfaces.

For the 2 inch Short, you want something a little stiffer to clean up stubborn spots and detail work. That’s why we chose the Stiff Red bristles for this kit, as the red 2 inch is a wonderful detail brush.

Not only does this kit clean well, it looks superb with a pleasing American red, white, and blue color scheme reflective of our company's creation and operation right here in Marcy, New York!

The Pet Care 4-2-O Kit has Soft White and Medium Blue brushes.

Pet Care Variety 4-2-O Kit

The other 4-2-O variety kit features Soft White Original and 4 inch brushes with a Medium Blue 2 inch Short. This kit was created for pet parents looking to clean up household surface messes left by their little furry friends.

The White brushes are good for fabric and carpet scrubbing. The 4 inch can pull pet hair and dander out of carpets and scrub away messes left on hardwood floors. The Original, when used at a slow speed, can lift pet hair off of sofas and couches.

The Medium Blue 2 inch tackles some of the tougher spot cleaning tasks, like spots on floors, food bowls, and surfaces your pet knows they shouldn’t go on, but do anyways.

This trio makes for a nice, effective pet clean-up experience!

How Have We Enhanced the 4-2-O Kit?

One way we’ve added on to the 4-2-O is including accessories such as our 5 inch extension.

The 4-2-O kit has been tried and true for Drillbrush. But we don’t just like to rest on our laurels. We’ve not only made hundreds of new kits featuring all manner of brush counts and combinations, but we’ve also taken our 4-2-O kits and expanded them with additional features, accessories, and goodies to improve your drill-powered cleaning experience even further!

Here are several Drillbrush 4-2-O kits, but with a twist to make them unique!

4-2-O kits with 5 inch Extensions

One of our earliest Drillbrush accessories is the extension; a long quickchange bar with a sleeved chuck on the end that can accept all standard brushes.

Extensions come in 5 inch and 7 inch variations and allow Drillbrush users to have more reach when cleaning surfaces just out of arms length, too low to the ground for those with issues crouching or kneeling, or to separate you from more caustic cleaning tasks.

The six single color 4-2-O kits all have a variant with an added 5 inch extension and can be found here. This means an extension is available to customers for every job from automotive scrubbing, to bathrooms and kitchens, to heavy duty grill cleaning.

All three brushes fit in the extension, with the Original being the most popular to use with it due to it commonly being used in tighter spots.

By pairing our 4-2-O kit with our line of scrub pads, customers get two ways to clean!

4-2-O Kits with Scrub Pads

Drillbrush is more than just brushes. We also have a line of drill-powered scrub pads for buffing and polishing on household surfaces.

We’ve had several pads combo-ed up with 4-2-O kits in the past, but our most ubiquitous pairing is the 4-2-O kit with six scrub pads and 3 inch backer.

Along with the 4-2-O kit, you also get six 4 inch scrub pads in Soft White, Medium Blue, and Stiff Red. You get two of each color as well as a 3 inch hook-and-loop backer for connecting the pads to a cordless drill.

The 4-2-O kit with pads is available in all six basic colors; Soft White, Medium Yellow, Medium Green, Medium Blue, Stiff Red, and Ultra Stiff Black. You can find them all here!

Useful All-Purpose Cleaning Paste pairs well with Drillbrush 4-2-O kits!

4-2-O Kits with Cleaners

Drillbrush works best when used with cleaning solutions, but sometimes it can be hard to pick out a cleaner that’s right for you. We try to help by offering kits packaged with some of our own cleaning products.

Our biggest cleaner is Useful All-Purpose Cleaning Paste. This tub of citrus-scented cleaning paste works well on household surfaces, like kitchen sinks, bathtubs, stovetops, and tables. The cleaner comes packaged with two scrub pads, but you can use Drillbrush with it easily by dipping the bristles into the paste and scrubbing with the solution on the brush.

We bundled the Useful Cleaning Paste with our Soft White, Medium Yellow, Medium Green, Medium Blue, Stiff Red, and Variety Red, White, and Blue kits. We omitted the Ultra Stiff Black kit due to its use on grill and industrial surfaces often calling for more heavy duty cleaners.

The Useful Cleaning Paste bundle also comes with a 3 inch hook-and-loop pad backer that allows you to attach the included scrub pads to your drill for high speed buffing and polishing on counters, sinks, and porcelain surfaces.

Useful Cleaning Paste is not the only cleaner we have packaged with a 4-2-O kit. Another cleaner of ours; Drill-tergent, is paired with our Medium Yellow Bathroom 4-2-O kit. Drill-tergent is a viscous liquid cleaner useful for bathroom surfaces and tiles. It’s liquidy enough to easily place on surfaces, but not too watery to cause excessive splatter, making it a great option for drill-powered cleaning.

4-2-O Bundles? Awesome!

Other 4-2-O Bundles

We also have some options for customers who want two 4-2-O kits in different colors. Two bundles are available for 4-2-O kits; one that features the Soft White and Medium Yellow 4-2-O kits for lighter household scrubbing, and another that features Stiff Red and Ultra Stiff Black brushes for heavy duty outdoor scrubbing.

These bundles give customers six useful brushes in two unique stiffnesses and saves a bit of money by purchasing them together. It’s a win for everybody!

4-2-O Scrub It

You’ve read everything there is to know about our most popular kits, why not give ‘em a try for yourself. You can see all of our 4-2-O and 4-2-O-adjacent kits here or go here to see our full line of products.