Cutting in is the final prep you do before painting an entire wall. You are basically outlining the area where you will be painting and getting any tight areas you can’t get with a roller. You’ll be painting the ceiling line, wall edges, corners and above baseboards. You will also want to paint around window and door trim, electrical outlets, light switches and heating and cooling vents.
Rock Climbing at Muir Valley Nature Preserve
All of us at Mr. LongArm have always been intrigued by the many unexpected ways people use our extension poles. But there is none more exciting to us than Rock Climbing. Stick Clipping, to be precise. With the use of an extension pole and SuperClip or similar device, the climber is able to attach their rope to the first carabiner on the route without having to leave the safety of the ground. This is life-protecting gear for the climber as sometimes the first 15 feet of a climb are the most dangerous.
Keep Your Customers Updated In Today’s Fast Paced World
The importance of keeping your customers notified quickly in today’s world is vital to your success. Whether you want to promote an event, a product sale, post new hours, or advertise for help wanted, reader board signs can play a huge role. The majority of your customers probably live within a ten to twenty mile radius of your business location. An informative sign or movie marquee can draw in your local customers and potential passerby’s as well.
A Pole for Hanging Christmas Lights
It’s that time of year when people ask if we make a pole for hanging Christmas lights. We’ve never invested in making a hook attachment for this purpose because you can easily MacGyver your own. We are including three how-to examples from some clever guys who have made their own version of a pole hook.
Essential Painting Tools
About the author: Abdullah Riaz is a writer, who alongside content writing, also takes part in fiction writing. He has already been published in a book as one of the winners of a fiction writing contest. In addition to writing, he also has experience with all sorts of research, particularly in IT-related fields. He has always been a fan of writing and learning about new topics. Outside writing, you’ll find him spending time with his dog, Terry.
by Abdullah Riaz
Paintwork is essential for every space, whether it be your office, school, home or outdoor decking. It is in your best interest that they look fresh and maintained. Before you begin painting your walls, you need to be equipped with the right tools required for the job. Having every tool sorted and planned will save you a trip to the store in the middle of painting when you realize you might have forgotten something. A good plan of all essential tools will also save you from overspending on equipment that may not be necessary.
Staining a Deck Step-by-Step with Woodmates® Applicators
Do you have a tired looking deck out back that looks like it’s seen better days? It’s probably time to give it a fresh stain. Staining your deck will certainly make it easier on the eyes as well as protect the wood from warping. When it comes to deck staining, Mr. LongArm has created multiple products in our Woodmates line that can solve every problem that a DIYer could encounter. For this guide we will assume you have already decided that the deck needs staining. Also, be warned that the weather plays a significant part in this project. To achieve the very best results you need about 72 total hours (3 days) without rain if you are going to do everything in as short a period of time as possible. Without further ado (before it rains) let us start with preparing the deck.
How to Easily Stain a Picnic Table with Woodmates®
Mr. LongArm designed Woodmates stain applicators with decks and fences in mind. But Woodmates applicators are also highly effective when it comes to other staining projects such as wooden outdoor furniture. To illustrate this and show how flexible these tools can be, let’s look at Mr. LongArm’s new picnic table. Recently we acquired a brand new picnic table for our outdoor break area. It needed a coat of stain, not only for good looks but also to protect it. The harsh Missouri weather can really do a number on untreated outdoor wood items. Without further ado let’s look at how to stain a picnic table with our many Woodmates Stain Applicators.
How to Stain a Small Deck with Woodmates®
Want to know how to stain a small deck? Many first-time homeowners or young families will purchase a home with a smaller wooden deck that is in less-than-ideal condition. While it might not require replacement or new lumber, that old deck needs something to bring it back to life. That something is a good cleaning and a fresh coat of stain. Staining a small deck is a relatively easy DIY project that doesn’t cost much or take a long time. Mr. LongArm has the perfect products to get you started and make this task much easier.
*A typical small starter deck is around 12 x 12 feet or smaller.
