The 5 Best Grill Brushes of 2025, Tested

How I Tested Grill Brushes

I tested eight grill brushes with woven stainless steel, rigid stainless steel, or nylon bristles, in addition to one bristle-free brush. To start, I established four zones on my gas grill and tested metal brushes against each other and the nylon or bristle-free models in the next round.

In each zone, I grilled vegetables without oil to encourage sticking, a 5-ounce burger patty, and I needed something sweet to really make a mess: melon slathered in barbecue sauce. When the food finished cooking, I turned off the grill and allowed it to cool, although I tested the steam-powered brushes while the grill was still hot. I then applied each brush to each cooking area of its respective grill zone, using side bristles or scrapers where relevant to compare each brush's efficacy. To choose our top picks, I considered each brush’s overall design and ease of use.

Factors to Consider

Bristle Type

I’ll get this part out of the way: The old-style wooden or plastic brushes with wire bristles are unsafe due to bristle shedding and ineffective compared to newer designs, and I cannot recommend them. 

As for newer designs, you’ll find two main types of bristles, with a couple of outliers. The first is the coiled, woven stainless steel bristles, and the other is nylon or another non-metallic bristle. You can use metal bristles when the grill is still hot. Non-metallic brushes will melt or burn on a hot grill, so you have to allow the grill to cool before cleaning. I prefer to burn off the grill for a few minutes after cooking and attack it while the grates are still hot. Non-metallic brushes are ultimately safer, as you don’t have to fear shedding metal bristles, but are not as effective at cleaning. Even safer are the pad-type brushes that have no bristles at all. 

Most brushes also include a scraper blade for removing really stuck-on bits. Look for a scraper blade that isn’t overly long—about a quarter inch is sufficient—and has grooves in the sides that allow you to clean the sides of your grill grates, not just the top.

Handle Design

Handle design is highly subjective, but the most effective brushes had a sloping angle between the head and the handle that allows you to exert pressure while the head lies flat on the grill. My personal preference is a longer handle, 11 or 12 inches, which keeps my hands away from the hot grill. None of the brushes I tested had fire- or melt-proof handles, but look for a material that offers some heat resistance, not wood. Then there’s the matter of the grip. How comfortable is the handle in your hand? Some brushes have molded or coated grips for slip-resistance, which is always a good idea, but not mandatory.

Durability

Grill brushes aren’t glamorous tools, and they aren’t hugely expensive, but you don’t want to have to replace them every year. I’ve kept my GRILLART brush outside for about three years without signs of falling apart or rusting. So, look for solid construction that leads to longevity. Some manufacturers understand that vital parts, like the scraper blade or head, will wear out and sell replacements for these, which is a better and cheaper option than replacing the entire brush.

Safety

Today’s grill brush designs are direct responses to the lack of safety of the old wire brushes that would shed bristles on the grill grates and could adhere to food. Sometimes people would accidentally ingest them, causing injury or, in extreme cases, death. These newer designs eschew the wire bristles and are more effective at cleaning. The safest grill brush option is a pad design with no bristles. The next would be non-metallic bristles, followed by woven or rigid stainless steel. But you often trade effectiveness for safety, so balance that decision on what you are comfortable with.

Other Grill Brushes I Tested

Strong Contenders

Kona Safe/Clean Grill Brush ($22 at Amazon)

This rigid stainless steel brush is a formidable-looking tool, with three stacked layers of rigid coils that act like scrapers while utilizing steam for cleaning. The spacing of the coils was such that I couldn’t make full contact with my grill grate, which prevented me from removing cooked-on barbecue sauce.

OXO Good Grips Nylon Grill Brush ($22 Amazon)

I wasn’t able to fully clean the grill with this brush, and the head angle and scraper alignment made the whole thing a bit difficult to use. 

What Didn't Make the List

I’m generally a fan of Char-Broil’s products, but the Char-Broil SAFER Replaceable Head Grill Brush left me disappointed. Of the three tests I performed with it, the only area it cleaned completely was where I grilled vegetables. Also, the flat side of the scraper worked as a scraper should, but I had a hard time cleaning the sides of the grates with the notched edges. 

Our Expertise

Greg Baker is a former award-winning chef and restaurateur turned food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Serious Eats, and other publications. He’s an outdoor cooking enthusiast who’s tested numerous grills and grilling equipment. For this article, he compared eight grill brushes head to head by testing them on his backyard grill.