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I Tried Hard To Make Something In America (The Smarter Scrubber Experiment) - Smarter Every Day 308 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-06-08 20:08:24
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Welp.. this is going to be interesting.

I'm grateful that you, the Patrons of Smarter Every Day, have long been aware of this project and have been so supportive. I'm excited to see if we can tool this thing up... but I'm simultaneously scared that we might not be able to figure it out well.

Thank you for being so supportive and making this project happen! I now know how to CNC machine, I know more about stamping and injection molding.... all kinds of things. I'm grateful for this knowledge, and I'm looking forward to investing whatever comes out of this into manufacturing hardware.

I'm grateful for your support, and for you personally!

Regards,

Destin

Files

I Tried To Make Something In America (The Smarter Scrubber Experiment) - Smarter Every Day 308

Get a Smarter Scrubber Here: http://smarterscrubber.com Interested in Wholesale, or helping us tell the story? Here's a link: https://forms.gle/XFrLTa5b8kxSvPnu8 I would like to thank the Patrons of Smarter Every Day. They knew about this project early and helped make it happen. http://www.patreon.com/smartereveryday John is a great Dad and a good dude. Check out JJGeorge here: https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/ Our goal is to make these things 100% in America. We're going to have to build some machines in order to do this. Your support is appreciated. Mantle's 3D Printing for injection molds is a technology I'm very excited to explore. A huge thanks to Ted for participating! Here's a video on what they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywWr6-nHF4 A HUGE thanks to our Injection Molder Chris Robson, with tons of work from Jeremy: http://www.robsonco.com/ T&C Metal Stamping (Ask to speak to Weston and tell him Destin sent you!) https://www.tandcstamping.com/ Search Engine Podcast: Episode "The Puzzle of the All-American BBQ Scrubber" https://www.searchengine.show/the-puzzle-of-the-all-american-bbq-scrubber/ Check out Jeremy Fielding's Channel https://www.youtube.com/@Jeremy_Fielding Check out Tim Cook's comments on China at the Fortune Global Forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ng8xQ-SNGc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GET SMARTER SECTION I recommend learning about the Bretton Woods Accords https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/bretton-woods-created Read about the Bretton Woods system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smarter Every Day on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/smartereveryday Ambiance, audio and musicy things by: Gordon McGladdery https://www.ashellinthepit.com/ http://ashellinthepit.bandcamp.com/ Warm Regards, Destin

Comments

Scot Harkins

I was literally just trying to find out where to buy these as a suggestion to friends, but there was no simple easy web link I could find. That alone would be a win. “Smarter every day grill” searches and the like.

Payperheirplain

I can confirm it is great at scrubbing cast iron pans and griddles. Not as good as my other non-bristle grill brush for cleaning the grill though. It works good, but without it being able to really get between the slots without using the end of the handle it's lacking. The only thing I think that can top this right now is the scrub daddy grill brush simply because that one molds to the thing you are scrubbing and helps knock stuff down. As a combo pair, they can't be beat. The Smarter Scrubber bangs off the big stuff and the scrub daddy does the clean up finer work. The Smarter Scrubber is unmatched for cleaning cast iron pans and my griddle top though. LOVE that you made the head removable because that is where it shines in my kitchen.

Matt Gruenloh

Holy crap, Destin. If you grow a full beard, you are your dad's doppelganger in his younger days!! I love your videos and my $20/month supporting your ability to make them is well worth it. (2:07 of video)

SHM

Good, thoughtful review. I feel like either it needs to be softer w/smaller links to get down between grill slats(?) or it just need to have a couple edges thinned out and turned upwards to use for in-between those slats...

Payperheirplain

Yeah some form of a squishable layer under the chain mail would have been nice. Seems that was part of the original design but didn't seem to make it into the version I've got. I did have to pop away from my desk so maybe he'll explain the change later in the video but it does seem he had the idea originally.

