The Unger hybrid brush could also have been called the Unger Natural Bristles Hybrid and seems to have been designed with heavily soiled windows and solar panels in mind.
It is probably the best brush I’ve ever used for cleaning power, but not something that I could use every day! Keep on reading to find out why.
If you are looking to buy any Unger products we recommend going to The Cleaning Warehouse. They have a huge stock of products and if you use the code TCG5 at checkout you will get an extra 5% off and they continue to help support The Cleaning Guide. Find out more here.
Design and materials
It is made up of an outer set of natural boar’s hair bristles, while the inner bristles are Unger Power Bristles.
The reason for this combination is that the boar’s hair gives superior scrubbing power while the Power Bristles do help with cleaning but also help with glide over the glass. With 100% natural bristle the brush could have been way too grippy on the glass making for a much harder cleaning experience.
The Power Bristles also only absorb a very small amount of water. This helps keep the weight of the brush down in use. Natural bristles absorb a lot more water so a brush made up of completely natural bristles would be a lot heavier when actually using it.
Whereas synthetic bristles clean from the bristle tips, natural hair bristles clean across the whole length of the bristle. On a microscopic level, the natural hair is not smooth like a synthetic bristle but has a series of tiny hooks, or arms, that can clean also grip the dirt.
Using it in real life
I have been using this brush for a few weeks now and as I’m testing it during the summer I’ve been using it with cold water and using it on pretty much all jobs.
The brush offers fantastic scrubbing power on stubborn stains such as snail trails, bird poop and bee pollen. When using the brush you can definitely feel it gripping the glass and cleaning. It seems like the dirt just melts away.
The length of the bristles makes it easily guide over window frames giving them a good clean as well.
It’s definitely great to have this brush in your arsenal of brushes but I’m not going to be using it all the time as it’s not the most durable brush. I have already noticed some wear and miss-shaping of some bristles.
I will definitely be using this brush on first cleans and heavily soiled jobs, but to prolong its life use a different brush for maintenance cleans.
The only other negative thing that I can say about the brush, which isn’t a big problem, is that it doesn’t self-clean as well as some other brushes, holding onto cobwebs on the stock and in the bristles.
Specifications
The nLite Hybrid brush has all the usual features of the new nLite series of brushes. It’s available in a choice of 28cm and 41cm with a weight of 483g for the 28cm and 660g for the 41cm (both dry weights).
The 28cm brush has 2 pencil jets at the 41cm brush has 4 integrated into the main brush stock. Both brushes have an adjustable rinse bar stretching nearly the full width of the brush to give an even flow of water right across the area you are cleaning.
As with all nLite brushes, there is a built-in swivel on the brush itself rather than on the gooseneck. This swivel can be easily locked by sliding a collar forward and holding the brush at 90 degrees to the pole.
The quick release function to remove the brush is easy to use by pressing 2 catches on the gooseneck. This also allows the brush to rotate on the gooseneck giving you up to 8 options on the position of the brush.
The brush socket also includes an internal euro thread, meaning that it can be used on any pole with a euro thread gooseneck; so it’s not just for the Unger poles.
The brush stock also has soft rubber bumpers fitted to the ends as standard.
Although Unger has improved the design of the bumper we recommend glueing these in place as they can become dislodged and are easy to lose.
Final thoughts
I love this brush, it’s great to add to a collection but it may not be the best if you are getting started and looking to be using just one brush.
Remember that when shopping for Unger products use the discount code TCG5 at The Cleaning Warehouse to get an even better deal by getting an extra 5% off your basket.
