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I Tried To Make Something In America (The Smarter Scrubber Experiment) - Smarter Every Day 308
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- Published on Mar 4, 2026
- Get a Smarter Scrubber Here: smarterscrubber...
Interested in Wholesale, or helping us tell the story? Here's a link:
forms.gle/XFrL...
I would like to thank the Patrons of Smarter Every Day. They knew about this project early and helped make it happen.
/ smartereveryday
John is a great Dad and a good dude. Check out JJGeorge here:
www.jjgeorgest...
Our goal is to make these things 100% in America. We're going to have to build some machines in order to do this.
Your support is appreciated.
Mantle's 3D Printing for injection molds is a technology I'm very excited to explore.
A huge thanks to Ted for participating!
Here's a video on what they do: • Mantle's TrueShape Met...
A HUGE thanks to our Injection Molder Chris Robson, with tons of work from Jeremy:
www.robsonco.com/
T&C Metal Stamping (Ask to speak to Weston and tell him Destin sent you!)
www.tandcstamp...
Search Engine Podcast:
Episode "The Puzzle of the All-American BBQ Scrubber"
www.searchengi...
Check out Jeremy Fielding's Channel
/ @jeremy_fielding
Check out Tim Cook's comments on China at the Fortune Global Forum:
• Tim Cook Discusses App...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GET SMARTER SECTION
I recommend learning about the Bretton Woods Accords
www.federalres...
Read about the Bretton Woods system
en.wikipedia.o...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smarter Every Day on Patreon
/ smartereveryday
Ambiance, audio and musicy things by: Gordon McGladdery
www.ashellinth...
ashellinthepit....
Warm Regards,
Destin
This experiment was incredibly interesting for hundreds of reasons. It's not just about America... this is an important thing for everyone in the world to be considering. A huge thank you to everyone for supporting local manufacturing!
If you're interested in getting a scrubber, we have a limited supply at smarterscrubber.com. We are absolutely terrified of how difficult it is going to be scale up our output if there is significant demand, so please be patient with us. Our goal is to invest back into the machines and tooling to see if it's possible to make this stuff work smarterscrubber.com . Also, we are nowhere in the ballpark of being ready for this... but if you're interested in being a wholesaler we'd love to get your contact information in case we figure that out for the future. Also, if you'd like to help tell this story we'd like to hear about that as well. Here's a link to contact us: forms.gle/XFrLTa5b8kxSvPnu8.
I'm beyond grateful to the Patrons of Smarter Every Day for helping make this happen. You (the Patrons) knew about this long before the general public or the Search Engine episode, and you have been nothing but supportive. I'm grateful! Thanks to all who support at www.patreon.com/c/smartereveryday.
Super cool love it
You're right economics is a complicated issue, the best way to fight "IMHO" workers in third world countries from being taken advantage of is through tariffs.
It would make the playing field a little more even.
Now get the rest of your countrymen to do the same thing instead of enriching China...
This has been known for years just not widely I like AKs and when the Chinese AK was available they were dirt cheap because they were thought to be garbage! But they are surprisingly good and now the price for them are ridiculous.
Need a @titansofcnc colab
Should I test grill scrubbers?
YES
Yes
Yes!
yes
Yes!
One thing missing from the pitch: show us it scrubs well.
@michaelvandeborne9382 agreed, never showed it in use once if I'm not mistaken... And someone else mentioned replaceable parts should be purchasable
A little before the 28 min mark they use it twice. Not in detail but mama said it was nice so I'm in hahaha
I bought one a few months ago and I think it works great. No regrets.
You might also want to check out the price.
People buy the WHY you make something just as much as the WHAT you made..
I appreciate that instead of trying to look like the smartest guy in the room, you let us see all your mistakes so we could get an honest look at what goes into doing something like this. Thank you.
@MattWhitmanTMBH well he is just a simple rocket scientist from Alabama ;)
Oh wow... you're early to this one buddy. Thanks for saying nice things. You had a backseat view to all this so thanks for the encouragement. It's an honor to be friends with you.
I'm convinced I'm the smartest person on the internet 😂
@smartereverydaySame. I know how much energy and effort you have in this project. Thanks for the sneak peek at the video this morning.
Matt got a preview?!
37:47 普船-海派 is indeed pronounced "puchuan haipai", but it means "regular boat, ship by sea"
Hi Destin,
We’re a custom injection molder located in Iowa. We have 35 molding machines that were built in-house. All our steel and the majority of our plastic materials are domestically sourced. We would love to give you a tour.
Nice! You should message him on his business email if you haven't already
please please please reach out to Destin/his 'team' in every conceivable way/via every conceivable avenue of communication you can find! I would LOVE to see such a vid, especially with Destin!
Hi, I'm an EE and am tasked with being over manufacturing for a defense contractor (specifically the cable/harness shop and MRO for rotary wing platforms) in Huntsville, AL... we have a handful of shops locally that can fabricate molds, but none of them do it very well. Do you offer help in design of the molds? IE: taking a D38999 connector and coming up with an overmold to replace metal backshells? Also, do you have the ability to make multi-piece aluminum molds for "pour mold style" molding with something like EN-1556, along with steel molds for injection molding too? Lastly, which brand of smaller injection mold machine would you recommend for molding around 5k cables that have shot sizes of at most around 1.5 oz?
@Crunk99ify bro just call them in the morning
God bless you 🙏 thank you for keeping it in American 🇺🇸 . Thank so much for holding the line
I’ve had one of these for over a year. As the kids might say, this thing slaps.
I mean scrapes.
You know what I mean.
It’s a good tool.
Oh hey, I didn't expect to see you here!
@StuffMadeHere you're awesome. Don't ever change.
Thanks for answering all my questions about CNC machining. I'm incredibly grateful man! Also, you were the first official purchase of the Smarter Scrubber...so that's neat too.
I mean, it could probably slap too if ya tried hard enough...
@NearlyBatman That was the joke.
I just want to know how many days it is until the inevitable follow-up video "amazon is now selling a knock off of my smarter scrubber"
@deltaangelfire Cuisinart branded, $40
Already there.
@RossReedstrom AUGH
Yeah, I found it. It's even "Amazon's Choice". I wonder if Destin can get it taken down as patent infringement.
@SwordOfApollo As he already showed in the video, its a sisyphean task.
Amazon takes way too long to respond so the knock-off already made their money.
Then even if that one product gets taken down there is nothing stopping multiple other suppliers from putting another one up or just the same supplier under a different name selling the infringing product again.
and it's selling for $15.99
I'm over a buddy's house the other day and on his grill was the scrubber! I instantly recognized it. My buddy starts telling me all about the product. I stopped him and said, "Michael, you are the one that told me to watch this guys channel during covid, don't you remember?" He had forgotten. Perhaps it was the beer or Bourbon...
Never thought I'd sit through and enjoy a 48min ad for a grill scrubber on RUclips.
@dieelwatson2590 same! And it's my first yt video watched in a long time
@dieelwatson2590 wait until you see the next 4 hour video of Destin making a full chain mail suit for medieval fairs and re-enactments! 😉
Same, and after all that I'm still just gonna use an onion to clean the grill.
the grill scrubber is just an extra
I just watched this, and didn't even realize it was 48 minutes until I saw this comment. Felt like 20 max
the moment you mentioned you found a supplier from India I thought "I bet it's just transhipping from China" 😂😂😂
I suspect the made in America bolt probably used a stainless steel blank from China
I thought the same thing. My employer was sued over parts being advertised made in India but were actually from china. We found out years later that the first person that filed the lawsuit (turned into a class action) was a family member of a person that built the part in china. Guy bought our product, his cousin or uncle (we’re not sure) said, “hey we make that part”. Guy said no, it says that part come from India. Family member sends a photo of him holding the part in front of the machine used to make the part. Guy goes to attorney and my employer paid out the rear-end. My employer went after the company that lied about the origin but it turns out it’s thought to sue another company not stationed in the states.
@AZbone that's hilarious haha, was the guy suing based in china or where you're from?
@TrendyWhistlethe guy that sued was from the states. I don’t remember exactly but I believe he was from New York.
They were incredibly naive about the provenance. You can't just take someone's word that something was made anywhere. @Destin - you could learn something from the conservation sector, where certification and supply chain provenance is essential (e.g. for claiming that Tuna were responsibly caught, or that wood was sustainably farmed etc).
