Malco Crex CRHEX Review: A Cleanable, Reversible Nut Driver That Makes Sense

Introduction

Reversible nut drivers are one of those ideas that sounds like a gimmick until you actually use one. Malco’s Crex CRHEX, short for cleanable reversible hex, has been around long enough to prove itself, and the current version refines the concept in a few small but meaningful ways. If you work on appliances, HVAC equipment, RVs, or sheet metal, this is a tool worth a close look.

What the Crex CRHEX Actually Is

The Crex CRHEX is a nut driver with a hollow shaft and a reversible hex socket. The socket piece has a 1/4-inch side and a 5/16-inch side, both clearly marked, and it seats onto the shaft with a ball detent quick lock mechanism. A strong magnet sits right at the front of the socket, which is what makes the whole “cleanable” promise work.

That magnet placement matters more than it might seem. On a classic nut driver with a fixed magnet inside the socket, metal filings and shards eventually pack themselves into the tip and become genuinely hard to remove. With the Crex, you simply pop the socket off and clean the magnet directly. It is a small design decision that pays off over the life of the tool.

The drivers come in 6-inch, 4-inch, and 2-inch shaft lengths, with a rolled fit and finish on the handle rather than laser etched or painted markings. The newer version uses a black oxide finish on the shaft instead of bare S2 steel, which gives it a slightly different look from the earlier generation but otherwise the two are very similar to use.

Why 1/4-Inch and 5/16-Inch Matter So Much

These two sizes cover an enormous amount of real-world work. Small appliances like toasters and big ones like dishwashers lean on them heavily, and so does sheet metal and HVAC work. RVs are a particularly big one. Between aluminum and wood construction, it can feel like nearly everything is held together with these screws or close variations of them.

Because most jobs will use one size throughout, the reversible design means fewer tool swaps. You can absolutely just buy two separate drivers and keep one of each size running, and for some workflows that makes sense. But if you are constantly switching between a drill and hand work, having both sizes in one tool cuts down the fumbling.

There may even be a color convention at play. The red handle is 1/4-inch and the yellow is 5/16-inch, which matches the color coding on at least one premium-brand equivalent, so the scheme may well be an industry standard.

The Updated Design: A Wider Gap That Actually Helps

One change in the newer version is easy to misread. Malco has increased the gap between the socket and the shaft, which might look like extra play. It is not. These sockets are designed to be removed easily, and that wider gap gives you somewhere to insert a screwdriver blade or similar tool to pop the socket free.

This matters because the detent can be genuinely stubborn, especially with the slippery black oxide shaft. On the older version, reversing the socket left a gap too tight to get a pry tool into, which made removal frustrating. The new geometry fixes that without changing how the tool drives fasteners.

Alternatives Worth Knowing About

Malco has been exploring this space from a few directions. There is a prototype multi-size tool with four sizes on one collar-switched body, covering 7/16, 5/16, 1/4, and 3/8 inches. It is an interesting concept, but it is fairly bulky for tight spaces and there are stories of these collar designs coming loose, so it remains a work in progress rather than a finished product.

The company also offers conventional stacked sets of nut drivers on a single shaft, the kind you will see from Milwaukee and Klein as well. And the bigger news for the Crex line itself is that Malco now makes these in metric sizes too, with the same cleanable reversible design. As modern appliances move away from 1/4-inch and 5/16-inch fasteners, that looks increasingly forward-thinking.

Buying Advice

Individual Crex drivers have been priced in the roughly $12 to $18 range depending on shaft length, with one larger configuration around $78. Sets of four have run around $55, which is pricey enough that it makes sense to buy only the sizes you actually need rather than a full set. These are sold individually and in sets through Amazon and other retailers.

The core value proposition holds up: one reversible tool covering the two most common hex fastener sizes in appliance, HVAC, RV, and sheet metal work, with a magnet you can actually clean. If those two sizes describe your work, this is an easy recommendation.

Conclusion

The Malco Crex CRHEX does one job well and fixes the two biggest complaints you could have with a conventional nut driver: wrong-size sockets and an unmaintainable magnet. The wider removal gap and black oxide finish round out a genuinely practical update. Buy the shaft length and sizes that match your work, skip the full set unless you truly need it, and you will likely end up with a driver that stays in the tool roll for years.