How to Detail your Boat in 9 Simple Steps
Fellow boaters, its spring, which means it is time to get the boat ready for summer. First off, I understand parts of the country have been taking the boat out all winter long. Humor me here okay, us Midwesterners are not quite as fortunate as you all. Now let us get this out of the way, cleaning off the boat after a long winter of it sitting around getting filthy both inside and out is not an enjoyable task, but unfortunately it is necessary. And yes, us recreational boaters are always finding ways to bypass deep cleaning, but ultimately if you want to enjoy the boat this summer we have the best way to make cleaning it easier.
How to change recessed and other style light bulbs with Mr. LongArm’s bulb changers.
Simply put, it’s relatively easy to change a recessed light bulb, everyone knows that. However, introduce vaulted ceilings or any other added elevation and this simple task goes from 0 to 100 quickly. Many people get up on a ladder to change these bulbs, unfortunately this adds unnecessary risk. Luckily for all you fans of light bulbs Mr. LongArm has safe, easy-to-use solutions to help. We manufacture non-conductive extension poles and several light bulb changers. Let’s run down these products and give a quick guide on how to use them.
Extension Poles & The Daytona 500
February doesn’t just mean spending too much money on Valentines Day or Super Bowl parties. February also marks the annual return of the NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR’s most important and prestigious event of the year: “The Daytona 500.” Often referred to as “The Great American Race” and the “Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing”. It is annually the most viewed race on TV in the United States and highest attended NASCAR race.
So what does The Daytona 500 have to do with Mr. LongArm? Well, to put it bluntly, many nascar pit crew tool boxes include Mr. LongArm products. Our extension poles will be everywhere on pit row Sunday helping crews and drivers in a myriad of ways. In honor of the Daytona 500 and racing season being back, let’s take a quick look at some of the uses and poles that one might expect to see.
Keep Your ‘Green’ Home Improvements Running at Peak Efficiency
If you’re like many homeowners and businesses, you want to keep your ‘green’ home improvements running at peak efficiency. You have recently made improvements to lessen your impact on the environment. And while you’ve already taken big strides toward saving energy – and money – you want to conserve even more. Whether you recently outfitted your home with solar panels or invested in new lighting. Installed a new heating system or water heater, here are some tips to make sure you are saving energy at the highest capacity.
Easy 6 Step Process to Wash your RV like a Pro
RVs have become a popular social-distancing choice for a safe and enjoyable family vacation. But, like, cars or boats, it is important to wash your RV frequently. Proper cleaning will protect it and keep it looking new. Especially if you make the effort to completely detail the exterior a couple times a year.
Washing and waxing your RV will keep the gelcoat crisp and prevent it from fading too quickly, meaning your RV holds its value longer just in case you are looking to sell it in the future. You can spend a small fortune on a professional detailer each time you do it or you can save some money for more enjoyable things by taking advantage of a few of Mr. LongArm’s products. Also, cleaning an RV yourself can be an oddly enjoyable task and affords a sense of accomplishment when finished. Let’s get started.
ADAPT-ABILITY: Different Types of Extension Pole Adaptors
Mr. LongArm Products Can Easily Adapt to Most Situations
With patented technology and a huge selection of attachments, and threaded ends, Mr. LongArm quickly adapts to nearly any situation to help professionals and do-it-yourselfers get the job done fast. Especially those jobs that are otherwise out of reach — from painting a ceiling and washing windows to changing light bulbs and dusting high ceiling fans.
Plastic Standard Threaded End
Mr. LongArm’s Green Initiatives
Like many successful companies, Mr. LongArm has been doing everything possible to make itself a more eco friendly company. Mr. LongArm employees love the great outdoors and our company has made it a goal to do everything we can to protect the environment. Mr. LongArm strives to eliminate waste and save resources to become a much more sustainable business.
The Most Important Initiative
Many companies manufacture items that are disposable. We make our products durable enough to stand the test of time. Typically our products last for many years but when they don’t we can provide the parts to repair them. Below is a message from a customer who contacted our Customer Service Department and received a replacement part for his 25 year old extension pole.
“Hi Customer Service,
I received the replacement parts for my Mr LongArm that you sent. I installed the problem part. The extension pole is working again.
