Types of Cleaning Brushes

The idea of putting bristles on a handle to make a brush has led to the development of a wide variety of general purpose and specialized cleaning tools. Cleaning brushes are useful both for scrubbing that requires more abrasion than a sponge offers, as well as reaching into areas that are difficult to access.

Newest members of the cleaning brush family are the cordless scrubbers with multiple brush attachments (and scrub pad attachments as well). These are useful for heavy duty cleaning tasks in the bathroom and kitchen, spot cleaning of carpets, vehicle grills, bumpers, hubcaps, and tires, pool surfaces, and outdoor furniture and barbecue equipment.

Small Cleaning Brushes

At the other extreme of "technology" is the re-purposed toothbrush, which is excellent for cleaning the corners of floors, grout (although there are specialized grout brushes, as well), the small crannies in faucets, and stovetop controls. Other cleaning brushes that help with accessing hard-to-reach areas include:

• bottle brushes—these long, narrow brushes, which come in a variety of sizes, help clean baby bottles, water bottles, teapots and teakettles, and flower vases. They’re also useful in preparing items for recycling.

  

• spout brush—even longer and thinner than a bottle brush, the spout brush helps for cleaning very small spouts as well as percolator stems.

• stove brushes—equipped with brass bristles, these small brushes help clean in and around the burner grate, as well as oven racks.

• refrigerator coil brush—made for the specific and sole task of cleaning the coils on the back of refrigerators.

• dryer vent brush—this cleaning brush collects and removes the lint caught below the lint trap.

  Other Cleaning Brushes

  There are many other types of cleaning brushes for different areas of the house.

• Floors

  Utility brushes (with a dustpan) can be kept under the sink and quickly grabbed to clean small amounts of material from the floor that don’t require a broom.

  Scrub brushes with and without handles are made for serious floor cleaning and are useful for removing wax or other buildup before redoing the floor finish.

  Deck brushes are specifically made for outdoor floor cleaning applications. These can be held in the hand or attached to a handle using the threaded hole.

• Dusting

  Counter dusters are soft bristled brushes with a handle coming out of the end.

  Ceiling fan duster brushes, placed on a long handle, have a special configuration to clean both sides of the fan blades, as well as to remove cobwebs and dust on walls and ceilings.

  Long-reach dusters are brushes in the shape of a hemisphere on a long, telescoping handle and made to clean both baseboards and the picture rail molding.

• Kitchen

  Sink and dish brushes are made for doing an initial dish cleaning/scraping when the dishes will be washed in the dishwasher or even replacing a sponge for hand-cleaning of dishes. Some feature a scraper and some have a well for dish detergent, which is then dispensed onto each item, through the brush.

  There are special dish brushes for nonstick surfaces as well as for pots and pans, the latter of which are not made for nonstick cookware.

• Bathroom

  Toilet bowl brushes are sold with and without their own caddy for storage, and come in a variety of sizes and shapes.