Derek Schmidt

Great video, proud to support this channel every month. Also love that you aren't making this about BUY AMERICAN!, but 'let's build locally so friends and family have jobs and education.' Great job

SpazC

My scrubber has been going great since your first shipments! So glad you're going out to the broader market now, I hope you're ready to sell through some serious product!

Nashguy207

I bought two of these when they first came out on patreon one for me one for my dad we love them. I enjoyed this experiment it was very interesting to me!

David Johnson

Destin, I teach metal shop in a high school in New Jersey. I used to work in a tool and die shop in high school and college. Without a huge push (and funding) to get students into tool and die/precision machining training programs this will become a lost art. One of my co-workers has a relative that owns a shop that makes custom manufacturing equipment for other manufacturers. I used to send 1 to 2 students there per year to see if they wanted to do that for a career, I haven't found a student interested in that career path in at least 6 years. Even more concerning is the apathy all teachers are suddenly seeing across the board now that the post pandemic slack is being taken up and schools are attempting to bring the rigor back up into their programs. In my 16 years of teaching shop classes I've NEVER seen so many students turn down 1 on 1 TIG welding lessons with me, its very disheartening. I love your manufacturing series and have been sharing it in class to show the students where we can go from my shop but its very very hard to get that spark going compared to 10 years ago.

Michael Landis

Great video and love the smarter scrubber I already bought. We experienced the same problem trying to buy in America finding out the parts really came from China. So frustrating!

Thomas Leja

Hey Destin, I kept looking at the end of your handle after you said you weren't sure where the rope came from and think you could get rid of the rope completely by adding a larger hole to the top of the handle. A roughly 3/8-1/2" diameter hole could fit most grill hooks, last longer than rope, and eliminate the need for that added cost and headache of where it comes from.

Steve Jones

What PERFECT timing.. I bought one of the very first SmarterScrubbers when the first video came out - it is such a great product/project to support, but I didn't really get to use it because we were packing up to move to a new house.. Today I FINALLY got my propane tanks out and ready to grill for the first time in my new house! Matter of fact, as I was just watching this video, my wife asked "how long is that.. if it's too long, you should go grill and resume later!!" :-) So.. Off to use my scrubber for almost the first time on my new grill in my new house! (edit: just looked at the shipping label when I re-opened mine.. I got it in November..)

Max

That's super cool, just incase the youtube burries me comment (someone else has prob said it already), for the engraving, is it possible to get the mob that laser cuts the blanks for the station press to engrave the blanks at the same time? Depending on their laser it should be possible to engrave, you just turn the power down. Even if they have to do it as two steps (engrave, adjust power, then cut) it'll probably be faster than individually gavo lasing each handle after they've been cut out and pressed

Grandpa D

Loved This! Thank You for All You Do... For All of Us!

TR

Hello Destin. I really enjoyed your latest video about the trials and tribulations of making your grill scrubber. As you've found out, saying "Make it in America" is a lot easier than actually doing it. I've had the good fortune of working in manufacturing for my whole career, starting with a machine shop running CNC machining centers. This wasn't a tool shop, it was a production shop mostly making plastic parts for a variety of customers. They also paid for me to go back to school getting my BS in Mechanical Engineering at UNC Charlotte. (First degree was a BA in Math.) After that I went to work for the last clock maker in the US, the Ingraham Time Products Div. of Toastmaster, Inc. This was mostly inexpensive plastic wall clocks. We also made clocks with wooden cases and plug-in lamp timers and alarm clocks. I used my CNC background to program the CNC routers for making the wooden cases. We also had an in-house injection mold shop and made our own molds. After that operation was shut down after a corporate buy-out, I went to work for Railroad Friction Products making brake shoes and disc brake pads for railroad cars and locomotives. After 15 years there they laid me off to reduce salary expenses. Apparently they couldn't afford their one and only product design engineer anymore. We had a shop where we made our own compression molds for the brake shoes and I worked closely with our suppliers for our stanped steel and cast iron parts.

