DuraSoft®: The Original Soft-Grip Handle

Until the release of the DuraSoft® handle, two problems plagued the hand tools industry. All trowels had hard wooden handles that were uncomfortable and lacked resistance to moisture. The other, for bricklayers, came when taping bricks into place. The butt end of the trowel would mushroom and eventually ruin it.

The solution came in 1991 with the release of the MARSHALLTOWN User Friendly Handle, the first iteration of the DuraSoft® handle. The User Friendly Handle, or UFH, was a soft PVC-material sleeve that slipped over the wooden handle of brick trowels. This offered a comfortable soft feel that reduced fatigue. On the end was a hard polymer bumper that held up to constant taping of bricks.

MARSHALLTOWN aimed to further improve on the UFH. The company introduced the first design of the DuraSoft® handle at the National Hardware Show in August of 1993. This innovation was the first true soft-grip handle, revolutionizing the hand tool industry. The company filed and obtained two patents for the DuraSoft® handled brick trowel in 1994 and 1995.

While working on a handle for brick trowels, engineers were working to develop a DuraSoft® handle for finishing trowels. The handle debuted at the World of Concrete in February of 1994. MARSHALLTOWN started shipping in April of 1994, and at the following year’s World of Concrete, sales reps were bombarded with requests for the new handle. The company eventually obtained patents for the DuraSoft® handled finishing trowel in 1994 and 1996.

The company expanded to DuraSoft® taping knifes in 1994 and DuraSoft® magnesium hand floats in 1995. Today, MARSHALLTOWN has expanded its line of products featuring DuraSoft® handles. Competitors have tried their best to imitate with little success. There remains only one true soft-grip solution, the MARSHALLTOWN DuraSoft® handle.