I ran a kickstarter in 2015 for a set of plastic cookie cutters. The quotes I got for making them in the US were 4 times the money I raised. I ended up teaching myself to make 3 injection molds and plastics and made thousands of them here in Austin Texas. I was late in shipping the product, but I got them out. :)
Made in Texas is better than all other Made In ______
Nice work
I'm more curious how you found people to back a literal cookie cutter kickstarter
@KeithKritselis how did you miss a golden opportunity to plug your product? Besides now I'm curious 😂
Are you still making them?
My dad had a very similar saying that is one of my favorite nuggets of wisdom he ever gave to me. “You can do it right, or you can do it again.”
My dad said "buy once, cry once." ;) He said a lot of other things as well and is sorely missed.
So I am a die corrector at a fairly large aluminum extrusion plant in the Dallas area. Would you be interested in looking into the extrusion process and possibly producing a video or two on it? Extruded components are everywhere from construction to automotive to aerospace.
And btw, my brother-in-law got me the smarter scrubber for Christmas, and it works better than anything else I've ever tried! Kudos!
Are you guys hiring? lol
@LockeandDemosthenes do you have any info I can use to research this? I'm going into Industrial Management and Applied Technologies courses at TAMUK this fall, and I'd love to learn a bit more about this process.
That would be a cool video, I hope Destin sees your comment.
Do you guys make extruded aluminum T-slot rails?
lol
37:55 the 海派 here is probably short for 海外派送 “overseas shipment.” So it does sound as though the stuff was shipped from China to India
hopefully you are right lol
Scammed by an Indian? wow color me shocked
@Shiznit304 lol they outsourced it after he outsourced it to them 🤦
@Shiznit304 Not surprised at all. Scamming is a billion dollar industry in India.
@Shiznit304 The reason why Americans get scammed by Indians is that they think they both are speaking the same language just cause they are speaking English, Get an Indian to talk and find out about Indian shipment. There are many youtubers who would have helped him.
Fascinating video, Destin! I have been trying to make trading cards for my channel and found it borderline impossible to work entirely within the USA as well, even for something as simple as putting shiny ink on cardboard. Everyone I talk to just plays middleman for chinese printing companies.
I love your videos and appreciate that you are trying to support the American workers.
DM me, I know someone who does in hour production for printing. Their warehouse is neat!
Doesn't WotC print their cards in the USA? Are all of their presses owned in house?
Takes a nation not a colony
It says "Printed in the USA" on Pokemon cards. There must be a story behind this.
I love that Terry Pritchet just jumped into the conversation there.
I think a pretty alarming pattern that I've noticed in these sorts of videos is that all of the manufacturing professionals that Destin consulted with are old, balding men at or nearing retirement age whereas the glimpses we see of Chinese factories show machines and offices staffed with young people.
America transferred to a "knowledge based economy" decades ago - and thus most people with a manufacturing job were screwed. Now "knowledge based economy" is no longer safe - not just from AI, but from countries like India and the Philippines who outsource their "knowledge" (which is basically by getting westerners to train their workers and then the company those westerners worked for makes them redundant)
Western society has literally dismantled itself. Too late to do anything about it.
@Beer_Dad1975 "Too late to do anything about it" except, you know, you can always do something about it. you just have to do something about it instead of insisting that you cant do anything about it.
I have seen the same thing with engine machining. Been working on rebuilding a car engine for a couple years and literally every person I have worked with in the process from multiple companies is 60+ year old men.
@nonormies I mean of course it isn’t impossible, but if I’m understanding their point, I can see why they mean-it feels like the trajectory of things just won’t be conducive of western society repairing itself.
As things stand, the US still has a wealth of knowledge and experience to hand down to younger generations. Other countries and citizens see this and flock here in hope of a better life or the skills to obtain a better life. But after that knowledge is passed onto those younger generations, they see in the US that we have low wages, low job opportunities, and a lackluster job market for those jobs. So they take their skills overseas-it is “outsourced”.
And the trajectory is worse because currently, those that have this knowledge and experience often will get better opportunities overseas. Others aren’t able to pass on their skills. And that isn’t mentioning how corporations can often undercut the original product with a cheaper version-which people buy because not everyone can buy a quality product or know which ones are actually fully made in the US (which goes into a complete separate issue of cost of living, wages, and companies moving manufacturing overseas for cheaper labor).
@nonormies 1000%. Self-defeating people are pervasive. It's the reason why the US is crumbling. It's because people have every excuse to do something about it.
haha, for anyone wandering, the Chinese read '普船-海派' means 'General Cargo Ship - Sea Freight Service'
海派的意思是海运+清关+快递派送
@jakem_5266 感谢，超出我的知识范畴了，我查出来也差不多是这样，但是对应的英文应该是什么呢？
归根到底还是中国制造
Bro you just been told to report to your local 110 Overseas?
@TonyWright-tf5zy 😅
I got a small grill... Can I get it without the handle. Serious question
Well done, I'm a 66 year old Mold maker with my own shop in northern Illinois. I tell people I am a dying breed. I felt like you are one of us. You could not have done better, Thanks.
If you start a youtube channel with nothing but your smart phone and a $20 tripod you can pass on the knowledge and make a little money while you're at it
Ask your nephews for some advice or pay them a couple bucks for editing and you're off to the races Mr Moore
@robertjmoore798 I have a grandson who would like to learn this craft. How can he get involved?
@wijim1948 get the materials required to start!
@wijim1948 depending on the age of your grandson one thing you can do is talk with local trade schools, even potentially high schools about opportunities to have a walk-through with a business that has a shop. Another approach could be calling up any local machine shops in letting them know you have somebody interested in getting in the field. I’m sure they would be glad to show people the trade and the art a fabrication & machining.
@MrHarp71 thanks for your response. The grandson I have in mind is 22. He's having a hard time finding a job that will lead to a career. This would be perfect for him.
I am a radiologist. I have seen multiple cases of grill brushes perforating (making a hole) in the wall of the small and large intestine. All of the patients had no idea that they swallowed a grill brushes and most of them required surgery. If you do use a grill brush you should carefully check for broken bristles. I have ordered one of these brushes.
Whoa that is nuts. I would never have considered that risk.
Grill Badger is more effective and far cheaper - and doesn't result in metal bristles puncturing your gut.
@dreamwraith-84Gee that product seems eerily similar.
@YogurtSnipe 8:52 seems relevant
ig ill stick with the classic, onion on a stick. cleaner
This was eye-opening. How does an American guy make something in America? He gets it made in India. How does the Indian guy make it in India? He buys it directly from China. Wild.
...and most american "suppliers", will cash the difference from buying their supply elsewhere, way cheaper. 😇
@pankotenders They do the same thing with Russian, "sanctioned" oil & gas, Europe buys a ton of, "Indian" petroleum.
...because america has indians too
It runs deep! Even if the chainmail is made in America, where was the metal wire raw material made? If all those container ships suddenly stopped one day we'd be in a world of hurt.
I've been designing consumer electronics for the last 15 years and I've done few molding models myself (I work for a small European company and it's kind of a "one guy does it all" operation). I am always surprised that this is not common knowledge. Like yeah, we still have the ability to make stuff locally and it's often worth it, but Chinese competition is usually 4 times cheaper and about 3 times faster. So we sometimes use them for cost or speed sensitive stuff, prototyping and accessories that are gonna be produced in small batches.
Love it when there actually is a vision of improving something behind the product. Not just about profits. Keep up the good work!
Hey Destin, I’ve been designing injection moulded parts for about 15 years, my pile of failed prototypes looks just like yours every time. I think you did an amazing job, especially with the little support and specialised training you had. No need to be embarrassed at all, great work, love your videos.
Reach out to him via his site too! Maybe you can get involved in his work or spread your knowledge and reach further or something?
Independence is a powerful emotion and feeling.
Thanks for the kind words!
@auldanmccarthy4827 will you contact @junkyarddave he's try to get an injection molded fan shroud for hellcat. So far everything that was printed can't handle temps so he's looking into other options.
@smartereveryday Can you give an update video on when this is fully made in America? I would love to support this adventure, but I am looking for made in America 100%.
Just as a helpful note: the smarter scrubber costs $75 while one from Amazon costs $20. Hopefully that brings it more into perspective just how hard it is to get things manufactured in the US.
amazon really needs a big lawsuit
@rabbitdrink why? Do u want to pay more?🤣
As well as whether it is reasonable to expect every "average" wage earner in the USA would ever be able to afford 375% more for all of their basic essentials.