Thank you for your help. You solved my problem. I’ll add that I am impressed that you could provide parts for a tool that is probably 25 years old. Even more so that this service was essentially free to me. This level of support for a product is almost non-existent today.
Your representative was as helpful as could be when I contacted Mr LongArm with my problem. Again, great support!”
– P.N., October 30, 2023
Additional Steps We’re Taking:
Manufacturing & Shipping
How to Easily Organize Long Handled Tools
If you’re like me and most everyone else in the world who has been sheltering in place, you are probably obsessed with cleaning and organizing everything. My husband and I laugh about how clean our home is going to be a month from now. We have also started planning our garden which means we really need to organize the contents of our garage next, especially the garden tools and brooms that have been sitting in the corner for months now.
Extension Pole Threaded Ends: What is a Lok-thread and what does it do?
There is nothing worse than having to constantly retighten a tool that keeps spinning off an extension pole’s threaded end. For example, if you’re constantly having to stop painting a wall to tighten the roller frame back onto the pole. Another issue we have heard from customers happens when they are using a cleaning brush. The brush on the pole can come unscrewed. Both situations are annoying and waste valuable time for the user.
The Solution
Murphy’s Journey to Recovery
Hi, I’m Murphy, you may know me from my video. My friends at Mr. LongArm asked me to write a guest blog to give you more details about my condition. It’s called Sudden Canine Paralysis, and the use of a simple invention and canine physical therapy are helping me on my journey to recovery.
A Guide to Flow-Thru Brush Styles & Uses
Mr. LongArm flow-thru cleaning brush blocks have an opening that allows water to pass through to the filaments when used with one of our flow-thru extension poles. They are available in many styles to clean a variety of surfaces from wood and concrete to fine auto finishes and glass. Our brushes are made with the finest materials and attach to any standard threaded extension pole or flow-thru extension pole including our HydraSoar and TeleWash poles. All of our cleaning brushes are chemical resistant and contain more filaments than most other brushes.
10 Tips for Painting with a Mr. LongArm 3-Section Extension Pole
About the author: Mark Kirby is a homeowner who shared these helpful tips he learned while painting with a Mr. LongArm 3-section extension pole. Thanks for sharing these Mark!
How to Use a Paint Roller Extension Pole
by Mark Kirby
TIP #1 –
Do not over load the paint roller and always make sure the paint is evenly distributed on the roller. Less paint makes the pole less top heavy and makes the roller easier to control at long extensions. Lighter paint loading of rollers give better painting results and fewer runs and drips. Just be sure to avoid dry rolling which can cause an uneven paint job.
Long Range Dusting with Mr. LongArm
Its spring time here in the Midwest, which means we’ll have near perfect temperatures for about a week before the muggy summer heat descends on us. Great spring weather means opening the windows up and cleaning the house after a long winter (unless you live in Arizona or something, in which case this article applies for anytime of the year). While there are many chores that need to get done once the weather turns warm, one that we frequently see people not commit enough time to is dusting. Many will just wipe down a few tables or dressers and call it good, but dust is everywhere, and leaving it on your fan or other high spots can be the cause of those sneezing attacks that we all so commonly attribute to allergies. Luckily, Mr. LongArm has a couple of dusting attachments that can make reaching those higher spots a breeze, especially when combined with our extendable poles.
How-to Guide: Painting a Ceiling – Part Two
In part one we went over the materials needed, prep work and how to wet down and remove popcorn ceiling and sanding. This second and final chapter in our ceiling painting saga we’ll discuss color/paint choices, the process of how to paint and a very specific product Mr. LongArm created just for this type of application.
7 Practical Tips for Breathing a New Life into Old Homes
About the author: Mike Johnston is a home improvement blogger and DIY enthusiast from Sydney. He is a regular writer at Smooth Decorator and contributor on several interior design, lifestyle, real estate and eco-friendly blogs. Mike’s goal is to create and share meaningful interior design tips that help and inspire people.