TR

Sorry about that. I went to work for the AkxoNobels film plant designing manufacturing equipment for their film processing business. Not photo film, but decorative film. I retired from there in March 2024 and have been a bum since then. Anyway, I've worked with all of the processes you've described and enjoyed it greatly. Thanks.

Payperheirplain

So I checked, and mine absolutely does have a squishable layer like Destin is describing, it just doesn't work to actually squish into the grates of a grill. Still a great product but there is room for a v2.0 to fix this part and we'll be near grill brush of all time.

Payperheirplain

Honestly I don't even use the rope on most of grill brushes and I know very few folks who do. I lay mine on the tray under my grill and take it inside after I'm done cooking. Bigger hole for those who want to hang on a hook and eliminate the rope is a great idea.

BurntEnds

I’ve said for decades that we should be keeping manufacturing in the US. Obviously, it costs more for the labor. But if we don’t, the costs to the economy and to the manufacturing system are greater, even if they are less easy to see. Thank you for this labor of love. You are a hero! We need thousands more like you.

Fred S

Absolutely first rate job Destin and team. It’s been so cold here that I haven’t used my original. Soon, soon. I hope you took my earlier suggestion to ease the slightly sharp edge on the sides of the handle. I’m going to buy a couple more for family and tell them to watch this video. I am also going to send a link for the video to my engineer friends. Wish I had a way to get this to young people.

Philip Wortman

I might have an interesting take on this, because I totally agree when Destin said, "I don't believe it right that that I had to have a You Tube channel in order to take this risk." I think we are right on the very edge of the death of IP. I think somewhere between here and 5 years from now there's going to be a massive upheaval in the way the world works, because there just can't be IP in the next waves of AI. I don't think that's really debatable, but I'm happy to go into detail if anyone is interested. I think there's going to be massive disruption to basically all of capitalism when people can build and deploy value for other with the aid of AI at exponentially diminishing costs. My thought is that if you take anything that currently holds value to others, you could craft that service with an AI and choose to give that result away for free and all it will take is one person doing that once and the walls fall down in that market. The way this was framed was very backward looking because, yes, jobs have always meant feeding your family, opportunity, better lives and more freedom. I just don't think that will be the case in the near future. My hope is that we can all do something like Destin did here, follow our interests, chase dreams, work together on shared visions, connecting rather than what most of us currently do, which is work for a pay check and be mildly terrified that something could happen that stops that pay check.

Lutz Kretzschmar

I've had the Scrubber for a bit now and I really like it for flat surfaces, but for grills, it doesn't really do a good job between the rods (gratings?), since the bottom is essentially flat. I've taken to turning it on it's side 45 degrees and then going between them grill rods, but that uses just a small area of the brush and doesn't get everything. Thoughts?

Tyson Gilmore

Same here, seems the layer under the chainmail isn’t as soft as other silicone items I’ve used. Is the first run maybe a harder silicone??

Bespoker Bespoker

Just watched the video, and I had two thoughts. First, I was amazed you went that whole video without making a "supply chain mail" pun. I could never have resisted that temptation! Second, part of the problem with companies is that they are never allowed to choose to make things locally if it would cost the stockholders even an extra penny, at least in America. If you look up the Dodge v Ford case a century ago (1919). However, a company *COULD* choose to make things locally, if customers demanded locally bought products, and the company would risk losing money by selling too many non-local things. (Think about Sam Walton's "Bring It Home to the USA", where Walmart in the 1980s tried to source as many products as possible from America.) But, as long as price matters more than anything else to consumers, a poor-quality brush that has to be replaced every year will be better for the stockholders (again, the only ones who matter according to US court cases) than something better. There is some room for better quality, but in many cases, brands built on quality get bought out by people who just want to make money by banking on the good name of the brand. I really appreciate your videos, as it tries to educate the consumers about why they should pick quality, locally-made products. Consumer demand will steer the market. Hopefully, your nearly 12 million viewers will see this and start making demands!

Aaron Bird

This was a great video including so many friends of the channel like Jeff, Jeremy, and friends of no dumb questions putting the whole project together, thanks.

