Kaul Washboy Review

We recently received a Kaul tilers washboy to review. After spending years using washboys sold by Karl Dahm and Rubi the Kaul washboy was a breath of fresh air. Naturally all washboys consist of the same main components to ensure effective cleaning of the grout sponge, but Kaul's design is far superior in the test we carried out.

The main difference are the rollers, these are hollow perforated plastic with raised lips around the perforations to help reduce the amount of dirty water being embedded in the sponge as you are trying to clean it. Water is extracted far more quickly via the perforations in the twin rollers compared to Kaul's competitors, and overall we'd have to say they cut the time associated with sponge emptying greatly.

As the sponge is compressed and water flows out over and through the rollers, it drops into a grout chute below the rollers which further reduce the amount of grout residue getting back into the cleaner water in the higher areas of the washboy. This is done by having small perforations in the grout chute which helps separate the grout from the water being extracted by the rollers.

A wire plunge basket is standard with most washboys and the Kaul is no exception. This is the first port of call for the dirtied sponge after grout cleaning. By compressing the sponge on the basket you purge the grout and reintroduce water, a couple of cycles clean a great majority of the grout. A lot of this is dependent on the quality of the sponge and again the supplied Kaul sponge is a segmented hydro sponge very similar to the upper range Karl Dahm sponges.

After purging the sponge you then press the sponge board across the rollers and tip back at both ends to remove the water, ready for further grout cleaning.

The Kaul washboy includes some nice features such as a neat little spout integrated into the washboy body, small plastic rollers which spread the weight of the water across the width of the washboy rather than four small areas associated with castors. Though castors can be added if required.

Overall we'd have to say this was the finest example of a tilers washboy we've used and far beyond it's competitors. But we have to point out that the Kaul is not exactly cheap due to few importers and most of the parts are bought separately to allow for greatly flexibility. If you have an existing Karl Dahm wire basket, it will fit perfectly in the Kaul, so that will save you money.

Review by Dave M. Carr
[e] dave@davemcarr.co.uk
[w] www.tiling.davemcarr.co.uk
Professional Floor Wall Tiler Nottingham

Tags: washboy, kaul