I really expected it to cost a lot more. I would pay twice that for it if I had a grill.
@Marceloa2005 For violating patent law.
My father was a tool and die man in the aerospace industry and he warned me back in the 80s that if we lost the ability to make the tools that make the products, that moment would be the ultimate downfall of manufacturing in America. I will never forget this conversation because he said it with such seriousness and conviction it landed hard on my disorganized, teenage, High School mind. I remember being like, "whoa, Dad is really serious about this it must be important." And 40 years later...well Destin said it best, "...that's scary."
I work in computing (I'm in Europe), I can tell you Dell found out this problem a few years before 2010.
@autohmae High-performance microelectronics are a completely different ball game from almost any other type of manufacturing, and worrying about not being able to do it in your own country is frankly pretty silly. It is the epitome of globalization, with no country coming even _close_ to being able to create all the necessary tools. The amount of capital, expertise, and time required makes it little more than a pipe dream.
And while that's comforting in some ways, it's incredibly scary in others.
Ironically, though, if there's a region that could claim to dominate the "tool-and-die" side of microelectronics, you're probably living in it. 😉
@irrelevantfish1978 I think the whole idea of having a trade war, etc. is so stupid, because we all depend on each other to function.
@autohmae For the most part, I agree, but there a number of reasons to ensure that there's at least _some_ ability to make things locally, (eg, it's theoretically more environmentally friendly, and it makes a country better able to cope with disaster).
Frankly, with how interdependent we are and how concentrated industries have become, it would take a whole lot less than you'd think to result in us saying goodbye to modern civilization and hello to a new dark age.
Capitalism is really bad. Yes, the US can't manufacture anything anymore, but it steals everything from everyone else. US imperialism is keeping billions of people around the world enslaved - at gunpoint.
I have a lot of
1) love for this channel &experiment,
2) skepticism about anti-trade arguments
3) love for folks I've worked with in China in my life, and
4) belief that now more than ever our cultures need to LEARN FROM EACH OTHER not try and separate.
One thing I will ALWAYS HAVE IS RESPECT FOR DESTIN AND THAT COMPLEX CONVERSATION IS THE. WAY.
@saber1epee0 Agreed. Trade is good and not always exploitative. Exploitation is bad and those corporations are expositing people here in the US (looking at you Amazon). To Destin's point about manufacturing better products here in the US, corporations are all about maximizing profit over all else. And Americans are all about spending as little as possible. And the second is caused by the first because these same corporations are all about paying employees as little as possible.
American Tooling Engineer here -
I gotta say, thank you SO much for showcasing Mantle, Destin. The mold making innovation they have brought to the industry is incredibly exciting. My entire team is obsessed with the detail and speed achieved by 3D printing cavs/cores, not to mention the cooling optimizations that were once impossible with standard machining methods. Too much fun.
Have you seen the silicone molds that some Chinese companies are using? They machine or 3d print prototype parts, use that to make silicone molds, then produce small batches of parts. These are only good for anywhere from a half dozen to dozens of shots, depending on the precision needed, but it is high quality and cheap.
The revolution is that these are *not* prototypes. You can do tiny production runs of high quality injection molded plastic parts. Production grade tooling for tiny runs with near zero startup costs compared to traditional tooling.
The companies that do this have enough in house expertise to use a prototyping process in production for their customers.
This is not to take away from what Mantle are doing, but augment it. There is no longer a barrier of having to pay tens of thousands to millions of dollars for tooling (Lego have eye watering tooling costs, for example). Production technology *technology* has improved so something like injection moulding can scale in a cost effective manner, from tens of units to billions.
@King-Kazma I have in passing but not explicitly, I’ll have to do some research. What really entices me is 3D printed resin tooling for rapid R&D from places like Fortify. I know the technology has been around for a decade+, but it still amazes me. I have the honor of being able to use our Stratasys polyjet to print hi-temp ABS inserts for my product development projects. The real cool thing is I’m able to model the resin inserts with similar unique features achievable with Mantle tooling such as conformal cooling and creative venting to prove out before we go to metal inserts. All this new technology has truly disrupted the overall product development process in a big way and I am SO here for it. Freeform tooling is the future!
To begin with, aren't most of the workers in those so-called American factories illegal immigrants? Well, aside from Native Americans, all Americans are illegal immigrants, aren't they?
@King-Kazma The silicone mold technique is one that has been used in model making for over a decade, and is also used in some small scale production runs in other fields as well.
@mitchk7655 Sure, it isn’t new tech, but what is new is that they are set up to do it at scale, at an entirety reasonable cost. Per piece is far nearer production run cost than prototype.
The infrastructure around the manufacturing process is what makes it scale. They have a staff of people able to turn around tooling design.
I work in injection molding. For the last 24 years, I have witnessed all the problems you highlighted. Thank you for this video.
hey man this video really made an impact on me and now I'm even more curious about the world of machining. I'm 23 and was wondering where to look and how to get into this filed?
Any recommendations for US based Injection Molding companies?
I used to be friends with someone who ran a plastic model kit business. I shared a story on twitter about how they wanted to move all their production to America, and to make it work, they needed to have one facility doing the tooling, the injection molding, the decals, instructions, and packaging. They spent 5 years looking for anywhere that could do it, and came up completely empty. No one believed it. People are in deep denial about how bad this problem is
@picsbyalfred machine operators are a typical way to start. They often don't require much in experience.
Additionally, Autodesk fusion has a free license for students and individuals, and you can learn the basics of design and CAM from their learning resources. You can even get certified in those skills from them. I'm sure solidworks has similar programs.
@picsbyalfred CNC Machine operator positions are a good entry point. They don't require much in training. There are classes in community college and online resources available to learn the basics.
Beyond that, Autodesk Fusion 360 offers a free license for students and individuals, you simply have to apply. They also have excellent learning resources and certification courses for design and CAM (computer aided machining). I'm certain Solidworks has similar resources available, and it is the industry standard.
“They can’t make the quantities we need, for a price that makes sense.” That’s why manufacturing doesn’t happen in America.
At a price they think makes sense, yet the whole thing still costs over $70!
@Jcewazhere they said they couldn't get it for a price that makes sense. Aka that means they acknowledge that the 70+ price is ridiculously high and the main bottleneck is the chainmail
@jmanius1no 70 dollars is the price with Chinese chain mail, and will only come down when there’s a liquidation sale lol
@Yosser70 Did you not pay attention to the video? The Indian/Chinese chain is a backup if their American supplier isn't able to keep up. All of the ones they've made so far have American chain.
@Yosser70all in all, its an idealistic project that makes no economic sense but thats the point since its his passion. Im just stating the facts that its not cheap because he's literally making the worst moves possible from a financial standpoint. Also dont forget how much it costs to manufacture your own mold designs. Their one time costs alone would make any sale under 50 bucks insanely risky even with all foreign parts.
Costa Rica might not be in the US but it's definitely in America
@benigempi lol
@benigempi that makes zero sense.
@BarryMcCockiner-em5svContrary to how most people use it "America" is actually a whole continent, not just the US.
Correct. Destin meant to say the U.S, of course.
@benigempi America is shortened from United States of America. You're obviously one of those South Americans who think they have the right to tell another country's people how to refer to themselves. Lol.
The chinese on the box is "普船-海派" stands for "普通船隻" (Ordinary Vessel) and “海運派送” (Sea Freight Delivery).
That's some mistranslation lol
Could it be by a Chinese shipping company
Rhymes with grug
@TomiWebPro Google Translate doesn't work with industry specific abbreviations. This isn't a common phrase. Even Chinese people who aren't in the industry wouldn't know what it means but can only guess.
I work for a German company in the US (precision steering and transmission parts), and I can confirm that American manufacturing is in trouble. In my example, the only reason my company exists is to get the "made in America" stamp on the part. Our German parent company has no desire to train their American workers, and they just ship their people to the US to work on machines and do the engineering work. For operators, the company uses the cheapest American labor they can, rehab/work program people are their favorite. They are currently trying non-English speaking immigrants because they have exhausted the local work force options. This way of hiring Americans leads to everyone basically being disposable.
