Grit Guards: needed or not?

[prr]

Post deleted

[prr]

I'd appreciate it if ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED GRIT GUARDS WOULD VOTE IN THE POLL.

If you have an opinion or anything to say about the use of grit guards, please feel free to post below, but I'm trying to get an idea of how helpful these are, based on actual experience of folks who have used them.

I'm wondering if simply using the two-bucket method itself, without a grit guard, would be just as good at removing rocks and dirt from what is being used to wash the car with.

[the other pc]

What do you mean by "needed?"

Millions of people wash their cars without grit guards. So in an absolute sense, nobody needs one.

But yes, I always find lots of grit at the bottom of my buckets when I wash a car. I definitely prefer having a grit guard.



pc

[Murr1525]

You dont 'need' to wash with soap either... but why not use something inexpensive that helps.

And yes, always some grit, esp in the fall/winter even more.

[prr]

If you look at the poll's answers, "yes" means "I have seen debris accumulate below the grit guard". That is how I've defined "needing" a grit guard--if it protects your car from debris that would otherwise get rubbed onto its surface.

I realize that in a strict sense that you might not "need" them, any more than you "need" money to survive, but it sure helps.

[RPPM]

Grit Guards are probably the cheapest investment you can make in paint care, and one of the best!! I never wash my cars without them. One for the wash bucket, one for the rinse bucket.

[BlueZero]

I get lots of junk on the bottom of my bucket. The dead bugs float to the top and the sand, etc sinks below the grit guard. Typically I shake out the mitt in the water with my hand and not rub it on the grit guard. I try to keep it as far away from the sediment as possible. I also skim the top of the water with my hand to catch some of the bugs if there gets to be a lot. Most of the time I just use one bucket to wash, when I do use two most of the grit is in the rinse bucket.

[prr]

Well, 5-0 in the poll, and the comments above, make a pretty convincing argument to getting one. I just don't recall seeing much debris in my buckets at all. I'll definitely be on the alert for it the next time I wash a car, and I'll get one from amazon (they're selling the guards there for 15 including tax) if its there.

[JET_Fusion]

When I was my car I don't need them. When I wash my truck I do. And that's even after I've (1) rinsed the entire vehicle, (2) washed the wheels & tires separately, and (3) washed the wheel wells separately.

[prr]

Hmmm I just emptied the pail from my weekend car wash, and the only thing that could count as debris was a small amount of tiny black particles. No rocks, stones, or large things that could have scraped the paint.... The small stuff was at the bottom, where one would expect heavier stuff (that is, heavier than water) to fall.