Like many golfers, I like to keep my clubs clean and clear of debris so I can get the best possible performance out of them. I typically use a wet towel or a brush for cleaning them and both methods seem to do a fine job. Wunderbrush has created a product, the Scrub Hub, which is supposed to make club-cleaning a little faster and easier for golfers that walk while using a push cart. They sent a sample over for me to review and I’ve spent a number of rounds putting it to the test.
Installation
The Scrub Hub is designed to fit on the wheels of just about any push-cart on the market today. The instructions that came with the brush were easy to follow, as were the diagrams. Basically, you attach the base using a flat-head screwdriver to attach the brackets to the wheel while making sure the device stays centered. After that, the actual brush screws into the base. It’s important to note that the brush is screwed in counter-clockwise, which is supposed to prevent it from coming un-screwed during use. In all, it took me about 5 minutes to install the Scrub Hub, which is definitely reasonable. The brush can be removed from the base at any time, which makes transporting your push cart a little easier.
Performance and Convenience
This can really be broken down into two sections: club cleaning and cleat cleaning. I’ll start with club cleaning.
The basic premise behind the Scrub Hub is that the motion of your push cart’s wheel will turn it into a high-speed, rotating scrub brush. It is designed to allow the user to walk with a club in his or her hand and let the spinning brush remove dirt and grass at the same time, rather than stopping to grab a towel or handheld brush. The premise itself is actually a great idea, though I found it lacked a bit at actually performing this function. While it was easy to hold the club down on to the brush while walking, the only thing that it really did was remove some surface dirt from the club face. It’s not easy to get good leverage on a club just based on length alone. The grooves on my clubs, which are arguably the most important part of the club to keep clean, weren’t really cleaned at all, so I was left reaching for my other handheld brush anyway. I think the problem lies in that the rotating bristles are moving perpendicular to the grooves, rather than with them. The brush basically glides over the grooves instead of penetrating down into them.
I thought the Scrub Hub functioned better as a cleat cleaner than anything. The location was convenient since my feet were fairly close to it as I pushed the cart. I don’t really know that the brush itself is strong enough to stand up to repeated cleat cleaning (as I’ll discuss later), but it seemed to work decently for this purpose. I can see where it would come in handy on a wet or muddy day.
Durability and Other Thoughts
The Scrub Hub’s base and attachment hardware are both made of a hard plastic that seems quite durable. The wire bristles on the brush are similar to any others in that they wore slightly over time, which is to be expected. The actual rod that the bristles are attached to was a little more flexible than expected and I actually bent it before my first nine holes testing the Scrub Hub were complete. I’m not really sure how I bent it, but I suspect it was due to bumping into it with my foot. This did throw the brush at an odd angle, which made attempting to clean a club more difficult. I was able to bend it back, but I did have to take a pretty firm grasp on the prickly bristles to do so. This leads me to believe that repeated cleat cleaning could cause the unit to bend as well, though I personally didn’t experience that issue.
One other observation I had was that I ran into the Scrub Hub a few times with my foot, and actually snagged my shoe laces on it. Obviously, I wasn’t used to having a brush protruding from the wheel of my push cart, and it became a little easier to avoid over time. Still, this is a bit of a safety issue since I could have easily tripped and fallen while getting snagged on it.
Final Thoughts
I’m constantly amazed at the innovation we see when it comes to golf accessories. The Wunderbrush Scrub Hub really is a neat idea, but I do think it could use some refining. While it cleaned my cleats pretty well, I thought that it could have done a better job on my golf clubs. If you’d like more information, you can head over to www.wunderbrush.com. As always, thanks for reading and best of luck on the golf course.
Ryan H.
Nice thorough review Ryan. I’m not a walker or a push cart owner but I can several that do paying attention to your review. Again, good job.
Solid review here Ryan! I failed to even think of it until you mentioned it, but I think you are spot on with the bristles moving perpendicular to the grooves and failing to get in there to clean them.
Decent concept I guess, but not worth the effort just for cleat cleaning when other cart OEM’s have a cleat cleaner available that does not grab laces and protrude so much.
Thanks for the solid review!
I feared it might not hold up as well as I’d want something like this to. Good idea, slick little gadget, but just not something I need.
Thanks for the honest review Ryan. You have confirmed my initial feelings on this device.
This doesn’t surprise me that much, but I still think it serves a great purpose as a cheat cleaner, especially in wetter conditions. Thanks for the review Ryan!
I was hoping for better results (though not really expecting them). This would probably be good for the guy who likes a lot of the golf gadgets.
Nice review Hawk, and it came out pretty much as I expected. I like the thought and the general idea of the product, but I’m not sure I would like that sticking out of my cart.
Nice review Hawk, I dont use a push cart, but I can see where this could be put to good use.
Thanks for the review Hawk. I wondered how this thing would function myself, sounds like a decent enough idea however. I’m not sure how I’d like to be trying to clean my club while actually rolling my push cart down the fairway either. I also don’t think I’d like how it sticks out off the wheel like that either. Probably not a device that I’ll be picking up myself, thanks again!
Good review Hawk. It’s probably not something I’ll ever use, but I enjoyed reading about it.
Interesting product, I was a bit concerned when I saw the bending, but glad it worked well as a cleat cleaner. Sometimes, a stick/tee just isnt good enough!
I appreciate your work on this Ryan, I was skeptical when I read your first post on this and was hoping it might be better in actual use than I envisioned. Hopefully they will make some refinements and the Wunderbrush will be more effective.
Nice write up Hawk. Interesting device. I like the idea.
Did it get any better if you held the clubface horizontal vs vertical while you walked?
Thanks for the honest review Ryan. I like the idea of the golf cleaning device but I think this makes an otherwise easy task a bit more cumbersome. A possible redesign may grab my interest.
Great review Ryan. Looks like you were honest with your observations. I can see where walking with the cart and trying to clean the clubs at the same time would be difficult.
mward – I thought about that, but it’s really an odd angle to hold the club, especially while walking. Also, you still would have the same issues with leverage.
Thanks for your review Ryan. We truly value your input. The proper way to get the brush in the grooves is to slide it to toward the end of the brush with a pulling motion. The brush we sent to you was a prototype sample which has since been improved for retail sales. The new brush protrudes 1 inch less from the wheel just enough to clean cleats, is less bendable and less likely to be bumped into. We do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, just in case any consumer is not happy with the product.
Again, we appreciate your honest comments and feedback. This will definitely help us as we continue to improve the product. We forgot to mention the price is $24.99 and we will offer $5 off for all of your readers if they just mention THP when placing the order.
Good review Ryan,
We also had a sample of the Wunderbrush here in the UK and has it is being further developed, I must say it is a fantastic product and the feedback here is positive. We sent it across to Ireland for further views and again our feedback was of a positive nature. Looking forward to seeing it hit the market place.
I use pushcarts and this would be great. I typically clean my clubs by hand with my bag towel and some water; I have been known to use a golf tee as well. But this would make life so much easier. Thanks for the review and I will look at purchasing it. Also, I like the tips about installing it. This will be helpful for me as I hate to read instructions. Thanks.
Joe – thanks for the update and I like that you are seeking ways to improve your product. I think those changes are great ideas.
Good review Hawk! If I walked with a cart I could see this being very handy