America is the new Mexico cheap labour for Germany 🤣
I totally agree as a 23 year Machinist, the state of manufacturing is bleak. Companies treat people as expendable only to be hiring less and less talented and motivated people, take more and more from workers to give to shareholders or to save money because they know they will be selling to retire, leaving the good employees to break their backs to get things done. You either work in a subpar role or treated with extremely high expectations day in and day out and expected to perform as such, on top of working 5.5 days a week plus daily overtime to meet their goals and them not want to put anything back into the process to save labor, without any peace of mind as that shop could be bought out, merged, sold, lose work to other markets, etc. I could go on but I'll stop there.
@cobburn Maybe that's the problem? Working for publicly owned companies - they have a duty to make as much profit as possible.
The Japanese did the same thing to my mother when she worked for them, 20 years and they laid off everyone to move their head quarters to montreal for bi-lingual staff.
@rokask I'm assuming you mean privately owned, as publicly owned suggests owned by the government (through public taxes).
43:50 we have a saying for this where I come from, it's "En fattig har inte råd att köpa billigt" which translates to "A poor can't afford to buy cheap", and this perfectly aligns with this segment.
@WhackyCast 🇸🇪🇸🇪
That's a very true statement
Jeg skjønner ikke helt logikken der. Det er jo det fattige gjør; de kjøper de billigste alternativene når det gjelder alt, selv om det hadde lønnet seg å kjøpe ETT BRA produkt som, med litt vedlikehold, hadde holdt mye lenger enn billigversjonene.
@strangelman Du må tenke litt lenger. Det er nesten det samme som vi sier på norsk - "det er dyrt å være fattig". En som er fattig, har ikke råd til å kjøpe det ene, "bra" produktet som lønner seg over tid, men må kjøpe det billige som går i stykker fortere og må erstattes eller repareres. Det lønner seg f.eks. i lengden å kjøpe seg en ny elbil i stedet for den gamle Mazdaen som bruker en liter på mila, men er man fattig, har man ikke 500k til en ny elbil. Så en fattig har ikke råd til å kjøpe billig, for det er dyrt i lengden, og det er dyrt å være fattig.
@strangelman The logic is that you lose money in the long run by buying cheap - something a poor person cannot afford to do.
31:41 I mean, Costa Rica's in America, just not the United States of ~.
35:00: Software engineer here. AI is not taking software jobs, short-sighted executives who don't understand our jobs are, lol.
As a Software engineer, agreed. If AI were to take Software engineer jobs, then opensource projects should've done that a long time ago.
Also you still need someone to maintain and improve the AI infrastructure and lower level code :D
At the end of the day AI is just another a tool for specific usecases
@resphantom *a tool to trash your codebase
It's making it really tough for new grads to enter the industry though. For experienced engineers, AI can be a force multiplier.
Or as some coder said; it takes as much time to go through and correct the code that the AI spit out as it would have taken to write it yourself.
@something3194 True, also to avoid making code vulnerabilities or bad practices. Each code base in each company has it's own pattern.
The idea that every product in the world needs AI is dumb, this includes coding. Why would a toaster need AI?
As an engineer, I love seeing this, but a very important topic was not mentioned....are spare parts going to be available? I can see that this scrubber will last for a very long time, but accidents do happen, and thing do break.
Please please please promote Right to Repair as a part of this product launch.
THIS 😐👍
Yes
To continue the boots theory, it's worth resoling a good pair of boots.
@andrewcronin8215 even though most of my clothes come from these sweatshop countries, it's definitely a life mission for me to keep them in good repair with a simple hand sewing needle and thread, no machines necessary
Great question! Hope we get a positive answer
As someone with both an engineering and economics background, this video sums up a lot of what I am telling people all the time. Something I wish the video highlighted more though is we have to compete on cost with US manufacturing. Ideals are not sufficient. There are many people that will buy your scrubber because it is associated with your name. In everyday life people will not pay 5x the cost of a big box brand just to be made in US, and it is just completely financially untennable. The payback curve is not as simple as your video shows. Most people's budgets are already strapped, they cannot afford to pay 3x for a noble ideal of domestic production. I work for a company that invented a product in the US 60 years ago, and all the product we sell in the US is made in the US. Doing this has required incredible innovation and continued research to make the product and equipment as efficient as possible. Our cost to produce in the US is still cheaper than all foreign competitors, but it has required our equipment to run 5x the production speed and multiple percentage points more effecient from raw materials to do it. This is what is required to bring back manufacturing to the US. Substantial technolgical innvotaion to make things cost competitive on the world stage. It can be done. And this product we are making in the US, is used by 70% of the world population daily, not some niche product or luxury item. The big thing is better education to have highly trained engineers, machinists, toolmakers, and inventors to continue to make machines more efficient. And to not have them so burdened by school debt and lack of resources that they can take big risks to start companies that push the boundaries of productivity.
Yeah even the idea that the people selling you things at a higher price means the item is of higher quality is idealistic.
Money moves the world, and unfortunately some higher priced items are still low quality just to bump up the profit.
Best reply here. Kudos.
Any study of economics shows that price will be the driving force for most every day purchases. The fact is, the wages in the US are too high to make consumer goods (I know there are some exceptions but they do not disprove this fact). If any manufacturing comes back it will be capital intensive because the process with be automated (i.e. very few workers needed).
I’m curious what yall make. Always interested in good engineering.
@88COR88 wages are a factor but nowhere near the main factor to look at, material and tooling costs are 10-20x higher in the US than anywhere else and that impacts the price per item way more.
Amazing an and important story, I will purchase one
This video is so true. I worked for 9 years at a Rubbermaid facility in Greenville TX. We used to mold 10s of millions of injections molded parts for storage containers, waste baskets and large garbage cans. We sold into all the major retailers, Walmart, Target The Home Depot and Lowe’s. We had 95 injection molding machines ranging from 30 tons to 3,000 tons. In 2012 the facility was sold and closed down. Now you hardly find any Rubbermaid products in stores and many of our talented mold makers and technicians retired. What a loss.
@seanconant2543 hello greenville from quitman 😁 GOD Bless Texas
@seanconant2543 thats truly a shame, rubbermaid products always seem pretty good and you would think with all machinery already existing the cost would have just gotten lower over time
That’s brutal. You’re right though, I recall pretty much any large plastic item (carts, step stools, etc) at stores having a Rubbermaid option, and you could buy it without having to worry about quality.
And Rubbermaid is one of the best plastic brands around! Their dishes last forever, their tubs/totes/whatever-they're-called are sturdy, and the plastic even survives weather better than most -- even in Mississippi!
If the material supply chain has moved and the labor has moved it doesn't make sense to manufacture in the US. It's amazing that it held on to 2012
in mexico we just put half an onion to the end of a fork, we scrub with that. works every time. harmless.
nice
Works great in the US too.
😂😂 just came to see of some would mention this, to bad onions can’t be patented
This is why Mexico is the past, present, and future of North America.
Fortunately you can grow onions locally :D
In Chile, we use an onion attached to a metal bar (usually is the same that we use to move the coal) to clean the grill.
Hey @smartereveryday, here is the design for Smarter Scrubber heavy. I would so buy a charcoal ash tool with spikes to hold a cut onion and can be used as a self defense weapon. Make it 5 lbs
@gabrielriveros4284 I personally just use a wad of foil
In Brazil, some people use the same method but with lemon (over the hot grill)
I think you guys are pranking us to see how many idiots you can get to comically scrub their grill with an onion!
Like the "dry your phone in the microwave" prank. Not falling for that one again! 🤣🤣🤣
Seen 'em do that in Turkey, too. Can buy a lot of onions for $75! 😁
Great video, lots of insight. Very revealing. I've struggled with many of these same issues
Hi Destin,
I’ve been following your work since your very first video. I don’t usually speak up online, but this one resonated with me on a deep level, and I felt compelled to thank you for making it.
I’m a senior scientist and engineer who has worked across a wide range of institutions and countries-some obscure, others world-renowned. What you touched on in this video couldn’t have been better taught in my own class at MIT. Thank you for the thoughtfulness and integrity you bring to your work. Please keep going-and keep resisting this pandemic of decay.
I grew up in Turkey. We and everyone I knew used onions to clean grilles. You cut an onion in two, stab a fork at the outer side, and scrub with the cut surface. It works very well.
Love the video. Major likes.
Mangal havasi sogansiz olmaz
We used Lemons in LA.
Acid cleans grease
Same in Mexico, you could use the cheap scrubber to clean most of it and then finish with an onion to get the bristles and the seasoning 🤔
Just make sure it's an American grown onion.
