FAQ's

The Salmon logo was created in the early days of the company, when the two founders, Fred and Bill Coward, were trying to decide upon a suitable brand for their products. The name "Hill" Brush was because the company started in a small building beneath Castle Hill in Mere, Wiltshire. You can clearly see the Hill when passing on the A303 link from London to Exeter, but it was thought at the time that an image of a Hill was not appealing to them.

Both brothers were keen salmon fishermen, and thought if they used a "Salmon" as their logo, it would remind them of their favourite pastime, when not selling brushes.

A "Scavenger" broom is a stiff broom with long fibres, which is used to remove heavy dirt. The term arose because the brooms "sought out and removed" or "scavenged" for dirt.

A "Platform" broom is a broom that is wide and narrow, with an exposed length of brush fibre of approximately 100mm. Typically a platform broom has a flat back, or block, and is used for sweeping large open areas, such as pavements, factory floors, station platforms, school halls etc.

They are produced in lengths from 356mm (14") up to 914mm (36"), with varying textures of natural and synthetic fibres.

A "Churn" brush was so named because it was designed for cleaning milk churns in the days when they were used to transport milk from farms to milk factories. They are made with a wedge trim to allow the brush to reach into the corners of the milk churns, and the fibre used in better quality brushes is a unique natural fibre called Bahia. Bahia comes from a palm in the State of Bahia in Brazil, and will not rot or distort. Churn brushes are therefore especially good for use in wet conditions.

Nowadays they are used on most building sites for cleaning cement mixers, barrows and tools, and are also widely used in domestic garden situations. How many times have you needed a suitable brush for cleaning the mud off your Wellington boots?

If you would like to know the status of your order, you can either contact sales@hillbrush.com and ask the team, or check your account area.

We have a number of suppliers around the world who stock our products. If you are hoping to buy a product and can't get what you want on our website, please contact Customer Support on our contact page and we will help you find your nearest Hillbrush supplier.

Yes. Our headquarters is based in Mere, Wiltshire where we manufacture all our products from a state-of-the-art facility.  We welcome visitors to the site and also to our Visitor Centre to enjoy a refreshment and tour our brush museum.

We source our raw materials from around the world, ensuring the highest quality and the most suitable material properties for the task at hand.

For more information, see our dedicated raw materials site: https://www.fibres.hillbrush.com/country-of-origin 

The "trim length" is the exposed length of brush fibre. In other words the distance from the surface of the sweeping part of the brush to the face of the brush back.

If you are in food manufacturing or any area that requires a strict segregation of areas and high standard of hygiene, you would need to look at our Hygiene Range. For a more industrial or outdoor environment, look at our Commercial or Traditional ranges. We also offer bespoke products. You can find out about our different ranges on our homepage.

The life of a brush can vary considerably, depending on the care, usage, and the type of brush. Even well made brushes used frequently in an industrial environment might only last a few months, whereas a cheap household brush used occasionally could last for many years. It is important to match the right brush to the right job.

The type of material in a brush makes a difference. There are many different types of natural and plastic filaments on the market, which look and feel very much the same, but which have different wearing properties. Hillbrush has undertaken various experiments with the life of brushes using a specially designed "brushing" machine. This machine counts the strokes brushed on specific surfaces that can be changed to simulate different sweeping conditions. It was found that after 300,000 sweeps on a tarmac surface for instance, a brush filled with polyester was worn to the same extent as a similar brush filled with polypropylene, which had only completed 10,000 sweeps. Polypropylene is cheaper than polyester, but looks the same.

The life of a brush can generally be lengthened with the following measures: 

Do not use brushes made for indoor use outside. Store outside brushes in a dry place out of direct sunlight. Always allow brushes that have got wet to air in a dry environment (particularly with natural materials). If you are using brushes with chemicals or chemical solutions, check to make sure that plastic filaments in particular will not be attacked. Always bear in mind that both chlorine and strong natural sunlight degrade all brush filaments eventually. Try to store brushes with the filaments away from surfaces, or better still hang them up after use.

We have been manufacturing brushes for 100 years but we are still learning. We always listen to our customers' ideas and incorporate helpful feedback into our line if we believe it is beneficial to do so. Feel free to send us your suggestions, but please note that we cannot guarantee we will put them into development.