By Mike Johnston
People often tend to look at home renovation like a holy grail of all DIY projects. The prize you will get at the end of the journey is awesome, but the trouble you need to go through along the way makes the whole thing seem pointless. Here’s the good news, Sir Galahad – this quest is only as complicated as you want it to be and your good old home can get a breath of new life even with the slightest of efforts if you know where to put it. Here are a couple of interior design tips to help in your quest.
How-to Guide: Painting a Ceiling – Part One
The ceilings in our homes are often bland and boring, for years the white ceiling has been all I have seen when walking into a house, but lately that has changed. A growing trend amongst homeowners has been painting their ceilings vibrant colors to give their home’s interior a more cheerful and eclectic mood.
What Pole Do I Need?
What Pole You Should Buy Depends on Several Factors Including:
- The length you need to successfully complete your project.
- How often you’ll use it determines the duty rating you need.
- Material preferences. We offer steel, aluminum, fiberglass and fiberglass/aluminum poles.
- Your locking mechanism preference. Twist-Lok, Compression Locking or Positive Push-button Locking.
Optimizing Human Performance for 60 Years and Counting
About the author: Leigh Newman is Director of Facilities and Real Property at Mr. LongArm, Inc., Co-owner and Board of Directors Member
by Leigh Newman
Great Inventions Always Start with a Problem
Sixty years ago, R.D. Newman, was out on a sales call in Wichita KS. While walking inside he saw the store owner and an employee trying to tape a paint roller to a heavy piece of steel conduit. As the legend goes, the store owner retorted, after a friendly ribbing by R.D., “If you can make something better, Newman, I’ll buy it!”. The wheels of invention began to turn. A few months after returning home and with the help of his wife Mimi, R.D. had designed and invented the very first telescopic extension pole!
Interesting and Intriguing Uses for Mr. LongArm Extension Poles
Updated – 2023
With so many interesting uses for our products, manipulating objects outside of our reach has been an important part of the evolution of the “tool”. It may seem contrary to intuition but the extension pole as we know it didn’t exist before 1958 when R.D. Newman invented it. Before that human beings had to climb or hang or strain to reach higher. And since then we have found all sorts of uses and attached all sorts of apparatus to our extension poles. Mr. LongArm is forever dedicated to optimizing human performance.
Tips for Using Woodmates® Deck Stain Applicators
For a very long time DIYers had to use paint rollers and brushes for applying deck stain. Then, we came around and figured that there had to be a better way to go about staining your deck. We came up with the ultimate line of deck and fence stain applicators. While these deck stain applicators are straightforward to use, like many tools, there are always a few tips to make things easier. Luckily for you, after staining many a deck with our Woodmates applicators, our team has compiled a few of those tips to make using our stain applicators even easier.
Picking the Best Pole for the Project
How do you “Pick the Right Pole for your Project”? If you look through our product catalog you’ll be inundated with the breadth of our extension pole product line. Different lengths, materials, threaded ends, fluted, fixed length – the list of options goes on and on. With so many different extension poles to choose from we figured it would help to provide a guide.
How-to Maintain Windows and Keep Costs Low
About the author: The following is a blog by Jenny Holt, a freelance writer and mother of two. She loves nothing more than getting away from it all and taking her Labrador, Bruce, for long walks.
by Jenny Holt
Windows are an important part of a home’s structure, they provide ventilation, insulate spaces and improve aesthetic appearance. They also need regular maintenance so they continue to make your home look good, but are also safe and secure.
History’s Most Versatile Tool?
From the beginning of time, mankind has evolved to thrive in our environment. What we lacked in stature, we made up for with tools, and specifically for things outside of our immediate grasp. Some tools are designed for particular jobs, while others can be broadly used to accomplish a myriad of different tasks. Take a moment and do a personal inventory of the tools in your garage or shed. Which would you consider the most versatile multi tool?
