5 Accessories That Will Turn Your Ryobi Drill Into A Power Cleaning Tool

A power drill has three primary purposes: driving in fasteners, pulling them back out, and making holes in things. It's definitely not a bad tool to have around the house, especially if you're regularly engaged in some manner of handiwork. As far as consistent mundane uses go, though, you probably wouldn't use a power drill on a regular, casual basis if you're not a day laborer.

However, while drilling fasteners in and out is a power drill's main purpose, that's not all it has going for it. For instance, if you're using a Ryobi-branded drill, there's actually a lot of untapped potential in that gizmo as a cleaning implement. Obviously, sticking in a rotating metal bit won't do much to clean your windows, but if you swap the bit out with various cleaning brush accessories, you can put that drill's muscle to more practical uses. Ryobi sells a handful of different cleaning brushes intended primarily for its cleaning-specific tools, but thanks to their special connections, these brushes can also work with your regular Ryobi power drill.

It's a well-known fact that you can't use the same kind of brushes or cleaning tools on all kinds of materials. If you tried to clean up your house's windows with a hard-bristled brush, for example, you might get a bit of cleaning done, but you'll also get a lot of permanent scratches and damage. Different jobs necessitate different tools, and if you want to use a Ryobi power drill to clean lighter materials, that's a job for the Soft Bristle Brush kit.

This duo of hex shank-attaching scrub brushes can plug right into your Ryobi power drill, the same way you would plug in a regular hex shank drill bit. Squeeze that trigger, and you've got powerful, yet gentle rotational action, perfect for cleaning plastic decorations, outdoor furniture, laminate floors, and glass windows. The wider brush is good for regular work, while the narrower brush is good for reaching into tight spots. Once you're done cleaning, both of these brushes are safe to clean in the top rack of your dishwasher.

In the same way that heavier brushes are poorly-suited for lighter materials, it's unwise to use lighter brushes on heavier materials. While you're significantly less likely to cause damage to something thicker with a light brush, you also won't get any tangible cleaning done. You're pretty much just going to be wasting physical effort and the battery charge on your Ryobi power drill. To accommodate different kinds of surfaces, you need thicker-bristled brushes, such as the Medium Bristle Brush kit.

This pair of brushes is the next step up from the Soft Bristle Brush kit, employing thicker bunches of bristles for cleaning thicker, more resilient materials. Just snap one of these brushes onto your power drill of choice, and you're ready to clean the gunk off of tile floors, granite surfaces, fiberglass surfaces, and even the siding on your house. Just like their smaller siblings, these brushes can attach to any Ryobi power drill that utilizes a hex shank connector, and can also be tossed into the dishwasher for an easy post-work cleanup.

The point of cleaning most surfaces is general upkeep and aesthetics. You want your stuff to look pretty, it's as simple as that. However, when some surfaces are marred by particularly stubborn messes or the mere passage of time, you eventually reach the point where you're going to need to break things down and start over. If you've got some heavy-duty materials that are in desperate need of equally heavy-duty cleaning, then attach the Abrasive Bristle Round Brush to your Ryobi Power Drill.

This brush is the heaviest one Ryobi has on offer for scrubbers and power drills, employing the thickest and meanest bristles it's got. These fierce teeth are designed less for cleaning and more for full-on material removal. The brush is good for stripping old paint from porous surfaces like wood, stripping rust from metal installations like doorknobs, cleaning gunk off of old bricks, and touching up weathered concrete. In addition to the forward-facing bristles, the brush also has bristles placed around the sides. This helps to expand the brush's cleaning range to corners and edges while lessening the chances of unsightly marring.

Have you ever seen wooden furniture or decorations that look old and weathered despite actually being brand new? That's thanks to a process known as distressing, wherein wooden materials are deliberately exposed to a bit of controlled force to give them a pleasantly aged and rustic vibe. If you're looking to do a bit of upkeep on your wooden furniture or just have an interest in wood crafting, attaching one of the Wire Wheel Assortment set brushes to your Ryobi power drill is a good place to start.

These six brushes can be hooked onto most Ryobi power drills and drivers via their metal hex shank connections. Give 'em a spin, and you can put a little bit of stylish weathering into your current woodworking project. Not only that, though, these brushes are also good for a little abrasive cleaning on surfaces like metal and plastic, with a particular acumen for stripping away stubborn rust. Naturally, they're good for cleaning gunk off of outdoor wooden furniture as well.

So, you've finished scrubbing your furniture, walls, decorations, or whatever else. However, full-scale upkeep isn't just about rubbing a soapy brush over everything and calling it a day. If you really want your possessions and surfaces to shine, you need to go the extra mile and give them a good buff and polish. You could do this by hand with some wax, a pad, and some gumption, but why not spare your wrists the trouble and just use the Buffing and Polishing Wheel set with your Ryobi power drill?

This four-piece set includes three different wheels for various levels of buffing and polishing, as well as a hex shank mandrel that can plug into most Ryobi power drills. Just mount the wheel onto the mandrel, plug it into the drill, and you're off to the races. The sisal wheel is great for fast-cut buffing and smoothing rough spots, the denim spiral wheel is for cutting buffing and general polishing, and the cushion sewn wheel is for luster buffing and fine detail work. All three of these work well on metal surfaces like steel, stainless steel, brass, and copper.