Our History . . .
In 1912, a young Italian immigrant, Dominick Malone, arrived at Ellis Island with his father, mother and sister. His older brothers had come to America several years earlier. The immigrants at that time needed to have a sponsor in order to come to America. The brothers, who were living in Chicago, had to vouch for the new arrivals. As he grew up, Dominick worked at many jobs like most of the immigrants did in the early 20th Century.
Dominick Malone, in the early years, wire-drawing
a special brush for one of his customers.
Around the middle 1930’s, he worked for an industrial brush manufacturer. Over the next several years Dominick and his wife, Margaret, accumulated enough capital and expertise so they decided to purchase the company in the late 1930’s.
In 1944 they sold the company and moved to Michigan and started Custom Built Brush Co. in a small building behind their home. Dominick and Margaret ran the company with the help of their three sons, Michael, Alex, Joseph and a daughter, Carmel. Most of his brushes were handmade. He custom designed many specific brushes for all types of industries and was dedicated in helping his customers solve any type of problems regarding their brush needs.
In 1964 their son-in-law, G. Jack Clark, a Mechanical Engineer, and Carmel purchased the business. Jack worked in the same building that Dominick used for several years and then purchased land close by and built a larger building since Custom Built Brush Co. was growing.
Using his educational background in many capacities, Jack worked closely with the car wash; truck wash; bus wash and train wash industries to provide excellent quality, services, delivery, prices and also many innovations. He worked diligently on many different ideas that have resulted in numerous patents, which helped many industries. Under Jack’s leadership, Custom Built Brush Co. business grew substantially. Because of that growth, it was necessary to increase the size of the building several times over the next few years.
In 2012 Jack decided to retire and turn Custom Built Brush Co. over to his son, Jack J., and his daughter, Cindy, both who have worked at the Company for over 25 years. Since they have taken over, the Company continues to grow. They are determined to continue the tradition of helping their customers in the vehicle washing industry, and other commercial industries solve their brush needs in the same manner as their Grandfather and Father.
CUSTOM BUILT BRUSH CO., as the name implies, will help in the design and then build special brushes, not only for the vehicle washing industry, but also for industrial and other commercial uses. For more than 70 years we have worked closely with a variety of manufacturers to supply custom brushes to meet their needs. During this time we have developed many innovations.
SOME of the innovations are:
• CORE-LUBRICATED TOP BRUSHES for less vehicle damage, better cleaning and longer brush life (Patented)
• MIRROR-SAVER WRAP AROUND BRUSHES, which do just that-they greatly reduce the damage to mirrors
(and aerials).
• ROTATING CLOTH BRUSHES WITH ADJUSTABLE CLOTH-DIAMETER so it can be increased to it's original
size as it wears. (Patented)
• E-Z ON TIRE BRUSHES utilizing stub shafts for changing brushes rapidly (Patented).
• WAVY-CUT® CLOTH for cleaning vehicles much faster and better even with faster conveyor speeds (Patented).
Because of these innovations, we have been told many times that we have definitely helped the industries. We sell to many original equipment manufacturers and sell replacement cloth brushes and curtains for the following equipment: Autec, AVW, Belanger, Broadway, Cascade, Econocraft, Hanna-Sherman, MacNeil, Magic Wand, N/S, Nu-Star, Peco, Ryko, Sonnys, and Superior.
We continually strive to be a great company. Custom Built Brush is committed to providing high-quality products and services to our customers. Moreover, our efforts extend beyond providing outstanding products and services to those who need them. Custom Built Brush conducts research and participates in a number of initiatives to constantly develop our sector of the industry and to contribute to society. Custom Built Brush is implementing a strategy to accelerate growth through innovation, and strengthening organizational and associates' capabilities. Custom Built Brush continuously seeks to develop technologies and products that will have a greater impact on workers' safety.
For more information on our various products, please use the displayed links above by hovering over the 'Product and Services' tab to see a full list of our products and services OR call our customer service.
CUSTOM BUILT BRUSH CO.
7390 Dan Smith Road
Watervliet, MI 49098
Phone: 269-463-3171
Fax: 269-463-7442
