# Festool, give us a good brush please!



## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

I have been using pretty standard shop vacs for jobsite cleanup and for cleaning whole homes during millpack work and more. I have used several shop vacs, ridgids, craftsmans and had great success at being able to clean a lot of area about as efficient as can be expected.

All of those brands make a nice 2.5" round brush attachment that have ample amount of bristle density, large surface area, effective in corners (mostly) due to longer bristles and a wide spread out pattern. We use the 2.5", 90° angle one from shop vac the most and the 45° one for some purposes but it is more prone to scratch. The 90° unit is very improbable to scratch a surface due to the inner plastic maybe being shorter and having long bristles. .I have made my own extension brush simply by wrapping tape to attach the 90° brush to 1.25" extension tube (which then goes from a 1.25" hose to a 2.5" hose) for extensive cleaning of trim, beams, doors, anything. It works great, with a scrubbing like action that removes the fine dust stuck on mdf for example. 
I use floor brushes from all 3 brands named above, had success with most. I do like the shop vac $15 floor brush that attaches to the 1.25" hose. I have no complaints of the Festool floor brushes because I have not used them, but I do find the round and diamond shape brushes that fit my Festool midi very inadequate. I use my midi as a dust extractor and for picking up small messes, small areas. Also it's nice for interiors where clients are present due to it's quiet operation and filter performance. But I would love to be able to vacuum some doors, or crown moulding, or trim work in general, but I am disappointed with both the round and diamond shape for 27mm hoses. The bristles are weak, having a thin ring with too few bristles and too much space between, no real good contact to help out with anything bigger than a few cabinet doors or something. The diamond shape seems more promising but the plastic at the front and sides sticks out farther than the brush bristles, and it won't clean much stuff with a contour like 6 panel doors. 
I am getting more Festool in the future, I have talked my boss into a CT Sys, yet the tools are mostly useless for us. We don't need an upholstery brush or crevice tool. We need a good brush for cleaning trim, cleaning small areas of floor, cleaning doors, even walls sometimes.

With all the amazing technology and engineering that goes into their products... Can Festool please make a better brush?? That doesn't take that much ingenuity to accomplish.
I have made better custom ones (that fit my shopvac) but want to utilize the two festool vacs we will have on site soon.

Anyone else wonder about this? Or has anyone hacked their own version to improve performance?


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

http://www.gordonbrush.com/strip_brushes.php

Well I'm not too great at researching stuff but I did find this list link to Gordon brush that could be a possible fix. I would form these brushes around a festool plastic attachment if I have to.


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

Their brushes could use improvement. The diamond is virtually useless. I never had a problem with the round. It always cleans very well for us. It does wear fast though. We use both floor nozzles and they work fine. In general they need more variety.
Send them some feedback, I'm sure they would like too know.


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## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

There's a number of adapters you can use to fit non-festool parts to festool hoses. This adapter can join most any 2 products, and you can trim the excess for a cleaner fit. Home Depot also carries a 3 piece adapter kit to join different sizes. Between the 2, it'll allow you to use your favorite shop vac brushes with your festool system. 

I think there's a lot Festool could do to improve their vacuum accessories. First one that comes to mind is lower their damn prices. I still use em, but I'm not happy about it.


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## bobross (Jun 27, 2016)

Try going to a vacuum store they have great brushes inuse the kirby ones myself they have a dense hair count great for millwork or doors.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> First one that comes to mind is lower their damn prices.


No doubt. I'd never even heard of Festool before I joined PT.

When I looked them up and saw their pricing I just about pooped.

$424 for a 14.4V impact driver

$624 for a 6 1/4" circ saw

That's kind of insane. I'm sure they're high quality tools, but jeepers.


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

A little update on my festool brush attachment remedy...

I took apart two 2.5" round brush attachments to use the bristles to beef up one squarish shaped attachment for my shopvac, and one to beef up the festool 27mm round brush tool. The bristles are basically a round "strip brush" anchored by a metal strip.

I used masking tape a while ago to attach the one for shopvac. Attachment fits the 1.25" hose which is connected to a 2.5" hose going to the vac.
The square shape gets corners pretty good and it has a large footprint for effectiveness.

I used epoxy to attach the strip brush around the festool attachment. Fits well.

Also I have had the adapter Stelzerpainting had mentioned. I haven't used it on the jobsites much if any. I put the 90° 2.5" brush on that and used it with the 27mm hose to pick up some sanding dust. Little bit bulky but it is an option. When putting it away it fits right in the pro 5 ltd case perfectly, adapter and brush together.


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

I pushed the back side metal down flush and epoxied it after the pic.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I buy the hair bristle brushes from a vacuum store as well. Much better than any other ones. But, they have cheapened those too over the years. Not as dense anymore.


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

Thanks for the tip, I'll think about going to a vac store sometime or looking online again. I have also been looking for a vac attachment that would be great for walls. Like a dust mop with a port. I'd put it on some extension wands/tubes. I've seen a hardwood floor version but it was a brand new attachment for a clients in-home vac system.

Here's my brushes that go with the festool vac.


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