Jon Russell

Hey Destin - I commented on your YouTube video, but thought I’d come here and show my support, in a small way, on Patreon. I’m trying to not spend a ton of money, but I would like to support your channel/project by offering some industrial design services (for free) if you decide to modify or improve your design. If you decide to make your own knob or need to redesign the handle or whatever, I believe it would be in your interest to have someone with a design background helping make your product as aesthetically desirable as makes sense within your parameters. I am an industrial designer, and have been designing high end road bicycles for 13 years. Having seen all of our “made in America” labels switched over to “designed and assembled in America” to now just “designed in America” is sad. So, I support your goals and what you’re trying to inform people on.

Jon Russell

I also agree with the suggestion that China isn’t the budget option, they’re the overall best option. Quality and service is super high and the cost is still reasonable. There is high quality manufacturing in the US, especially in the mid-west, but the quality comes at a cost.

Jon Russell

3D printing, automation and sustainability are all huge drivers that will bring manufacturing back to the US (or just back to being local, wherever you are).

Bryan Anderson

i went to a skills center for computer networking my junior and senior years of high school. They had all kinds of trades. Culinary arts, fire fighting, construction, automotive, auto body, and more. It was half a day and provided two elective credits a semester. My senior year of highschool the district decided to change their requirements to get everyone ready for a 4 year college. This made it almost impossible for students to attend the skills center. The skills center ended up having to become a full fledge school to continue. I think it's sad to see schools pushing kids away from trades that feed directly into skills needed to learn to do the things you discussed..

Cristian Almendariz

Finally pulled the trigger on Patreon! Manufacturing is my life and it’s great to see real reshoring efforts without the focus being automation or large manufacturers. I’ve been to China several times and the difference in capability and quantity is truly mind blowing. Wonderful to see Jeremy share his experiences!

Chris Petersen

Kind of wishing I'd purchased a few of these back before everyone knew about them. I guess I'm in for a bit of a wait. Congrats!

KTMan77

Great video and it's great to see you putting in the effort to keep things local. As a millwright in western Canada I used to work at a machine shop that did sheet metal bending, machining, welding, powder coating, engineering and electrical assembly. But they were paying me 2/3 of market rate, it was a great learning opportunity but I couldn't afford to live comfortably. I hope the places you're working with in the US are paying their peope right.

Andrew K

Awesome video Destin! I’ve always been a firm believer in pushing trades as hard as pushing traditional college experience! Both are highly valuable but sadly trades have taken a back burner despite how vital they are to the middle class of American workers. As someone in aviation (which is traditionally a very college degree heavy field despite a lot of careers being trade-like), I appreciate the calls to action to consider taking trade courses with specific goals to enter the trade workforce here in America. Thanks for putting out videos like this. I hope they inspire the next generation of very smart people to enter the trades field!

Adam Sallee

I was an early purchaser of the Smart Scrubber. It really is a great product, and I appreciate it even more after watching the video! Thanks for putting your heart into the product, and into this project. I'm putting in a pre-order now for future gifts.

Michael Bent

I really enjoy these videos and hearing your process of finding local manufacturing companies. I'm reminded of a manufacturering processes professor I had that does a lot of tool and die work. Tom Jungst, I'm pretty sure he has done some mold work in the USA as well as lots of tooling processes, but seemed like a lot of it was quite one off stuff. Very interesting to hear from Jeremy how we see a big increase in skilled manufacturing in Asia. Bozeman Montana also has some injection molding and sheet metal processing companies, but definitely small scale operations.... it'd be interesting to see how much they are doing that is tooling based in the USA vs getting tooling and dies from overseas. Thanks for all the good insights you've dredged up in this process!!!

Apo .Zelesk

Great job Destin as always!! This struggle with suppliers really reminds me of videos I was watching about the Fairphone company. Where they were having the same issues but with trying to find "fair" suppliers that had no slave/child labour, whose wages were proper etc. and like yourself they were saying that the some raw matterials couldnt be found through "fair" suppliers at all.

