Plate Brushes

[nickrego]

Has anyone else given up on using the standard “off-the-shelf” plate brushes ?

I have tried several brands and models of brushes. I have also experimented with several modifications that I have read about on various boards (I like to tinker). All with the same result…

Standard plate brushes are too coarse to do the best job in our area.

I work in an area where the natural dirt is an extremely fine sandy loam. Although most of the private schools truck in the nice red ash, 99% of our fields are the natural dirt. A standard plate brush will not clean the plate in one pass. The first pass gets the bulk, but a light dusty layer remains and requires a second pass. Personally, I think taking all day to clean the plate just delays the game unnecessarily and doesn’t look professional.

So my solution was this;

I purchased a high quality 4” black bristled, black handled, ‘stain’ paint brush. The version used for stain has bristles that are 25% shorter than a standard paint brush. This gives the brush a little more stiffness. I cut the slender part of the handle off and painted the silver band black to match the handle (didn’t want to look like I was using a paint brush). If fits perfectly on end in my ball bag brush slot, which I had sewed up to a shorter depth years ago.

Now, it only takes one quick pass and the plate is nice and clean.

One other point to make…

Some of those private schools, in addition to having the good ash dirt, also paint the plate with the White Silicon Plate paint. Let me tell you, with that stuff, all you need to do is fan your brush just above the plate and it is spotless. The only drawback is when the coach tries to paint an extra inch or two around the plate. Can’t help but laugh.

[DG]

Nope. A standard plate brush will last me 10-12 years. The bottom of my shoe will last forever. I use the brush between inninga, and maybe after a play at the plate that covered it up. Other times I use the bottom of my shoe when there is some other delay that affords me the time to swipe it a couple times with my foot.

Natural dirt? Natural dirt, in my area, is black, and not to be found in the infield of a ballfield. These are a sand/clay mixture.

[ozzy6900]

In my area (CT), I get everything from clay to beach sand on the fields. I simply use the standard plate brush and cut the bristles so that there is about 1 1/2" left. This makes the brush stiff enough to deal with damp clay and pliable enough to work quickly. Also, the bottom of my plate shoes work to get the bulk of the mess off the plate after a slide play.

[Robmoz]

Originally posted by DG
Nope. ... The bottom of my shoe will last forever. I use the brush between inninga, and maybe after a play at the plate that covered it up. Other times I use the bottom of my shoe when there is some other delay that affords me the time to swipe it a couple times with my foot.

Use your foot to dust the plate? Holy moly, I thought you had a higher personal standard than that. Where is your pride man? I hope you keep your shoes shined at least.

[wobster]

Along the same lines, what do you use for a wet plate covered with sand? My standard plate brush just makes the whole plate brown. My shoe does most of the cleaning on those days.

[Kaliix]

Ditto here.

The only time I stopped using the brush and went to the shoe was the last game I did when the brush was just painting the plate brown. The shoe actually worked better that day and that is what I used.

Originally posted by wobster
Along the same lines, what do you use for a wet plate covered with sand? My standard plate brush just makes the whole plate brown. My shoe does most of the cleaning on those days.

[DG]

Originally posted by Robmoz

Use your foot to dust the plate? Holy moly, I thought you had a higher personal standard than that. Where is your pride man? I hope you keep your shoes shined at least.

I keep the tops shined, but I leave the bottoms pretty rough, so I can dust off the plate better.

[ecurebel]

The only drawback is when the coach tries to paint an extra inch or two around the plate. Can’t help but laugh.

with that extra paint around the plate it doesn't really matter because the way i dust the plate a the begining of each game would take those extra inches off that the coach adds.