Grit Guards

L

LQ9SS

New member
Are grit guards worth buying? I don't see how they would keep all of the sand and dirt at the bottom of the bucket.



May someone can enlighten me on them.
 
Yes, they’re worth buying. They’re cheap, rugged and will last forever.



It’s more important they keep your mitt off the bottom where the heavy grit falls. But the vanes below the grill do reduce turbulence at the bottom and keep most of the dirt from swirling back up into the water.





PC.
 
Watch the video on grit guards, itll explain it. I use a 2 bucket method both with grit guards. On the rinse bucket i kinda rub my mit against it to loosen dirt and it falls to the bottom. The way its made keeps dirt from swirling back up to the top.
 
the other pc said:
But the vanes below the grill do reduce turbulence at the bottom and keep most of the dirt from swirling back up into the water.
Click to expand...



+1



I was skeptical about the dirt staying on the bottom of the bucket, since plunging a washmitt into the bucket should cause sufficient turbulence to make the dirt rise up into the water column again. Tried the GritGuard, and was pleasantly surprised by how effective its design was in preventing the dirt was resurfacing. As others have pointed out, the GritGuard is not 100% foolproof, but for less than $30 shipped for two that will last you a lifetime, it's IMHO a worthwhile level of protection for the OCD type. ;)
 
Wash your truck with the 2 bucket method using clear buckets... the junk sitting at the bottom when you look will convince you to get grit guards... worth the $10 each and like was said above they'll last forever so its a cheap investment.
 
Even more worth it with a black truck. I'm amazed how much grit is left on the bottom of my bucket even when I don't think the truck is that dirty.



I've always thought of putting an old towel or sponge under it too to help trap the partials when I work my wash mitt on it.
 
LQ9SS said:
Are grit guards worth buying? I don't see how they would keep all of the sand and dirt at the bottom of the bucket.



May someone can enlighten me on them.
Click to expand...



Like everyone has stated they are worth it. I also use it to rub my wash mitt on it...this helps remove any dirt that may have worked its' way into the fibers.
 
blkyukon said:
I also use it to rub my wash mitt on it...this helps remove any dirt that may have worked its' way into the fibers.
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That's how you are supposed to use it. I didn't realize that until the second time i used it :wall



Just dont be too rough when rubbing the mitt against the grit guard. It can cause premature wear to the mitt. I noticed i was wearing out my mitts where my fingertips are, then realized it was from rubbing it hard against the grit guard (that's the only time i'm putting any real pressure on it)
 
mzmtg said:
My mitt floats. :nixweiss
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I was just thinking the same thing. I use a 5 gallon bucket purchased from autogeek and usually have it filled a little less than 3/4 of the way with soap and water. My mitt never touches the bottom of the bucket. I have 2 grit guards. One came from the autogeek bucket and the other from a Rubbermaid bucket I bought from Target. I think I might have tried using it once and just felt that it was pointless.



I also never use the 2 bucket method. I am however extremely thorough with pre-rinsing the vehicle with a good amount of water pressure prior to washing and always use mitts that are very well rinsed out prior to each use. I have no issues with micromarring whatsoever with my methods.



So, in my opinion... as long as you are exercising all the proper wash and drying techniques, grit guards and 2 buckets aren't really necessary. If the car in question is especially dirty though, perhaps it would be a good idea to have a seperate bucket to rinse the mitt out in every so often. Even then I would probably choose rinsing with the garden hose every so often over the rinse bucket.
 
clnfrk said:
I was just thinking the same thing. I use a 5 gallon bucket purchased from autogeek and usually have it filled a little less than 3/4 of the way with soap and water. My mitt never touches the bottom of the bucket. I have 2 grit guards. One came from the autogeek bucket and the other from a Rubbermaid bucket I bought from Target. I think I might have tried using it once and just felt that it was pointless.



I also never use the 2 bucket method. I am however extremely thorough with pre-rinsing the vehicle with a good amount of water pressure prior to washing and always use mitts that are very well rinsed out prior to each use. I have no issues with micromarring whatsoever with my methods.



So, in my opinion... as long as you are exercising all the proper wash and drying techniques, grit guards and 2 buckets aren't really necessary. If the car in question is especially dirty though, perhaps it would be a good idea to have a seperate bucket to rinse the mitt out in every so often. Even then I would probably choose rinsing with the garden hose every so often over the rinse bucket.
Click to expand...





What color is your car?
 
ron231 said:
What color is your car?
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My truck is white and my car is silver. I know what your thinking, but even with those forgiving colors, if I was inducing any marring I assure you that I would know it. My sisters have black and green SUV's and I routinely maintain those as well. The green Yukon was purchased used and had quite a bit of swirling and hologramming that was corrected rather easily by me. I also performed paint correction on the black Xterra as well a while back.



Those two vehicles have received countless numbers of washes since then with virtually no new marring induced. Under 1500w halogens and under direct sunlight, they both still look spectacular.
 
the grit guard is well worth the $10, imo. after i'm done washing, not only do i blast my wash mitt with the hose, i'll fill up the bucket with water and place the mitt in there (along with the grit guard) so it rinses out clean even more, and then blast it one more time with the hose, and then gently squeeze out all the water before hanging it out by the cuff to dry...
 
proof positive that you NEED grit guards for your buckets.



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I took these pictures after I completed the Tahoe detail I posted (Click and Brag section)



I pulled the grit guard out of the rinse bucket and stirred the water up a bit just to show some people on other sites how important a grit guard is to keeping your mitt out of contact with contaminants at the bottom of your buckets.
 
IMO, the grit guard works. The reason why I say that is when you wash using the 2 bucket method, the rinse bucket eventually starts to get sudsy like the soap bucket too. When you rub hard against the grit guard, you can see how the suds move around in the bucket, and there's much less turbulence below where the grit guard sits. As reference, I use 2 grit guards in my rinse bucket, and none in my wash bucket.



Plus, like others have mentioned they're $10 and lasts a lifetime practically, unless you run over it with your car. Even if you don't believe in it keeping grit from being stirred around in the bucket, buy it as a device to agitate your mitt or sponge against for it to rinse cleanly. This is another reason why I've been using SpoiledMan's grout sponge. They rinse clean everytime I agitate them against the grit guard.
 
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