As a younger Canadian tool and die maker this video made me feel very seen which is extremely rare in my industry. People have really forgotten how much of the modern world relies on mould making and tool and die. Door hinges, pots and pans, sinks, most appliances as well as the obvious automotive industry. Without these careers and knowledge staying in a country/society we lose the ability and knowledge to make just about everything. While a connected global supply chain has its values, keeping smart people and the physical talents of building every day items and the the, 'things that build things' is extremely important.
@jakewhite4556 honestly, im in software support and we are seeing the exact same thing, im guessing with a delay of a couple years, systems people rely on but dont think about are rotting everywhere
Where in Canada is this industry still alive? Anywhere outside of the ~3-4 major cities?
Southwestern ontario, definitely still in this province where it was the strongest. There's some mould making in Quebec still and some stamping shops here and there in other provinces. Personally in the automotive sector though it's mainly still situated nearest the detroit market as has been the case for decades @thewolfin
How well are you being paid? Are your wages also well below average, as Destin has shown for the US? Would you recommend your job to kids finishing school?
@proesterchen at my current shop they're alright, journeyman wage is right around $40/hr which is definitely much better than any minimum wage or entry level job. But there's definitely jobbing shops where you do more die building that cap out closer to $28/hr. I'm in a production shop right now though so much more pressure and expectations go along with that higher pay. Largely though wages still have stagnated. I feel like something he doesn't mention enough is that all other wages have also stagnated in addition to trade wages not keeping up with what they should have - even making my wage I think its extremely important that everyone makes a living wage. In all honesty I find the term, 'to make a living' insulting to all of our humanity, as if not working means you shouldn't live. I lean very hard to the left so I'm a bit of an outlier as far as my concern for labour and wages of others. I'm not part of a union but heavily believe in the importance they have in our ability to keep everyone making good wages.
Hi Destin,
How will you combat the fact you'll probably see sales drop as people dont need to buy replacements?
Now try making an Arduino with the whole supply chain USA sourced.
@disposabull I bet that is impossible. Even if you can source made in US PCB and passive components (which you probably can) I doubt you could find any Microcontrollers or USB to Uart converterz made in America
Chips will be coming back now that we are at the limit of the current processes.
This!
A scrubber is HARD.
An iPhone is probably IMPOSSIBLE 😅.
The components to build the PCBs are often only made in China, as well as the screws and components to repair the machines that build & inspect the PCBs... can only be sourced from China.
@Xuyesi Because chip fabs and PCBs are icky and dirty, the US pushed them overseas as hard as they could to keep the filth "over there".
You ...forgot to show the product in use... If someone pitched this to me I would want them to show how it worked...
Grandma tested it.
I do recall grandma using it
He did show it in use, it's just that it's hard to show a scrubber actually in use. It just looks like waving it over the gridiron, even when the correct muscles are reacting for pressing it down against the surface.
I’ve had a few brands. Making things in China is not just easier because of tooling but because the mindset is they want the business. I tried to make in France and the factories just didn’t care. In the end we found a factory in Germany. But it took about 50x more work to get a reply. Chinese factories replied in hours. There’s really a mindset we need to shift. Great on passing through.
@martinsoler396 I understand this sentiment. But is the conclusion that we should work more hours and be begging for business? This might just be the outcome of a high income society
@weasaldude imo the only solution is further automation of manufacturing in the west. We refuse to work like slaves, and because of that we can't afford to pay workers living wages
@aaron9inch we could, but the billionaire class are unwilling to give up their hoardes of gold, and if the automation is done by the billionaires, you can bet those benefits aren't trickling down
@aaron9inchThe thing is China is leading in automation and AI manufacturing…the advantage they have is the supply chain. Instead of waiting for a part to be shipped here to fix a machine, or raw materials for production, they have it in the same industrial park. Just the logistics cost is hard to beat.
This has been my experience too. Its about service, ive worked for small startups and am currently doing independent development. i cant get european and american or even other southeast asian companies to reply. If i need something cut with cnc, a spring made, a die cut, glass or other special materials made on a small scale for prototyping, china is the place, full stop. us companies wont even talk to you unless youre talking orders in 4-10k $ range - difficult when youre small. Just ordered some cnc cut prototypes from a chinese company for 250$ id have to spend 10x on in the us. Same thing for custom springs, Chinese companies seem more willing to invest in their clients.
Im getting there! Im working up to get machines to learn metal CNC and injection molding.
Been in manufacturing for 20 plus years 18 at the current company. We have brought a lot of our fixture and tool making inside. By having it in-house it allows us to modify and improve things at a surprisingly fast. I am grateful to be a part of made in America manufacturing.
apart or a part? Quite the important difference in this case.
That's one of the biggest issues with manufacturing in the US. It wasn't just that assembly jobs were shipped abroad. China very quickly upskilled the labor market from assembly line workers to a thriving skills ecosystem of knowledge of tooling design, automation engineering, and hardware manufacturing (think heavy equipment like presses to CNC tooling mills or 3D printers). During the same time, the American economy focused on upskilling those in the middle class further upwards towards high-margin industries of marketing, software (e-commerce, productivity tools, social media, and middlemen "platforms"), financial engineering (bankers & MBAs), along with some boundary-pushing traditional engineering (robotics, space/aeronautical/automotive, semiconductors); but the American economy also side- and down-skilled workers into the massive service gig economy.
Back to manufacturing, I don't think the solution to American manufacturing is simply to in-house the entire knowledgebase of manufacturing at each firm; we need more distributed & adaptive and less walled-off & proprietary knowledge throughout the process of manufacturing & machinery servicing. There should be less friction in having other firms assist as part of an economy-wide sharing of knowledge. Companies may have less efficiency due to having to hire more engineers to handle peak demands, or having to endure extra "wasted" resources of extra manufacturing lines for testing or employee time for process refinements & training; it's not just about driving down marginal cost for the bean counters, but ensuring that progress is always happening.
EDIT: addendum: For example, it shouldn't be the case that if one needed a bottling/labeling line for your sauce factory, that the "best" (i.e. cheapest for the financial analysts) option is to spec out and request a semi- off-the-shelf solution shipped in from China or worse, sold to you by a middleman who sources from China but can provide minimal after-sales support. Yes, I know that for higher-reliability situations, engineers in the US are well-equipped to handle larger-scale, or higher-speed production. But the case is that as more engineers are working in-house with corporations like Kraft or ConAgra, there is a gap in knowledge between new demand for skills and what is available in the market. This is great for the corporations that can gatekeep the knowledge as a competitive advantage, but terrible for say new entrants in food packing & processing.
I too have been in tooling for the last 20 years but for semiconductor mfg in USA. In house is the only way to keep control of the molds and to ensure the quality needed. I can pay to keep it in house or pay twice as much to make it outside with last minute changes.
19minutes in (I replied after only watching a couple minutes of the video), and Destin's exactly stating my analysis of the manufacturing economy. The coverage and politics of lost "jobs" as a number always hits at the masses of assembly workers, but overlooked the next tier up in manufacturing.
@SimonWoodburyForget not always true. Lots of die shops are willing to take people in with zero experience because of the lack of true tool and die makers. I am one of those people who started in the die shop of a custom plastic extrusion company having never touched a CNC mill or lathe, EDM machine or grinder. Now I do it all, have learned CAD and am starting to write my own programs.
That's a great journey to a great product. I have a friend who got one of those bristles stuck in his intestine. So much pain and suffering. I always wipe the BBQ with a paper towel after I brush it.
Holy, it's electoboom.
@ElectroBOOM we need electronics 101 . Continue with op amps 101 .
Jonny said 3 videos a week would be a dream
Don't do BBC - and you live much longer ..
Now you need to make an electric BBQ scrubber
That sounds so nasty. To be stuck in any part of your body 😬
Great video. I enjoyed watching you develop the idea, and I am honored to participate in a topic as large and complex as global trade. I am glad you are nudging the conversation forward.
Was fun seeing your bit of contribution into this project as well. Love your videos!
Love your robotics videos! Got my son interested in robotics partly using your content to teach ourselves some of the basics. Love from India!
Almost everything I know about motors came from your videos. Sadly, I didn't absorb as much as I would have liked, but I know where to go for a refresher.
Loved that you were a part of this video, Jeremy. It's great to see RUclipsrs not only becoming friends but working with each other to actually build stuff!
