Quick Fix | Paint Gets A Good Remixing

By Al Heavens
Inquirer Columnist
© Copyright 2002 The Philadelphia Inquirer

A regular feature on products, services and ideas for the home.

Little things mean a lot, or so the song goes, and that certainly applies to ideas for products that help us maintain our houses.

For example, how many times have you bought a gallon of paint in August and not gotten around to using it till October?

All that professional mechanical shaking at the paint store - and when you finally open the can, the tint is floating on top.

A wooden paint stirrer just won't rectify the situation. The solution is to dump the contents into a larger container and mix it until you get the color you left the store with.

As with mixing the batter for a cake or getting the lumps out of mashed potatoes, there's science involved in mixing things like paint, concrete and drywall compound.

At least that's what G. "Bear" Berube, inventor of the Rapid Rodd, told me at the National Hardware Show in Chicago last month.

Berube, Founder of BeraKor Inc., of Anaheim, Calif., has come up with what is, in effect, a mixing tool that you attach to an electric drill.

Is this revolutionary? No. I've had a comparable attachment in my tool box for years.

Do I use mine? No, because it clogs easily and is difficult to clean.

Berube said the Rapid Rodd's design permits you to mix fluids of different consistencies with minimal resistance and strain on the tool.

As a result, all materials are completely blended, right to the bottom of the pail and into the corners.

The blade isn't sharp, so it doesn't cut into the corners of the mixing container, he said. And it's fast - just 10 seconds to get that tint back into the paint for an even color.

Rapid Rodd comes in three sizes. Price: $9 to $20. Information: 714-544-9419 or www.berakor.com.