Author Topic: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?  (Read 4597 times)

Offline Mike J

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Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« on: 08 July 2018, 15:13 »
I can understand why the rinse bucket requires a grit guard but what is the reason for a grit guard in the suds/shampoo bucket?

Detailing newbie so please excuse me if I may seem a little obtuse.



Offline Booth11

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #1 on: 08 July 2018, 15:51 »
I can understand why the rinse bucket requires a grit guard but what is the reason for a grit guard in the suds/shampoo bucket?

Detailing newbie so please excuse me if I may seem a little obtuse.




Because there’s always still risk of debris in the mitt even after it’s been in the rinse bucket so extra precaution if you feel the need.
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Offline dubber36

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #2 on: 08 July 2018, 16:08 »
I figure that grit sinks to the bottom of the bucket. Hold your mitt flat, dunking your hand into the water palm first just below the surface, rather than sploshing it in and swirling it around, will minimise any risk.
« Last Edit: 09 July 2018, 11:12 by dubber36 »
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Offline Mike J

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #3 on: 09 July 2018, 10:35 »
Ah now I understand.

Belt and braces/suspenders.

 :smiley:

Offline scanesare

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #4 on: 16 July 2018, 00:00 »
To be honest I have never understood how the grit guards are supposed to de doing any good in the sense that, whatever debris I pick up is minor (a couple mm. long at most - no rocks usually  :tongue: ) and the grit guard holes/hexagons are way bigger than that (10mm?). So what stops little debris of flowing through those generously sized openings back to my sponge/mitt?

But again I 've never dared to question it as I assume it would be worse than questioning the holy trinity itself  :undecided:

Offline SRGTD

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #5 on: 16 July 2018, 09:07 »
To be honest I have never understood how the grit guards are supposed to de doing any good in the sense that, whatever debris I pick up is minor (a couple mm. long at most - no rocks usually  :tongue: ) and the grit guard holes/hexagons are way bigger than that (10mm?). So what stops little debris of flowing through those generously sized openings back to my sponge/mitt?

But again I 've never dared to question it as I assume it would be worse than questioning the holy trinity itself  :undecided:

The cross shaped supporting arms on the underside of the grit guard act like baffles and significantly reduce water movement in the bottom of the bucket when you’re rinsing your mitt in the rinse bucket or replenishing it with clean, soapy water in the wash bucket. This means there should be a low risk of any grit resurfacing above the grit guard once it has fallen to the bottom of the bucket through the grit guard holes.
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Offline scanesare

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #6 on: 16 July 2018, 09:27 »
The cross shaped supporting arms on the underside of the grit guard act like baffles and significantly reduce water movement in the bottom of the bucket when you’re rinsing your mitt in the rinse bucket or replenishing it with clean, soapy water in the wash bucket. This means there should be a low risk of any grit resurfacing above the grit guard once it has fallen to the bottom of the bucket through the grit guard holes.

That makes some sense. Mind you I usually use two-buckets with grit guards also but still, when I wash a really dirty car and I can see visible debris caught on the mitt I prefer cleaning the mitt under running water to be sure so in those cases I don't bother with a clean water bucket at all. Plus I also don't like how the guards "steal" volume and you have to use more shampoo and water when they're present but it is what it is.

Offline SRGTD

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #7 on: 16 July 2018, 09:42 »
The cross shaped supporting arms on the underside of the grit guard act like baffles and significantly reduce water movement in the bottom of the bucket when you’re rinsing your mitt in the rinse bucket or replenishing it with clean, soapy water in the wash bucket. This means there should be a low risk of any grit resurfacing above the grit guard once it has fallen to the bottom of the bucket through the grit guard holes.

That makes some sense. Mind you I usually use two-buckets with grit guards also but still, when I wash a really dirty car and I can see visible debris caught on the mitt I prefer cleaning the mitt under running water to be sure so in those cases I don't bother with a clean water bucket at all. Plus I also don't like how the guards "steal" volume and you have to use more shampoo and water when they're present but it is what it is.

That’s where the value of a good touchless pre-wash comes in to play, especially if the car’s really dirty. Snow foam and citrus pre-wash stages will remove the really heavy dirt before you start using the mitt, so the mitt shouldn’t really get that dirty during the 2BM wash stage.
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Offline scanesare

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #8 on: 16 July 2018, 09:52 »
That’s where the value of a good touchless pre-wash comes in to play, especially if the car’s really dirty. Snow foam and citrus pre-wash stages will remove the really heavy dirt before you start using the mitt, so the mitt shouldn’t really get that dirty during the 2BM wash stage.

That's it. I haven't had a snow foam lance until very recently, had to rely on the pressure washer to remove as much of the big dirt as possible before proceeding to the hand wash stage and sometimes I didn't want to get closer with the gun in fear of damaging the paint. Now everything starts to make sense :grin:

Offline Mike J

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Re: Grit guard in the suds bucket - why?
« Reply #9 on: 16 July 2018, 10:44 »
To be honest I have never understood how the grit guards are supposed to de doing any good in the sense that, whatever debris I pick up is minor (a couple mm. long at most - no rocks usually  :tongue: ) and the grit guard holes/hexagons are way bigger than that (10mm?). So what stops little debris of flowing through those generously sized openings back to my sponge/mitt?

But again I 've never dared to question it as I assume it would be worse than questioning the holy trinity itself  :undecided:

The cross shaped supporting arms on the underside of the grit guard act like baffles and significantly reduce water movement in the bottom of the bucket when you’re rinsing your mitt in the rinse bucket or replenishing it with clean, soapy water in the wash bucket. This means there should be a low risk of any grit resurfacing above the grit guard once it has fallen to the bottom of the bucket through the grit guard holes.


Thinks......
If you were designing a plastic grid system to stand off the bottom of a bucket the simplest and cheapest design would be four virtical solid arms/legs.
If you were also selling the shampoo along with the grit guards and buckets you would design a big deep bucket and a guard that stood well clear of the bottom, then market the products as essential items.
Just an observation from a different prospective.