This is great. I'll have to pick one up
My dad has been a tool and die maker for 35ish years. I showed him this video and he agreed and liked the video. Dad also explained the inner workings of the die and presses while we watched. Great video.
That's awesome!
My dad has been a tool for longer than I've been alive.
My son sent me this video, and told me to watch it. I’m a BBQ er and spent my career as a welder/fabricator. I was completely immersed in the video, being aware of the situation with manufacturing in the USA. It wasn’t until the pitch that I was fully aware of what the scrubber was something I’ve been searching for, for years.
I was replying my son and telling him the same… he sent me the order form and said “Happy Father’s day Dufus!
Yuuup, I got that!
I have a question, we grill at home on a flatbed, we just put some water and cleaning products on it and let it soak for a while and with a little polishing with a cloth it's clean. Why isn't this the solution to the problem ?
I feel like corporate America was paying attention right up until “make less profit”
Can’t order it from Sweden? Only Canada and USA?!
Thank you so much for drawing attention to this!
@matthiaswandel agreed, US itself screws over small business by offering all these crazy credit incentives and bonuses to foreign countries. China for example MAKES money just off these credits, that’s why they’ll sell you an item for 1 cent, because they get a $ credit to send it and get to keep the profit. Where as for me to send the same small item to a customer across town costs a minimum of $5 for small lightweight, or much more for weight or size. This allows them to also ripoff our own design and then compete much cheaper. Modern buyers don’t care about “us made”, they’ll go for the item that is 50 cents cheaper every time.
Really enjoy your channel
😂 It always amazes me that these people dont blame the culprits (the owners of the factories) for shipping their jobs to a developing country, but instead they blame the workers in those developing countries. It completely makes no sense, only explanation is they are too scared of the "job creators" and dont have the guts to confront them. So instead, they hate someone who they will never meet. Very weird how some people's mind work.
@lppoqql well if only it were that simple right? Companies do require a profit. If the owners/people who run the company day to day start making an unreasonable amount of money that's a reason to reduce labor costs. Also American workers will barley work for 15 min if that. Especially somewhat skilled labor. So hiring itself is impossible for many businesses. The point being it's complex and your wish to have very simple things will never be possible.
#1 youtuber right here
Part of your pitch was that this is a product which lasts. If you want to double-down on this then you should also supply replacement parts.
The plastic melts, and definitely leaches chemicals when it does. They did not build this to last. And, also, they don't sell replacement parts. For anyone who doesn't see the issue: It's way easier to keep your grill clean when you scrub it while it's still hot. If your grill is hot enough to clean properly, it's too hot for this plastic. "But I let my grill cool down" well then you don't need a gigantic handle either! It's poorly designed either way.
@KevinJDildonik The plastic doesn’t melt it is resistant up to 300-400 degrees
@KevinJDildonik they moved on to silicone so it wouldn't melt. Sure you can't use it when the grill is fully lit. But after as it's cooling it should be fine
@KevinJDildonikI've been using the same plastic handled grill brush for years. You're not exposing it to 400+ degree heat directly for long periods of time so melting really isn't a huge deal.
As for leaching, it is not food safe because it does not contact food. Leaching really isn't a factor
@KevinJDildonik How to tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me
37:08 The Chinese text is 普船-海派, short for "Normal Boat - Sea Freight + Express Delivery". It is *possible* that they are using a Chinese shipping company to do part of the logistics, maybe when it is packaged into containers in the port.
They left the customer number and shipping tracking number on the label you showed, so if you check who the processing company is on the other tag, you can probably check the shipping routes and logistics history.
Yeah. It's also possible that it has Chinese lettering on it for the same reason it has English writing on it: they sell their product to (or through) China. India is a pretty big player in specialty metalwork like this, so it would not be at all surprising for something like this to be manufactured there. But of course it would also be unsurprising to find that they were made in China.
Chinese characters are very consise it would seem
@cat-.- Yes and no. They are abbreviations, 普船-海派 is more like "Norm. Boat - Sea & Exp". That's why the translation app couldn't figure it out. A normal translation would look like "普通船 - 海运 + 速派" even then 海运 and 速派 are both common shorthands that can be expanded into 海上运输 and 快速派送
Yes. Americans are paranoid. They jump to random conclusions before doing a full analysis.
@AlyxMSCOh, that explains it! Sweet
I've had to explain this to a lot of people: Chinese products are only low quality if the (often American) company hiring them to make those products specifically asked (or settled) for low quality, to save money. They're perfectly capable of working to high standards, if the buyer requests them and pays for them.
No, it's if the American company doesn't demand high quality.
@wbfaulk that's... pretty much the same thing. Companies don't demand high quality because they want to save as much money as possible
…and they do that because customers always buy the cheapest piece of garbage. Which is that way because of the bad information consumers get.
did you miss the part where the Chinese manufacture stole the patented design and made cheaper quality knock offs though? kinda defeats what you're saying.
@chancemackey7100 knock offs are global bro not just china. the demand informs the supply
This is great thank you for the effort that went into it.
Have you thought about a square head for griddles?
18:53 I work in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and your point really rang true to me. Our machines are from Germany and Italy, our isolators are from Switzerland, our materials are from Germany, and we are owned by an Indian company. We exist only to push the buttons, and it is difficult to have anyone who truly understands the machines, leading to lots of technical issues.
On another note, this was an incredibly well thought out and important lesson that many of us need to hear. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the surface level politics, when the issues run so much deeper. It is also why we need intelligent leaders and well funded education. Thank you for the immense amount of effort put into this. I will be buying a scrubber for my Dad and sharing this video with him.
I think that it took so long for you to figure this one out, then that is already an issue. I work in computing, Dell learned this lesson over a decade ago. They kept outsourcing to China more and more and eventually one of the people at the companies they were outsourcing to said: I think I can do this too and they started a competitor that could do it better and cheaper than Dell. So Dell now makes some specialized products in the US so they have people in-house (not just in the country) that understand how things are made.
As aEuropean, I welcome the competition from a country that respects patent laws (on a manufacturing level at least, Amazon is another story...). Let's make each other better!
The photo of Shane using the scrubber on his CNC machine at 47:53 cracked me up
I watched the pitch and totally agree with the "buy once, cry once" theory. The other thing I highly desire in products is the ability to repair them. You need to sell ALL of the individual parts of the product, so If something breaks I can fix it!
37:43 普船-海派 translates literally to "regular ship - overseas dispatch". It's actually an acronym from "普(通)船(运) - 海(外)派(送)". It's common in Chinese that we extract the 1st character from words to shorten them. The google translation just translates ““海派” as a whole word (the shanghai culture stuff) where as it's not.
Questions for you Destin and the smarter scrubber team:
1. Does the chainmail scrubber wear out?
2. Are you going to make individual replacement parts, like the scrubber & silicone backing, available? If so, when & how?
I don't have specific knowledge of this product, but I suspect it would take an extremely long time for the chainmail to wear out. Stainless steel can rust under some conditions, so that might be an issue in some cases I suppose, but I really doubt that will be an issue. I'd guess the major modes of failure would be if people overheat it and damage the plastic parts, or if the plastic parts just wear out.
@johnjaygeorge Don't be so sure about the chainmail. People will hang the scrubber on their grill, forget and leave it outside, or just drop and damage it in some way. People can be destructive. If it gets left outside in the rain, snow, or humidity the steel can rust fairly quickly. You don't need too many damaged chain links to make the scrubber not work properly enough. My guess would be people replace the chainmail, on average, every three seasons and the squishy pad/plastic part(s) every year.
@pace1195 Any tool will degrade if you mistreat it, manufacturers can only do so much to deter user stupidity.
@jwesley235 Or they can sell replacement parts.
I would like to get a second head only for mine for cast iron pans in my house.
Ending the video with "We are trying to sell this in Europe and other places too in the future" feels a bit funny after stressing the importance of buying local, and not outsourcing manufacturing.
Manufacturing all the pieces and the assemby is different than selling then the ultimated product. He spoke about it the whole video, were you absent?
@RogerOver9000 the whole point was local manufacturing. Selling to Europe is denying Europe the chance to manufacture locally. I agree with the sentiment of the video, but that last bit was heavily ironic.
We don’t have a non wire version in the UK, so why shouldn’t he sell it in Europe?!
