Grit guard ... who needs em

Christopher.Brown

Christopher.Brown

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This is simply a reply to the fact that i STILL see a lot of grit guards in pics and think its such a waste of cash, not to mention i think its an old methodology that, over time, isnt optimal for paint.

lol i know this is prolly my first post but hear me out :)

Im not out to offend anyone, but i find that for anyone whos SERIOUSLY concerned about a finished surface, using a grit guard is nowhere near the optimal method.

The grid guard encourages the adding of dirt and abrasives to the highly coveted suds that should be protecting the paint.

I find that this modified 2 bucket wash is the best that i can think of [and ive put some time in here] to minimize micro abraiding the finish.

* * * THE SYSTEM * * *
I prepare a 3 gal bucket of suds [yes the best suds has been debated ENDLESSLY] but i custom mix Honeydew with Dp wish and gloss to help condition water and all lubriocity [or however u spell it] AND i prepare a full 5 gal rinse bucket again with a small amount of DP wash & gloss.

Then using a gilmour foam gun i presoak the paint with the a sexy layer of my foam mix, wait 3 min then rinse.
NEXT, Apply THICK foam this time on the paint surface.

*** here is where the technique differs
-Dip the chenille mitt into the foam bucket, wash a panel.
-FROM HERE i dip the mitt into the top portion of the rinse water, then RING THE CHENILLE OUT INTO THE GUTTER. Repeat, rinsing the miss a total of 3 times [quickly of course] then plunge it back into the soapy bucket.
- Onto the nest panel [working from the top of the vehicle down, of course]

This method ensures that as few contaminants as possible touch the soap bucket, thus reducing micro marring. This way no money is wasted on an over priced grit guard and i can spent on some fun obsessive products such as another LSP or god forbid MORE MF towels!!! :props:

the ONLY BETTER method [that costs a lot more in soap and water - which is especially at a premium here in So-Cal] which i use when im detailing any car 40k+is to use the gilmour gun and pretreat as above mentioned, then actively use the gun to spray ahead of the mitt as i wipe the panel, instantly rinsing dirt away in a foamy protected layer. Then after each panel i still rinse the mit x3 in the dedicated rinse water.

veterans, feel free to chime in on of this 'forum noob's' post.
 
Welcome to AGO!!!!
I personally don't think the grit guard is necessary. Either way there will still be things floating around with or without the grit.

Thays why sometimes I use one with my 2bm sometimes I don't.
 
grit guards are just an easy to use baffle. same as is used in lots of other technologies like in formula one racing in their gas tanks, in your own oil pans and other areas. and in common everyday things like ventilation, etc.

baffles are used to prevent something from getting from one side to another easily, while allowing something that flows freely to move from one area to another still.

some oil pans have baffles because you want to always have oil available for pickup, so it doesn't slosh around, and it also helps to keep larger particles from being easily mixed in with the oil that does sit in the pan, helping prevent particle pickup through agitation.


or you may want to catch oil vapors inside of a pcv system without taking larger oil vapors, so when it sucks up it draws the fumes and air, while the large droplets are captures by the baffles so they can fall back into place.







same concept applies with a grit guard, you don't have to even touch a grit guard for it to work. it's main purpose is to let any particles that may be in your rinse or wash bucket from mixing in with the water easily and being picked back up onto your wash mit.

whether the particles are in the wash water, or the rinse water, a bucket without a baffle (grit guard), is going to be much more prone to getting those particles mixed in with the water you are using to wash and or rinse your mit with, and get carried right back to the car.

by scrubbing the mit off you leave the particles in the bucket, and as they settle they get trapped below the guard, and are unlikely to be picked back up.


is it an old technology. of course, older than "detailing" as we know it is, but it works, and it's still used everywhere in other forms for a reason.





Edit:


with as careful as you think you are with the paint. you would be better off saving time and effort by presoaking with foam for a few minutes, then spraying the car down, and then repeating with a longer foam soak again, and rinsing hard again then coming back with the bucket and soap to get anything that might remain. you can get a car nearly completely clean with just a good foam soaking and pressurized rinse.

i see the buckets being used more towards people who are trying to save more water instead of using hoses and sprayguns to wash a car. if you have the capability to use a foam gun and hose, then you can skip a lot of bucket washing technique anyway
 
Your method seems pretty complicated to me. And I've tried washing a car with a foam gun and its not an easy task holding the foam gun and the wash mitt.

I'll stick with my grit guards that cost under $20. That's not expensive compared to all the other stuff I've bought.
 