Matt Palo

I recently learned how the tool company Malco had purchased the former Irwin manufacturing plant in Dewitt, Nebraska to make their Eagle Grip locking pliers, and for a period of time they were the only locking pliers made in the USA, but they have also now closed that plant as of 2022. The USA again is no longer producing any locking pliers domestically. It’s just one anecdote, but relevant to what you’re saying I believe

Barron B

I could talk for hours on this subject and how bad this is within multiple industries and just how vulnerable as a country we are as a result.

Zoner

Destin, I wish you'd run for president honestly. I know you're somewhat avoiding politics, but what you're doing is how real politics is supposed to be, it's supposed to be uniting us for a common cause for the prosperity of our communities. The vast majority of Americans, Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree with bringing manufacturing back to the US.

Daniel Craig

Destin, it sounds like you're not just trying to solve the manufacturing capability problem, but also the education pipeline for these skills. Indiana is doing a great job in pushing this, specifically Ivy Tech (best of it's kind). I think that could be a major blow to cracking the nut that (I believe) you've been squeezin. If there's interest there, I'd be happy to help crack the door and make something happen.

Johannes Thevissen

I cant wait to get one of those Smart Scrubbers here in Germany. I totally understand the Desire to manufacture it completely in your Country.

EB

This is a great video and a good look behind some of the stuff I have to work with every day in tool and die and fabrication. I can't count the times I've heard "we can't make that anymore" and "We have the world's supply of that item in this one drawer (because the company went out to business)" Then we have to work on rebuilding from the ground up again on a product.

EB

I was happy to see your "birth of a new tool maker" part of the video. We're working at my company to cross train tool makers as designers too so they be flexible and work out solutions without waiting on office staff.

Mark Graybill

Great video, Destin! I was educated as an aerospace engineer in the early 80s at Northrop University in L.A. At that time, the skills for producing tooling were common in that area. Many shops had their own department, and those that didn't worked with a nearby supplier who they knew they could trust with their I.P. because the T&D shop depended on their own reputation and on the business of local manufacturers. Part of my education was internships at local manufacturers, and time spent designing tooling and following a product from design to production. I rapidly learned that my greatest resources were the shop foremen at both the manufacturing and T&D shops. Since building my own tabletop CNC machine in 2004, I've had to learn a lot of what the machinists knew that I never had to bother with myself other than making sure my designs went to them in a form they could produce, and that would suit the purpose. My first two years of university included intensive process and manufacturing classes that stuffed me full of information about draft angles, depths and thicknesses, tool release, etc. etc., which then got immediately put into practice in my internships. Part of what made Northrop a great university for someone with a hands-on focus like myself was their close relationship with local industry that gave me the opportunity to put my learning into practice in a real world setting, as opposed to nearby UCLA, where I would have spent that time in a classroom with a book rather than in a fab lab or on a local company's shop floor. Northrop had limited facilities themselves, but several of their professors managed to turn that shortcoming into an advantage by building the relationships for internships at local businesses, both large and small. It's a shame to learn that so much of that culture has been lost since that time. I really do believe that it's possible to rebuild it, though, and I see a desire to create behind the Maker movement that could be tapped to doing greater things than simple hobby crafts. As to your scrubber, a few comments. I think what you're doing is fantastic. I don't want my further comments to appear to be criticisms, but I'm going to put on the hat that I was handed in the course of my work many times in my career (which was as often outside aerospace as within it), where my boss handed me something and said, "design one that's better and cheaper so that we can eat their lunch." First, I want to comment that I looked into producing chainmail commercially back in the mid-80s as a concept for a personal business. I contacted tooling companies looking for a machine that could be transported on a 5 ton truck that I could feed wire stock and get chainmail out the other side. I wanted to be able to do different ring sizes and at least 4-in-1 pattern, though being able to do 6-in-1 would be a big plus as well. I wanted to produce it as fabric in widths from 2.5 to 26 inches. It was a tall order, but the quotes I was getting at that time from tooling companies in L.A. were coming in at about $100,000 to $130,000. It was out of the budget for the business I was looking at at the time vs. other approaches I was considering, but then I was looking at making a niche product (chainmail armor for re-enactors) rather than a commercial commodity product. Next, putting on my "make this better and cheaper" hat, when I look at your scrubber the first thing I think of is replacing the chainmail with a perforated and corrugated metal foil. One that will act as its own cushion, be perforated to allow it to conform to the grill shape sufficiently (not a lot of depth of deformation is needed) while having the edges necessary to scrape the grill bars clean. Developing the pattern and the attachment to the backing would be the parts that would become a science project. But, this would eliminate the requirement for a heat resistant polymer cushion layer, increase the overall heat resistance of the tool (especially if the backing were made of metal as part of the handle), and eliminate at least one and possibly three or four parts (if the fastener can be eliminated.) Keeping the ability to remove the scrubber head would put back at least the fastener and knob, and a backing that's separate from the handle (though for that I'd consider making a second product specifically for hand use, rather than a single convertible tool.) I would experiment with metal that's on the order of 24 to 30 gauge at first to see the effect of different thicknesses and different stamped patterns, longevity, and to experiment with different means of securing the scrubber face into its backing both with and without a separate fastener to secure it. Stamped metal can be pretty good at being its own fastener, and the forming process could even make the parts that contact the backing be thicker and stronger than the webs and contact surfaces of the brush. I know that this isn't a good enough idea for you to ditch what you've already got and are working with, but I'm offering it here to you as an idea for future development. Ideas are free, because it's the development that really turns an idea into a product. So this is up for grabs for you (or anyone else here) to do with as you please. I make no claims to ownership. In fact, a search of patents for similar products would probably be worthwhile. Sometime in the past 150 years there has to have been something, given the large scale adoption of metal stamping to producing all sorts of products over the years, and it's most likely to have had its patent expire long ago. While patents typically skip critical elements of the design or fabrication processes, they give a starting point for many design elements. And if someone else decides to go into competition with you, hey, competition is healthy and maybe we can get bristle brush cleaners pushed out of the market entirely!