Selling a 75USD grill scraper in Europe: Will not work at all. For the job to be done there are way cheaper solutions which my work slightly less efficient but this wont compensate the illusoric high price of a litte chain mail on a to be bent metal staff.
@dsurge8758 There’s even a photo of the scrubber being proudly displayed in London…
I’m not sure what message it resonates in UK displaying a US flag and all…
A piece of wood for less than a couple bucks works just as well and is nature friendly.
And would actually be american made, unlike this product with its indian/chinese chainmail scrubber.
@fwloganradcliff sadly, yes. And you're gambling with $75 that doesn't even have evidence how long it will last or any guarantee. Lol.
@stargazer7644 oh he didn’t miss it. It’s clearly not an American made product.
I got one of these for my birthday! I love it and I love supporting your cause!
As a German who has worked in a company that had electronics produced in China, I can tell you they can go to real high quality, but you have to explicitly tell them to and it's going to cost more accordingly. Most stereotypical "Chinese quality" products are either sold by companies directly from China (over platforms like AliExpress, Shein, Temu, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc.), or by companies that do not WANT higher quality. Our first sample iterations were cheap and didn't look or feel great, but we requested quality improvement changes and they absolutely can do that. Best example is they printed the red parts of our logo on dark blue plastics, and it looked dull. We asked them to improve the print quality and they said they'd first print it white and then red, which really improved the saturation, but now you could see a super tiny white outline on the side because the red was offset by maybe a width of a hair. It is tiny but you'd see the bright stripe with the naked eye against the dark blue plastic. So we told them about it, and they re-adjusted the print matrices and it turned out perfect. They can absolutely deliver top-notch quality if you insist, but most of the times the selling company doesn't care enough.
yes. because as businesses, so long as they have identified you as a big buyer, they will adhere to u. end of day, it is a demand and supply issue. if ur demand is above their supply, they will do everything they can to give u what u need. thats how hardworking many china companies are. u request it, within 24h they will let u know. except for major public holidays in china, the china factories are contactable even on sundays.
I think you folks are missing the point here. No one is questioning Chinese quality, just encouraging more local capability.
As I often tell people in the US, "made in China" doesn't mean bad quality; it means ANY quality.
@brettcooper8963 except I see people all the to saying that all Chinese products are CEOs and that they can’t produce quality items. Which is false.
low IQ human are not real human and they just look like human.
49 minute video about a product and you don't show it cleaning a grill?
Yes! I want to see it clean a grill. came to comments to say this.
@metal693 it would be even better than the speech
@metal693 thanks for taking one for the team.
27:37
Maybe watch the video first before asking the question.
@-danR lol okay cowboy. 3 second clip and grandma saying this is great... hahaha
Hi Destin -
I’m a engineer that works in the injection molding industry in the United States. I work on the product design as well as the mold design side. A few things I’d like to mention because I loved the video you made and I feel like I may be able to provide some information that others would be interested in hearing.
1.) there are a decent amount of mold makers in the United States. I have connections with several. The main issue isn’t their capabilities it’s the price of the mold. In my experience it can cost anywhere from 3x-5x more to build a mold in the United States compared to China even with the current tariffs.
It’s difficult for a company to justify spending 4x more on tooling when you don’t know how a product will be received in the market place when you can lower the entry cost by going to China.
2.) a lot of US mold makers actually farm out some of the simpler components that go into making a injection molding from China to lower their costs and be competitive. They fly in these components and assemble them in the United States to claim they are made in the USA. From my experience most mold makers are up front about this and don’t try and hide it.
3.) no where in the United States can you find a company that builds injection molding machines. They are all built in China and Europe. With Europe using China as a manufacturing source to build larger castings.
Overall it’s really exciting to see manufacturing returning to the United States but we need to find a way to incentivize US companies to purchase from other U.S. companies.
Great video.
If I may ask you, what software tools are used in your industry? Is it just some off-the shelf CAD/CAM package or do you have something more specialized for mold design and optimization?
@cogoidI use solidworks as well as autodesk mold flow.
@cerdafiedDeveloper The reason I was asking is that I have seen one advanced "amateur" making rather impressive molds at home, using just basic mechanical CAD software, and tweaking the product and the mold based on intuition. (Of course he was only making relatively simple things, like a spoon.) I assumed professionals might have some tools to make the process more productive.
Dustin turned into Scrub Daddy. hehe Jokes aside, I think that it's important that more young people go to vocational schools teaching specific job skills like tools and die making etc, as it's more becoming important in today's geopolitical environment.
I feel like they didn't really search that well or just wanted someone in Alabama. There are tons of engineers that make molds and have experience here in the USA.
Absolutely awesome!!! I love everything about it.
43:35 We have no data on how long yours will last. If it lasts only 3x as long as the "cheap" alternative that graph looks very different.
@Not-The-Status-Quo at the very least, the parts look to be easily replaceable if one part of the scrubber gets damaged. As long as you sell parts for repair
@forgehe making something easy to dismentle doesn't mean the parts are easy to find individualy. that graph was absolutely wack, he should have skipped it that makes him look like a fool. There is no "rational" reason why someone that isn't ideologicaly motivated would buy a 80$ brush. sure if I was so well off, I'd pick it instead of the chinese one, but it can't be justified by any real rationality
@forgehe but then it's extra cost, which should be calculated.
@Not-The-Status-Quo It was only an example graph to represent a high quality item, not this specific case.
@something3194 of course it's rational, if you expect the thing to last that much longer and you getting that additional use out of it.
Now I won't disagree that many people just will not replace their cheap brushes until they break and they may last way longer than a year but if your experience is buying a new one every so often and you expect this product to hold that much longer, it's not irrational to pay more in the short term.
If this thing breaks down, can I get replacement parts or will I go to the consumer rights wiki and write about how I liked the product but couldn't repair it when it broke?
@jonanderson5137 well yeah, generally you buy the parts with money.
some drop shipper on temu will probably be selling compatible heads for this within the month to be honest, assuming it doesn't flop
Destin, I worked for a company that bought parts from China. As a mechanical tinkerer I thought why are we buying this stuff from China. It took time but I convinced the company to let me make a machine using 2 100W CO2 lasers to produce our own parts. Overall, there was a cost for the equipment, but once running it ran nonstop over 3 shifts 5 days a week. The CFO of the company finally told me I was saving the company big bucks, and I got a $5000 bonus. I also built a packaging system and the people that operated it were the ones who had to hand package all parts. I had no formal schooling beyond high school, but using my brain I did it myself and it felt great.
wow... a $5000 one time bonus in exchange for their massively increased productivity earning them exponentially more than that. Your talent is wasted on that company, but unfortunately I think that's the case for most talented people at most companies.
Yea again capitalism and millionaires are the problem
$5000 bucks as a bonus is a joke, but based on your knowledge, I can tell you’ve done a lot done. Keep up your good work.
That's another big issue in America. The education system and businesses found out they could profit off training us to make money for them. However, there's a difference between learning something in a book and having experience "tinkering" with things and gaining practical expertise. My grandpa had an 8th grade education, was a sheet metal worker his entire life. Retired, opened his own shop and I spent my summers making parts for NASA with him because there was no other shop that had the knowledge to make it due to most shops going to automation and the workers didn't really understand the "why" behind what they were doing. Just pushing buttons. I'm a lead automation "engineer" (job title, no degree) now working on robots and automated systems design and operations. Everyone I work with assumes I'm an engineer because I have all the practical experience and gained knowledge. Tons of self-learning because I'm a nerd. I've been rejected from multiple jobs in final round when they realize I don't have a degree despite working as a "lead engineer" for a fortune 500 doing the exact same thing. I get auto-filtered out of by most HR AI filters.
We're hindering ourselves by AI filtering resumes, putting HR over hiring and necessitating degrees for things in an age where the worlds combined knowledge is at our finger-tips. Degrees are awesome. Engineers are necessary, but book smarts and practical gained knowledge should be valued the same.
@OnlyForThePriceOf999 Not like we get a choice - we labor for the capitalists or end up hungry and homeless :/
Thank you for doing it .
I will be buying two
Alrighty, now let’s do it with electronics..
@zyphosa5398 TSMC is doing that in Phoenix, but that’s not enough because it’s controlled by big corps.
100%. A fabricated metal thing is one of the things you CAN make here…. I have a consumer electronics kickstarter… it’s just on the shelf until tariffs are over. Full stop. The factories making OLED displays, or stepper motors etc… just don’t exist here, and maybe never will again.