TurboToys said:
with as careful as you think you are with the paint. you would be better off saving time and effort by presoaking with foam for a few minutes, then spraying the car down, and then repeating with a longer foam soak again,
Click to expand...

YES i agree..:xyxthumbs: its exactly what i mentioned in my original post

@Killacam .... The method is really NOT complicated at all. It just sounds that way in text. Holding the gun with the panel isnt bad really. But of course it is more so than foaming and traditional single panel washing.

This methodology is a long haul type of paint maintenance, ensuring longevity of surface and also time between LSP applications.

If nothing else, i think that rinsing the mitt out instead of inside a grit guard bucket is the best thing to take away from this. And i did mention only dipping it into the rinse bucket enough to submerge the mitt. This avoids agitation of the heavier more settled particles that the grit guard aims at containing.
 
Just use several clean towels in one bucket and never return a dirty one to the bucket. No risk of marring from introduced dirt, no extra buckets, no grit guard, lots of less water wasted. Thanks to Garry Dean for simplifying wash technique with a little common sense.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
I don't mean to criticize your opinion / method (because I'm not), but wouldn't the added expense from all that soap eventually offset the cost of just purchasing a Grit Guard? This method, which I appreciate you sharing, is intended to replace the need for a Grit Guard, am I correct?
 
good point Chris...:xyxthumbs:

While i am a fan of the rinseless car wash method. Its a great time saver and quite effecient.... i feel it has its place in the arsenal just like anything else..... mainly for well maintained cars that have low-mild soil levels on them.

When a vehicle is over the 10 day mark [general guideline of course] there are so many more contaminants [gunk/grime/bugs et etc] layerd upon itself that i, personally, dont find as effectively removed with the rinseless wash method.

So thats when i employ this method
 
erichaley said:
I don't mean to criticize your opinion / method (because I'm not), but wouldn't the added expense from all that soap eventually offset the cost of just purchasing a Grit Guard? This method, which I appreciate you sharing, is intended to replace the need for a Grit Guard, am I correct?
Click to expand...

Dont worry bout criticism... its a forum thats what happens.. if i was afraid of that i wouldnt offer it up.... I LIKE to see peoples insights into thie endless obsessing we all here do :props:

To answer your question, Yes......basically i dont see a use of the grit guard if you are rinsing the majority of the contaminants out of the bucket. And by keeping the mitt at the top of the water you greatly minimize picking up whatever dirt was released into the rinse water.

The rest was just a sharing of two methods i use....

and i agree i do use the extra soap MOST of the time, but not necessarily for those super special clients of ours that want a 4hr effort out of a $40 wash :doh:
 
Hold on there...Wait a minute!!


I've mentioned this before:
Being that Grit Guard® is an Ohio-based Company...

Please don't discourage folks from buying Grit Guards.
Thanks.

In fact: I'll recommend that folks also purchase:

file_1_2.jpg


detailing_cart_empty.jpg
padwasher.jpg


So There!!

neener_neener.gif


Bob
 
Im in no way bashing the product... I have ZERO stock in a competitor and Im sure they work to their intended purpose...

Consider this: in order to advance the art of detailing discussions must take place... And i always know there will be tradionalists as well as homers [not saying you are] for the old ways. Admittedly these are tried and true MOST times..... However if something better was available why not consider it?????

Im sure a similar discussion happened when MF towels hit the scene and people wanted to hang on to their beloved chamois that they'd used for 15yrs...

With technology things change for the better most often.... The same is true of techniques...

So i wish to promote dialogue instead of blind propaganda :dblthumb2:
 
The Garry Dean method will work with a regular soap and water wash as well as with a rinse less wash. The thing that makes it work so well is that the dirty wash media never re-enters the wash bucket. My grit guards only see use when I bring out my boars hair brush and extended pole for high trucks etc.
 
beachkidcb said:
*** here is where the technique differs
-Dip the chenille mitt into the foam bucket, wash a panel.
-FROM HERE i dip the mitt into the top portion of the rinse water, then RING THE CHENILLE OUT INTO THE GUTTER. Repeat, rinsing the miss a total of 3 times [quickly of course] then plunge it back into the soapy bucket.

This method ensures that as few contaminants as possible touch the soap bucket
Click to expand...
Since you evidently live in:
beachkidcb said:
So-Cal
Click to expand...
Doesn't the contaminated effluent ("floaties", and all)...that you put down the GUTTER...need to be contained?

