Quite often, clear plastic buckets and foam cannon bottles are made from brittle plastic that is prone to cracking. Now, in that I mean the crystal-clear plastic, not the frosted semi-translucent buckets and bottles made from HDPE plastic. So, yes, these buckets look fancy in the product listing photos, but that crisp-clear finish quickly becomes unsightly, succumbing to scratches and cracking.
For a while, I was using this 10-litre / 2.6-gallon mop bucket, which.............................................. did the job.
These buckets I bought back in 2019, which are 15-litre / 4-gallon in capacity. There is nothing fancy or flash here, they are basic white buckets. I ended up buying 4 because they were sold as a pair with either standard grit guards, or the then new Dirt Lock items.........................I couldn't decide which to get, so I ordered both. Those were the early Dirt Lock's, which were an exercise in frustration and were eventually side-lined for normal grit guards. Again, another "fancy" option that didn't really translate into a superior solution.
From here, I started to customise those buckets. Now, before anyone comes at me for spending money on a flash looking bucket setup, there is a lot of form AND function going on here.
Being a Ford man, I guess the below is appropriate. In truth, I scored a bulk lot of those Ford decals, so they got put to good use. For some reason, the company that I bought them off decided paper decals were a good idea.....................................
Next, bucket dollies! I wish I had figured that one out sooner as it makes moving full/heavy buckets around so much easier. They also facilitate corner to corner seated wheel cleaning. Previous to that, I hated cleaning wheels, now its my favorite. About this time, those Buckanizer caddies arrived on the scene. I ended up using them for a while, but I would classify them as a pointless hassle, just one more thing to clean and pack away each time.
Then came the Gamma seals, which is probably where I will start losing some of you. I have these for both form and function. I like how they look, but they also keep the buckets clean between use.
From here, I wanted to colour coordinate everything with matching grit guards. I also wanted red and blue matching dollies. The black ones were from an auto store, but they have smaller wheels and lack the material thickness quality of the American-made Grit Guard versions. Of course, no one sells them in Australia, so cue ordering them out of the USA at considerable cost. The bigger wheels make less noise and roll smoother.
I then finally tracked down an MTM bucket bracket for the foam cannon, again, for wheel cleaning efficiency. Sadly, the bracket doesn't work with the updated wide-mouth PF22.2.
So, there is a mixture of fashion vs function going on here. Visually, I like how they look, but that doesn't really make a difference to functionality. But then the gamma seals and superior dollies not only look good but serve a purpose. I'll also say that I use these things so often that I'm happy to spend the extra money if it means a superior user experience and functionality.
