Some of you will recognize these brushes immediately – they’re Otis cleaning brushes.
Otis primarily markets their brushes for cleaning firearm parts, but they can be used on tools and all kinds of parts and equipment.
The bristle colors are important, as this indicates their stiffness.
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White: The white bristles are the softest.
Blue: The blue bristles are stuffer and a little more aggressive, while still being made from nylon.
Bronze: The bronze-bristled brush is stiffer and used for more aggressive cleaning of metal parts.
Stainless Steel: The stainless steel bristles are most aggressive.
Otis recommends the white and blue nylon brushes for use on “virtually any surface,” including wood. The bronze and stainless brushes are recommended for use on metal parts.
Brass brushes are usually best used on uncoated metal parts, and stainless steel brushes come in handy when very aggressive scrubbing is required.
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The brushes measure 7″ in length, and 0.4″ wide.
Each brush has a large head for cleaning and scrubbing wider areas, and a smaller precision head for cleaning smaller parts or reaching in tight spaces.
The brushes can be used for all kinds of applications. Otis says:
These versatile brushes have many uses from automobile detailing, boats, golf equipment, battery terminals, camping, grout, jewelry, wood working and more.
I bought my first set of Otis cleaning brushes a long time ago (2013 according to my Amazon order history), and they have come in very handy for precision cleaning tasks.
I use Otis brushes for all kinds of cleaning tasks, such as on circuit boards and components that will be soldered, small parts that are being glued or painted, and for cleaning chips from newly-cut metal threads.
These brushes are made in the USA.
Price: $1-2 per brush on average
More Purchase Options
- 9pc Assortment at Amazon
- 10-Pack White Brushes (+ Bonus Blue) at Amazon
- 10-Pack Blue Brushes at Amazon
- 10-pack Bronze Brushes at Amazon
- 10-Pack Stainless Steel Brushes at Amazon
If you’re not sure what you might need, start with the 3-pack and go from there. I regularly order 10-packs of white-bristle brushes, and you can find the same value pack for the other styles as well.
These cleaning brushes are stiffer and straighter than old toothbrushes, and the pricing is very reasonable.
Sure, you can raid your medicine cabinet, but how much will it cost you to replace a soft-bristled toothbrush vs. buying a higher-performing medium or stiffer-bristled brush meant specifically for cleaning tools and parts?
Besides that, these work better.
As a reader mentioned in an older post (thank you Nathan!), Otis brushes should be more oil or solvent-resistant than toothbrushes, and should also be more resistant to bristle-shedding.
Here are more Cleaning Tool ideas:
TomD
I find disposable dollar store toothbrushes have their place, but better brushes like these (stored with the proper tools for a given job) are also useful. I like to try to not cross-contaminate brushes if possible so the auto brushes are with the sockets, the finish brushes near to saws, etc.
Stuart
That’s fair, but a 10-pack of white brushes (+1 blue) is less than $9. That’s less than $1 per brush for cleaning brushes meant for use on tools and parts. While disposable, I use Otis brushes a lot before replacing them. As you do, I keep used brushes where they’ll be used again on similar materials.
John+Fleisher
You can get these even cheaper in bulk on eBay. I buy them for firearm cleaning.
Stuart
I know they have 50-count boxes, but the 10-count packages had lower price-per-brush for several of the varieties. I see that ebay does have 150-count countertop-type boxes for a little less per brush.
fred
For my use – I really like the Otis brushes. Bought my first batch in 2018 – and find that I seem to us the double-ended blue ones the most.
I also find that I repurpose old toothbrushes and use other dental brushes like a Gum Proxabrush for cleaning in tight spots or tiny orifices (with or without reaming with a small number drill bit)
https://www.amazon.com/GUM-877A-Proxabrush-Go-Betweens-Interdental/dp/B079MFWGNN
Stuart
Mascara brushes are a lot cheaper, although with shorter handles. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NXKRGLU/?tag=toolguyd-20
fred
Yeah – pretty hard to beat 4.29 cents a piece. The handles on the dental brushes that I use are actually shorter – the OAL being about 2.5 inches. They work well on cleaning things like spray tips. But the Dentek brand that I buy run about $0.25 each:
https://www.amazon.com/Dentek-Brush-Cleaners-Extra-Spaces/dp/B00GMP052K
I may have to try a mascara brush.
DC
I use Otis brushes mostly while working on vehicles for cleaning parts. Clean them with brake parts cleaner then Simple Green and I’m ready for the next job. Plus they’re Made in USA!
Davethetool
I have plenty of stainless steel and brass head small brushes. I have been using these brushes from oxo for years and they just don’t give up!
Davethetool
Oops link got cut off! https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Clean-Brush-Orange/dp/B003M8GMS6/
fred
Also available at Bed Bath and Beyond. Can use one of their 20% off coupons and buy it (in-store) for $8.99 minus 20% = $7.19
MikeIt
This was a timely post. I recently bought some used ratchets and have been trying to clean them up. I usually use tile and grout scrub brushes for degreasing duty like cleaning bicycle parts but they’re too big for tiny ratchet parts. I received them this weekend and they’re the perfect size and stiffness for ratchet internals. Thanks Stuart!