Who uses grit guards in wheel bucket?

**11Silverado** · 04-13-2015, 02:41 PM

Like stated in the title, do you guys use a grit guard in your wheel washing bucket? Is this complete overkill? My current rims are chrome and I have not been using a grit guard in my wheel bucket. I'm not sure if it will reduce the possibility of scratches or damage. If this is of any help, I use a microfiber wash mitt, carrand lug nut brush, and wheel woolies boars hair wheel brush to wash my rims.

**builthatch** · 04-13-2015, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by 11Silverado

Like stated in the title, do you guys use a grit guard in your wheel washing bucket? Is this complete overkill? My current rims are chrome and I have not been using a grit guard in my wheel bucket. I'm not sure if it will reduce the possibility of scratches or damage. If this is of any help, I use a microfiber wash mitt, carrand lug nut brush, and wheel woolies boars hair wheel brush to wash my rims.

i have two buckets for washing cars. one is a solution bucket, the other is a rinse bucket. both have guards and they never come out unless i'm cleaning the buckets.

also, the car wash bucket solution gets used for the wheels after the car has been done. since the guard is in there, why would i take it out? can't hurt so just leave it and avoid doing an extra step of removing something from the bucket. the only reason i could see is to gain an extra couple of inches in the bucket of solution without having to top off the bucket. after using it to wash the car, obv some of the solution disappears. so between that and the higher floor provided by the guard, that leaves less solution for the wheel tools to be immersed in. all i do is top off the bucket before i do the wheels, cross my fingers and pray. seems to work every time!

**11Silverado** · 04-13-2015, 03:31 PM

It seems most people wash their wheels and tires before washing the body of the car and that's what I've been doing. In this case I wouldn't want to use the same bucket for obvious reasons. That's why I have a third bucket for my wheels and tires and hence my question. If I switch my method then I could use the same bucket like you do.

**Zelfiris** · 04-13-2015, 03:35 PM

I have a third bucket for wheels and I put a grit guard in it. Traps a lot of junk when I rinse my wheel brushes.

**Kacz** · 04-13-2015, 03:42 PM

I use two: one at the bottom and one tilted to rub brushes/mitt on.

I personally think that most marring comes from people's burshes they use. I only use a 'spot' brush that I hold like a pencil and a wash mitt. Don't see the point of using a big wheel brush that slings product everywhere and does sloppy cleaning.

Of course this doesn't include brushes for the barrels.

**Angus** · 04-13-2015, 03:42 PM

I used this bucket combo for cleaning wheels so there is zero change of cross-contamination with my wash/risen buckets:

5 Gallon Professional Wash Bucket with Grit Guard - BLACK

Afterwards the grit guard acts as a drying rack (inside the bucket) for all of my cleaning brushes to drip dry on.

**swanicyouth** · 04-13-2015, 04:43 PM

Not me.

Wheels look pretty much perfect.

Do you ever watch some of these "how to clean your wheels" videos???

Some of them are bad....

Dudes put whatever they clean the wheel wells with in the wheel bucket..... NO!

Dudes lay wheel cleaning tools/towels on THE GROUND!!!

Dudes clean wheels with with some old nasty towel or piece of sponge with filth all over it - just because they are "wheels".

Nobody cleans behind spokes.

Dudes use like some 5" thick nylon scrub brush to clean low profile tires - dragging it across the wheel lips and fenders the whole time.

**11Silverado** · 04-13-2015, 04:58 PM

I think I'll be adding a grit guard to my wheel bucket. Trying to figure out what methods work best for me to reduce scratches. Thank you guys for you input.

**Calendyr** · 04-13-2015, 05:07 PM

Hum... don't use a grit guard in my bucket. Maybe I should... don't know.

I start with the wheels like many people here do.

My process is this:
Rince with power washer
Spray with Wheel Brightener or APC (depending on Wheel material)
Let dwell for 30-seconds to a minute
Agitate with boar hair brush and Wheel woolies
Rince off

yes my Wheel bucket's water becomes really nasty. Do I think a grit guard would help? Not so sure. Most of the contaminants are suspended in the water. Anything heavy that might fall to the bottom is not gonna land on the brush anyway.

I use grit guards in both my washing and rincing buckets for I am really not sure they help that much.

Just look at your rinse water sometimes. You will see a lot of stuff suspended in the water. I don't push my wash mitt to the bottom of the bucket to rince it off, I do it at the top of the 5 gallons of water... so even without a grit guard I don't think it would make much difference. But hey! For 10$, why take the chance, right? So I use it even though I don't believe they do anything.

**98LowRanger** · 04-13-2015, 08:15 PM

A separate bucket for washing wheels/undercarriage is a MUST in my opinion. Whether or not a grit guard in the wheel bucket is beneficial is obviously debatable. Personally I added one to my wheel bucket this past winter for added insurance. It's $10 and certainly can't hurt. I've noticed it collecting a lot of dirt (I remove it and wash the bucket out after each detail) at the bottom of the bucket. Suspends all my wheel brushes from sitting in the dirt.