A Paintball Squeegee is a device used to clean broken paintball mess from your barrel. Every now and then you will have a paintball break in the breech or barrel of your marker. Until your barrel and breech are clean and dry you will continue to break more paintballs and your accuracy will be horrible. This Paintball Squeegee Buyer's Guide will help you learn about the three main types: pull through, stick, and fluffy swab.
A Pull Through Paintball Squeegee is a long flexible device made of plastic, rubber or cable with cleaning disks, washers, etc., at one end. To use a pull through squeegee you remove your barrel, push the non-disk end through from the barrel thread end to the muzzle, and then pull it through so the disks draw the goop out from back to front. You can also just take your hopper off and run it through or, with markers like Tippmann 98s, US Army Project Salvoes or BT-4s, open the feedneck to one side and pass it through. Pull through squeegees take time to use but clean your barrel the best.
A Stick Squeegee is a long tube with a swiveling disk at one end and a plunger at the other end. To clean your barrel you depress the plunger to swivel the disk sideways, slide it down the barrel’s muzzle to the breech, and then release the plunger and pull. The disk flattens out and draws the broken paint from back to the front. Stick squeegees are often carried attached to a lanyard worn around the neck. These squeegees do not clean as well as a pull through but are very quick to use on the field.
Fluffy Swabs, also known as Folding Swabs, are wool or synthetic pile on a stick. You slip it down the barrel to soak up broken paint. These swabs are good for small barrel breaks but will just push a big break farther down the barrel. Swabs are great for cleaning broken paint and shell out of feednecks and the breech in the event of a bolt-sliced ball.
A paintball player should have all three types of squeegees in a well-stocked gear bag. A stick squeegee on a lanyard and a folding swab in their pocket will get your barrel and breech clean during a game. A pull through will get your barrel completely clean between games. Many woodsball and scenario players carry all three squeegees in their tactical vest or a MOLLE pouch since they tend to be out on the field for extended periods of time and can fall back for thorough use.
There is a fourth type of swab that players find useful: a Pod and Loader Swab. These are incredibly handy to quickly clean paint and broken shell from your pods and loader.