If so:
Sharing pictures of your: "effluent containment system" would be appreciated by many AGO forum members.

beachkidcb said:
This way no money is wasted on an over priced grit guard and i can spent on some fun obsessive products such as another LSP or god forbid MORE MF towels!!!
Click to expand...
-What "fun-LSP's" are to bought with ~$10.00?
-MF towels? A big bag of 'em from Costco? Autozones'?

beachkidcb said:
the ONLY BETTER method [that costs a lot more in soap and water - which is especially at a premium here in So-Cal] which i use when im detailing any car 40k+is to...
beachkidcb said:
So i wish to promote dialogue instead of blind propaganda
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Well now...
Because it seems you'll treat some folks vehicles better than you will others...
even to the point of being prejudicial, (as it appears to me)...
I'm done with any further dialoguing-events with you.

Ergo:
You may not, OP...But, I do:
Consider the above statement of mine as being propaganda-less...
but not so much without prejudice. Is this scandalous?

I now wash my hands of this subject matter.

Bob
 
Chemica Guys has them for 6.95. Why not buy them. My time is worth more than that if you put a scratch in the finish.
 
@FUNX725

iM curiously confused why you felt the need to try to rip on me...Is it noobie hazing????

Ive not done anything. Ive actually explained why i wanted to promote dialogue.... If you took offense that i posted that after your photo bomb response... sorry?!?!?!?!?!?! wasnt a personal attack, i dont know you Bob so how could i attack an established member

Anyway....No typical contaminants of the environment and road arent typical hazardous waste that needs special handling and disposal LOL

To nit pick and address some of the quotes you used out of context in spots.....i guess i mis-spoke not saying i meant the grit guard systesm which ive seen run up to $120.... [my bad]

and no i wasnt implying that and quality LSP can be bought with the saving of the plastic guard piece alone... thats ludicrous

as far as treating some vehicles better than others..... no... however there is a silent guideline that states ALL of the same steps and products used on an $80 job arent used on a $200+ job.. and that last method i mentioned is one of such steps
 
Confused. Why can't you do your method with Grit Guards? Aren't you just rinsing the mitt in the same water 3 times? Is that really a method?

This may sound crazy, but I hose my mitt off before putting into the rinse bucket. 90% of the dirt just falls out on to the ground and the rinse water stays cleaner.

Grit Guards serve 2 functions:

1. They keep Grit from being kicked up by turbulence in the bucket.

2. They keep the mitt from settling at the bottom if the bucket if you sit it in there where grit will likely settle.

I don't see how using a grit guard could possibly increase the chance of marring of paint.
 
swanicyouth said:
Confused. Why can't you do your method with Grit Guards? Aren't you just rinsing the mitt in the same water 3 times? Is that really a method?

This may sound crazy, but I hose my mitt off before putting into the rinse bucket. 90% of the dirt just falls out on to the ground and the rinse water stays cleaner.

Grit Guards serve 2 functions:

1. They keep Grit from being kicked up by turbulence in the bucket.

2. They keep the mitt from settling at the bottom if the bucket if you sit it in there where grit will likely settle.

I don't see how using a grit guard could possibly increase the chance of marring of paint.
Click to expand...

what i said originally was:
beachkidcb said:
*** here is where the technique differs
-Dip the chenille mitt into the foam bucket, wash a panel.
-FROM HERE i dip the mitt into the top portion of the rinse water, then RING THE CHENILLE OUT INTO THE GUTTER. Repeat, rinsing the miss a total of 3 times [quickly of course] then plunge it back into the soapy bucket.
- Onto the neXt panel [working from the top of the vehicle down, of course]
Click to expand...

this way you limit the amount of contaminants that enter the rinse bucket as much as possible
 
beachkidcb said:
the ONLY BETTER method [that costs a lot more in soap and water - which is especially at a premium here in So-Cal] which i use when im detailing any car 40k+is to use the gilmour gun and pretreat as above mentioned, then actively use the gun to spray ahead of the mitt as i wipe the panel, instantly rinsing dirt away in a foamy protected layer.
Click to expand...

I've seen a youtube video where Larry at AMMO uses this technique

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a6VPPNC0oM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUYsa8SOy3TkoxI5D17s1u-w]Paint Regimen - YouTube[/video]
Skip to 2:00
 
c8n said:
I've seen a youtube video where Larry at AMMO uses this technique
Click to expand...

Sweet!

I did it one day kinda on accident when a bird has just crapped on the roof i had just gone over. Then i had that EPIPHANY that i could just use the gilmour gun to was the dirt away as i was going over a panel with a clean mitt
 
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