Mark Graybill

A slightly finer mail (smaller rings) and an uneven surface of the cushion beneath it (rather than a flat surface) would solve that problem. But it will likely increase the cost of the mail swatches and possibly reduce the life of the cushion beneath it. (Speaking as a former materials and processes engineer.) :)

Randal Kay

Great work. Thanks for sharing your journey. I purchased one of the scrubbers a while back, been using it lots, love it. Really like being able to put it in the dishwasher. I did "MacGyver" the handle with duct tape. Edges were a little rough.

Robert Sanges

You should have released this video first. I was like, why is Dsetin hawking grill scrapers?

Anthony

Hey Destin! I can't afford to buy a SmarterScrubber yet, but I do intend to in the future. Not for just myself, but a friend of my as a gift. I had a question and a bit of ideas that I hope you might take into consideration. First, the question, is this safe for a Traeger with porcelain grill grates? Now the ideas. First, in relation to the question, please make an FAQ page about the SmarterScrubber. If I could find this information out by looking at an FAQ page, it would make the thought of purchase easier if I knew the answer to questions I may have. I tried to Google my question but was unsuccessful in finding an answer. You could add more questions and answers as they occur. Second, please make a much shorter "commercial" for the SmarterScrubber. Something that can be easily shared. I want to send another friend some info about it, but I know he will be turned off by seeing a 49 minute video. I know others will as well, even if I were to time stamp the video to the pitch. Unfortunately, attention spans are becoming more and more limited, and while I don't like it, it is just a current fact. I think/hope you might sell a lot more if you had a "commercial" for the product alone. I absolutely loved watching the video as a whole and can't wait to get my hands on one in the future! P.S. - Please forgive me for the multiple comments being posted and deleted. Commenting on the Patreon mobile website isn't the greatest.