The Official Recipe for the MLA “Mango Salsa” Video
MANGO SALSA: If you haven’t watched Patricia’s harrowing tale of blood, sweat and salsa, head over to our YouTube page and watch. While you’re there Like Subscribe and Comment for a chance to win some fabulous prizes. After a long day of getting it done Faster. Safer. Easier you deserve a quick easy-to-make snack. Nothing is as refreshing as fresh fruits and vegetables so why not throw a bunch of them into the same bowl and eat them with some chips?
On Reinventing the Wheel
About the author: Mr. LongArm is proud to partner with The Urban Farmers, an all volunteer nonprofit whose mission is to help bring nutritious fresh produce to those less fortunate. The following is a blog from the groups co-founder, Siamack Sioshansi.
by Siamack Sioshansi
The tool that we use every day is readily available from any major hardware store. It comes with metal, fiberglass or wood handles at reasonable prices. This is the story of why we reinvented the fruit pole picker, and like all good stories it has a surprising and heartwarming ending.
The Importance of Keeping Photovoltaic Cells Clean
About the author: The following is a guest blog by Mary Sauer and Modernize.com. If you are looking for remodeling projects to increase the value of your home, the folks at Modernize have some great ideas. Check them out!
by Mary Sauer
When you make an investment as large as installing solar panels on your home, taking the necessary steps to maintain and care for that investment is crucial.
Mr. LongArm and Habitat for Humanity Team Up
Mr. LongArm is proud and excited to announce that we are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity at the 2015 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. We’ve worked with many other local and national non-profit charitable organizations but with Habitat we are able to make a difference on a global scale.
Three Reasons to Stain Your Deck
Why stain a deck?
I think we can all agree that we’d much rather be BBQing on our decks than staining or sealing them. But taking a weekend at the beginning of the warm season can save a lot of headache down the road. If you need convincing to add more items to your to-do list, I have three reasons deck treatment should be added:
2014 National Hardware Show Wrap-up
About the author: Maureen Newman is VP of Diversified Markets at Mr. LongArm, Inc., Co-owner and Board of Directors Member
by Maureen Newman
The 2014 National Hardware Show was a 3 day event and marked the 69th year that manufacturers and resellers of products were brought together under one roof. Well, actually 2 roofs and an outdoor parking lot. Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the line-up of exhibitors ranged from Home Improvement categories (like the painting tools MLA manufactures) to Lawn & Garden/Outdoor Living products (such as the hanging Wicker Chair that Linda Fore purchased after show hours then had to figure out how to haul back to KCMO).
Project Guide: How-to Paint a Room
Painting may seem like an overly intuitive process, but there are a few pitfalls that can turn your dream of perfect living space into a nightmare. Following our How-to Paint a Room project guide can help you avoid common mistakes and help you get back to doing what you love… Faster. Safer. Easier.
Project Guide: How-to Clean a Deck
When was the last time you washed your outdoor deck or patio? From backyard BBQs and spring rain to family reunions and summer heat, our outdoor spaces can take a serious beating. If you’ve ever replaced or built a deck or patio you know it can be an expensive and time-consuming process. This guide will give you a quick rundown on how to perform a little maintenance now to save you a big headache in the future. If you want to learn how to clean your deck, you’ve come to the right guide.
A Primer on Deck Treatment
Take a trip through your local hardware or paint store and you might be taken back by the wide variety of deck treating products on the market. What’s the difference between stain and a sealer? How do you know which product is right for your deck? This primer attempts to answer those questions. Let’s start at the biggest decision you’ll have in the deck treatment isle: “Do I seal or stain?” This choice is up to your preference, but they each have their own benefits and drawbacks.
Project Guide: How-to Paint a Closet
When you are in the throws of a remodeling spree it’s easy to bypass closets and leave them out of the makeover process. The humble closet has its own set of rules. It can be an extension of a room or an exciting pop of color. We’ll give you a list of needed supplies, and step by step instructions on how to paint your closet. This project is easy enough for a weekend, and can really change the entire look and feel of a living space.
Welcome to the Finish.Up. Blog!
Welcome to Mr. LongArm’s product blog! AKA: “The Finish.Up. Blog”, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to come and check out our Blog. We hope that between now and the time they take away our keyboards you’ll find something of use to help you in your endeavors.