Ben Mayberry demonstrating his invention, the Paint Handy, that will be featured on QVC next month. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Ben Mayberry is like a kid at Christmas when he talks about the discovery that led him to invent a product that could change the way people paint their homes.
His invention — the Paint Handy — is a portable paint caddy that prevents spills and drips and reduces costs associated with preparation time. It eliminates the need for wobbly paint pans and paint buckets and saves money on drop cloths and cleaning supplies.
The Paint Handy will debut on QVC next month and is tentatively scheduled for the “Home Projects with Jill and Dan” show on Sept. 5, which airs from 5 to 7 p.m.
For Mayberry, who lives in Tulsa, the on-air debut of his product will be the latest in a series of steps that began several years ago when he was looking for a quick way to dab some paint on a spot he had missed while painting a home.
Painting homes has been a passion for 49-year-old Mayberry. Over the years, he also has worked in carpentry, marketing and for 20 years worked in auto restoration.
But it was during a stint while helping someone paint a home exterior that Mayberry, who calls himself “very meticulous, very detail-oriented,” discovered his true calling. He didn’t mind the heat, enjoyed being outdoors and could “climb around like a monkey” on each house he painted.
He liked painting so much that in 2003 he started his own business, Mayberry Painting. The business is no longer in operation.
It was while he was painting an Owasso home — the largest he had ever painted — that Mayberry ran out of paint as he was working on a small spot high on the house. He made a mental note not to forget the spot.
Several weeks later, Mayberry had stuffed his vehicle full or equipment and supplies and was getting ready to drive away from the site when he looked over his shoulder and spotted the small, unpainted section.
Rather than pulling out a gallon of paint from his packed vehicle, Mayberry grabbed a two-inch brush, found a piece of cardboard and a four-inch square piece of bristle-type fabric.
“I grabbed it out of there and started ladling paint onto that pad. Before long I had it full of paint ... I noticed that the paint was not coming off that material. When I pressed the brush to it, it loaded the brush beautifully and completely,” he said.
That little piece of material held a lot of paint, but the paint didn’t drip or spill from it. Mayberry was stunned.
“All the way home I could not stop thinking about that. I thought if I could increase the surface diameter of that area, then that would be amazing to pour paint onto it or into it and utilize that,” he said.
Upon entering the garage, Mayberry saw a disc lying on the floor and wondered what would happen if he took some of that material, placed it in the bottom of the disc and then filled it with paint.
“When I painted with it the next day, I was giddy. I thought, ‘This is crazy,’ ” he said.
He eventually riveted a strap onto the frisbee to create a handle, and Mayberry said he felt like Michelangelo. Over the next several years, he field tested the product himself, trying to use it when no one else was looking.
“I was like a little kid.... I found out so many things about it,” he said.
Mayberry patented his invention and is now ready to introduce it to others. He has put everything on hold to focus entirely on Paint Handy.
The Paint Handy features a disc-shaped paint caddy, which is made of a durable plastic base with an adjustable nylon strap that holds a no-drip liner that allows paint to soak into a brush or a foam applicator but prevents paint from spilling even if it is turned sideways or upside down.
The Paint Handy Plus Kit, which will be featured on QVC, retails for $37.99 and comes with a squeegee, a two-inch foam brush, four-inch paint roller and two-inch paint brush. It currently is sold online (visit tulsaworld.com/painthandy).
Mayberry hopes someday that big-box retailers will carry the product. But for now, he is focused on branding the product through QVC and infomercials and letting people know the product exists.
Broken Arrow-based Gavco Plastics Inc. manufactures the product.
CONTACT THE REPORTER
918-581-8466
Email