Mark Roper

New Traeger owner and Weber enthusiast.....love the product I went to a circular wire scrubber years ago after hearing horror stories about straight wire. Price point is high....because it costs money to make. Got it!! I have Lodge cast iron and they have a scrubber without the handle, made of chain mail.....it looks like it is imported:( Love that you are doing all these things....I remember the episodes for die molding.....awesome. You are shining a light on something that is a HUGE issue.....we can't make it here. Maybe look to Lodge to combine the grill scrubber and pot scrubber and make it in the US. Detachable handle.....more functionality!! A better goal might be to create avenue to pass on the knowledge to shrinking fields of careers......allow people to pass on their knowledge of construction, IT(why we do it that way), cooking, travel, home improvement, etc. I have no idea what that looks like. Have a great week, ping me with any questions. Mark

Reed Bowman

I like the video emphasis. Being an American maker, who has regularly come up against vanishing American manufacturing when sourcing parts, it can be heartbreaking. But starting to educate more engineers and diemakers etc is not all that's needed. One thing I think is missing here is an American equivalent of AliBaba. I would love to be able to search a place that shows only US or US and Canadian made products, so that when I am looking for that particular bolt, or whatever, I can look there first. And when a US manufacturer is looking to find market information about what is wanted in the US that they may be able to manufacture, they can access that information as well. AliBaba is a very powerful tool, and its existence, in the absence of any competitor which sells things manufactured outside China, is definitely one of the nails in the coffin of American manufacturing. All that said, it bothers me that in your ad segments, it sounds like you're saying that your friend came up with the idea to use chainmail for the scrubber all on his own, and it hadn't been done before. Chainmail grill scrubbers were already a thing. And it would seem more intellectually honest to include a comparison to the others on the market, which, while cheaper than the Smarter Scrubber, are necessarily much more expensive than the garbage bristle ones. But the bristle scrubber vs Smarter Scrubber dichotomy is false as presented, when other chainmail scrubbers already existed. It's normal in advertising and marketing to present things that way, but Smarter Every Day should be better than that. I'd love to see the whole array of them compared by someone like Project Farm, though. Finally, did I miss something about the Patreon? I used to have a $3/video subscription, and was surprised to come here and find I had no sub anymore. I've just reupped to $3/month, but don't recall when it went away. Maybe I'll consider spending the $30 or so saved since I was last charged on one of these scrubbers, though the thermoplastic business has me hesitant.

Killianti

I'd like to add a corollary to the boots economic theory: inferior products are more popular and economically successful and become cheaper, and that makes it harder to make a superior product competitive. I don't know if that's actually true, but it's the sentiment that I get from my friends in manufacturing.

Aiden Bramer

Next challenge: solve the logistical and economic puzzle of surge capacity.

Brice McReynolds

You should check out Origin USA. They had a bunch of the same thoughts on American manufacturing but for textiles/boots/jiujitsu gis and did the dang thing. Would be a really cool factory tour video.

Vinnie Bartilucci

Destin just cited Terry Pratchett's Vimes "Boots" theory. Life is good. #GNUTerryPratchett

Steven and Halle

This is a wonderful video, Destin. Very encouraging to see the work you are doing and your effort to stay manufactured locally. I am a mechanical design engineer professionally, and a hobbyist maker. You showed yourself going to meeting with several local businesses where you learned about the issue in the first place. I would love to try and do similar things, but do not even know where to get started, or even where to network. Anyone have any advice on where to try and connect?