@adanedsstudio and TSMC doesn't manufacture components. being a foreign company aside, their presence here doesn't help with the resistor/capacitor/diode/etc part of the supply chain situation.
Iphone made in new mexico
24:37. Even the used CNC machines… designed in us made in China
27:39 “This is great👵🏼” 😄
So cute the accent
Sounds like there needs to be an extended cut educating viewers what makes a product qualify to be labeled as "Made in USA". As you could still put that label despite not having all USA parts.
OMG I did soooo many miles with those tents. Huge hit of nostalgia!
This is fantastic. I come from a line of 4 generations of tool and die makers. I think its time for me to continue the tradition
@LT7Racing please do! We need it!
@LT7Racing you know what works best on any greasy surface, except aluminum, is good ole lye. Sodium Hydroxide. Sodium hydrogen will dissolve grease and oil like magic. As I jeweler the only way I can make a ring 100% clean is to soak it in a lye solution, works much better than ultrasonic or electro cleaning. As a matter of fact the PH level of lye is so low I can take a strand of fine pearls strung on silk or synthetic thread and soak them in lye for a couple hours. All body oils, dirt, and more importantly perfume will completely dissolve with no harm to the pearls strand at all. If you put pearls in vinegar or something slightly acidic the pears will dissolve and be ruined.
One side that people don't realize, is that the most common buyer/usage of actual made in America industrial commodities likes nuts and bolts are in the defense industry, where often for security purposes (risk of disruption, sabotage, inconsistent material...etc), will actually have to be made in America. And since defense contractors have far far higher budget than average american inventor, they can afford the 4-6x cost increase to get it made here.
It's not just "the government is willing to overpay so we'll charge more." The raw and processed material costs are enormous here, and aren't likely to change any time soon.
@VideoOfMike exactly! I work on DOD stuff. I'm not involved in the purchasing realm of things, but in my job I sometimes have to look at stock information. It's absurd. Certain screws and things are over $10. There are even things that they have not been able to get because they need in small quantities and the people who make them aren't willing to make them because it's just not worth the effort no matter how much they're willing to pay.
I like to call that kinda stuff "taxpayer pricing"
There is another element. It's called volume. You increase volume you decrease cost. That is another reason to bring as much manufacturing to the US as possible.
@bdkj3e So you want your taxpayer dollars to go to China when the government wants to buy something?
I thought you Dad worked at NASA. Did he do that afterwards?
This is an incredible video. Thank you!
Hi Destin, I’m an automotive defense engineer and I can say with certainty that this video highlights the systemic issue of procurement discrepancies from vendors. PPAP level processes produce interesting findings from suppliers which makes it difficult to ascertain manufacturing piece part production records. I plan on showing all interns and new hires this video as a fantastic reference of the challenges that come with procurement. Best of luck with your procurement and ensure a DD250 is in place! Can’t wait to receive my new brush!
I've played the ' find it made in America ' game for parts and assembly's and ran into the same issues. The only way I was able to get people to at least not quote, b/c they would never actually tell you were they bought stuff, was to require net 45 terms and clearly specific that 1st article inspection and source material would need to be done and any failure to validate source as USA Made would result in parts being rejected and returned at suppliers cost. I never want to go through that again.
Next up: Destin discovers the economic sustainability challenges of selling long-lasting products.
Selling cheap stuff that breaks after a while not only gives you an edge in pricing, but also ensures you get lasting demand. It's effectively a subscription service.
It's funny how you people bitching in the comments that can't see past this. The "poor" mentality has hold of them real good.
@Berserkism weirdo
@majorgnu except now America has an ideological rival again in China. ‘Serve the people’. No one is selling a scrubber that breaks, if China makes one that doesn’t.
you mean greed right
I bought a square-headed shovel from Menards yesterday and was removing some sod in my backyard. No joke it's already bent. An equivalent shovel sold 100 years ago could have de-sodded a whole field.
Great video, have you tried a cedar plank? The softer wood creates natural grooves as you use it on the grill.
i am a CNC machinist in Alberta and the last mold i made was in 1998. loved your program , we have a long way to go (back!) if we want to fix this.
They didn’t to pay the guys in India to repackage the Chinese chainmail 😅 37:24
love the general idea (of making a quality product), but remember - your local is my foreign (and vice versa)
Still 10 times more local than a foreign country
@Sonofsun. i am sure to me you live in a foreign country
Absolutely. I think if you were to follow the spirit of this video, you would *not* buy this product if you don't live in the USA, and instead buy products made in whatever country you live in.
This video really puts out a message and i stand whit you destin.
45:55 "you can buy nice, or you can buy twice" such a fine phrase
More like 20x... I use a piece of an old 2x4 which has perfectly spaced grooves in it after a couple uses.
Cool project, great info and entertaining videos, but he's figured it out now.
Sell off the fame, not the claim. Without someone of influence pitching this, it would have zero chance of being successful. That's not a knock on him or what he's trying to do, but it's currently impractical for your common man to go down this path. Also, do a Google search for Cuisinart 3-in-1 Chainmail Grill Cleaner. You don't have to worry about China stealing your ideas when your ideas already exist.
thrice
cry once, buy once
Yup! I'm obsessed with buying the right thing. Even if it's a dish sponge, I want to get the right thing at the right price
A giant class action lawsuit against amazon selling illegal patent infringing products would maybe do something. I'm sure there are thousands of cases like the torch one.
Your video has gone viral in China. Many people have watched it, and the comments reveal the vast difference in the scale of the manufacturing workforce.
What follows is absolutely not meant to be confrontational; I just want to provide some context from my perspective based on your video.
First, a suggestion: We recommend using two screws for fixation instead of one. This will prevent the brush head from rotating and detaching during use.
Second, regarding patents: Similar patents for products like yours already exist in China - there are about a dozen that predate yours.
Some comments also pointed out that if someone really wanted to replicate your product based on this video, an optimized version could be produced in about 20 minutes. Mass production could be achieved within about 5 days in cities like Shanghai or Guangzhou, while ensuring the design avoids patent conflicts. The materials used could even be of a higher grade than yours - for instance, better corrosion resistance in metals, or improved heat/wear resistance in silicone. The range of material choices available in China is at least tens to hundreds of times greater.
Furthermore, it's quite possible that the parts you didn't see being produced in the video were actually manufactured in China. As your orders increase, even the parts you did see being made will likely end up being sourced from India or China, just like yours.
I haven't checked the situation on Amazon, but I did look at products within China. Chinese consumers don't use this type of brush for cleaning grills; they only use it for washing dishes. These products have been sold here for many years, so it's difficult to claim that China copied your idea. Smaller versions of similar products range in price from 1.9 RMB to 25 RMB (approx. $0.25 - $3.25 USD), including shipping. Crucially, they contain no plastic parts - they're entirely metal. Just look at the difference in steel production volumes between the countries to understand why - even after processing, Chinese metal products are genuinely cheaper than the raw materials in the US.
If I specifically search for "grill cleaning brushes," the results are similar - around $2 USD, essentially the Chinese export versions sold in the US. Walmart clearly considers these products adequate for their needs. After all, if they break, people will just blame "poor Chinese quality," without questioning why such products passed multiple inspections in the US, or why Walmart continuously drives down prices to maximize its own profits. Walmart might purchase these for $1.75 USD, add Trump's tariffs bringing it to $5 USD, and then sell them to Americans for $35 USD. Anyone in international trade would understand this dynamic.
As a Chinese, I genuinely watched your video twice and shared it with my friends. You've done excellent work, and it's refreshing to see someone actually doing things constructively, rather than starting with accusations.
so these products you researched had chain mail and metal handles that were as thick and unbendable as his were? Because if not, then not the same. Quality is quality, needs to last for 50 years without breaking not 2
@heartsingssacredsongsuntol6782 If you ask this question, it means you have no idea about the price of raw materials. The brush costs about $80, which is almost the same price you can buy an identical titanium alloy handel part in China. Even the dumbest engineer knows how to make titanium alloy stronger than steel, for a grill brush.
This comment should be pinned at the very top.
Worthless Chinese.
As someone working in the manufacturing industry, I find this to be an objective and fair comment. The United States is a great nation and hope great again, but the focus should not be on conventional manufacturing. Instead, it should be on high-tech fields and being a pioneer in exploring uncharted territories.🌅