Bespoker Bespoker

This is what I have heard about appliances. Many people tell of a refrigerator or similar device that their grandparents have/had that ran without issue for 30+ years, and now they seem to only last 5-10 years. While it would be possible to make a new appliance with a 30+ year lifespan, but it would be much more expensive. As with the Boots problem, many people can only afford (or will only allocate) a smaller amount of money for those kinds of purchases. While "rich" people could afford much higher quality appliances, that market is very small, so most appliance companies concentrate on inferior products that they can sell at every big box store. On top of that, there is almost no way to tell how long an appliance will last when a person is standing at the store. Will they chose the vastly more expensive one, or the one with similar features that is "only" $2k? I have seen the same thing with televisions. Nobody wants to buy a "good" one, since in a couple of years when the cheap one fails, they can go buy the one with more features, even if it is still crap quality. If stores started taking direct responsibility for selling inferior products, it might be different. Stores could have a "reliability" rating, and caution people who are buying expensive things that will fail sooner, and help steer people toward less inferior products. But, that would risk costing the store money: people blame Frigidaire when their fridge fails, and go back to the store to buy an Amanda, and when that one fails, they go back to the same store and buy a Whirlpool, never realizing that these are all made by the same company that uses the same cost-cutting measures in manufacturing!

Nicholas Ray

I love the "buy nice, or buy twice" mentality when buying something. I'm also a big supporter or repairability to stop products from becoming unnecessary waste. Given that the chainmail is the wear item, is there a repair strategy you have in mind? Would you be able to sell replacement chainmail or even offer replacement parts for broken or damaged scrubbers to keep them out of landfills?

Clifton Ballad

I can rant about this topic for hours from the shop floor side. I'm a nerd that should have gone to college and become an engineer but instead I became a welder that read too many books...

Matt Nambot

Happy Father’s Day Destin! I was using my scrubber today after grilling and it made me very thankful of you for it! Have a wonderfully blessed day and don’t hurt your back trying to carry all your kids at once!

smartereveryday

What do you think should be on the FAQ? I don't know about porcelain grates I'll ask John.

insideHardware

Good job. Well rounded video. Product idea suggestion: sell separately just the hand held part without the long handle. (A tad cheaper and easier to ship) My wife loves cast iron and I hate cleaning them while touching the chain mail.

Steven Wiggin

I'm new to Patreon. It was this video that made me decide to join your channel. Thank you for the great content and talking about stuff that matters to all of us.

Rocketman Props

I'm late to the entire chainmaille discussion, and I doubt this is a new bit of information for you, but if you're still trying to source another manufacturer, the Canadian company The Ring Lord https://theringlord.com/ has done large scale welded chainmaille projects. I don't work for them so no clue what their scale capabilities are, but feels like it's worth a shot. Canada is in the exact same situation, so it'd be great if we learned some of the lessons you learned on this project.

Cody Knutson

I really wish I would have been more attentive. I was a Product Manager for over a decade and worked with a lot of American manufacturing companies. I was just watching your scrubber video, Destin, and while it seems easier to get molds made in China, molds can be and are made in the US. They are usually made with more robust cycle intent, but usually costs 3-4x more, as well. I worked with both injection and blow mold manufacturers. LMK if I can help with any contacts if still needed or needed in the future for other projects.

Cody Knutson

Hi Destin, Davies Molding in Illinois makes the majority of their products in the US. They are a large knob manufacturer that have been around for a long time. Here's their website Premium Clamping Knobs for Enhanced Functionality | Davies Molding https://share.google/t95ugMhT0ObiBf7HN

Anthony

Oh my gosh, I'm so incredibly sorry! I got totally caught up in something when I got the notification you had replied and I didn't think about it until just now (ADHD brain is sooo fun). That is absolutely my fault and again I sincerely apologize. I would suggest putting stuff like what type of grill grates you can safely use the scrubber on If you can buy replacement parts individually if needed, How long you expect the scrubber to last before you might need to replace it (if ever), What makes it safer compared to other brushes (some people might just get sent the link for the product page rather than seeing the video) What cleaning instructions for maintaining the scrubber to last the longest Has the handle been sanded down in any way as it looks like it is a little sharp. Or what measures were taken to avoid the edges being sharp. That is all I can think of right now but I will comment again if I think of something to add. Thank you so much for taking your time to read this by the way! Please let me know if you have any questions!

Don Rude

Adam Savage has the scrubber on his YouTube channel called "Adam Savages tested"

Matthew DeVries

Get ready for a slam of orders with Weber dropping their recall today for 15 years of brushes