Grit Guard Alternative

[Texsox]

At one time I worked in the aluminum die casting industry, which is close enough to plastic injection molding. If it helps with the purchase the mold that is used to produce that part probably cost $20,000 or more. Divide that by the number of grit guards that may be sold and over what time. Additionally, lowish volume runs are the most costly. Set up prep and take down is the same if the mold stays in for weeks or hours. Bottom line, I could see that part costing $3 to $4 to make. It gets marked up a couple times and $10 probably isn't a bad price.

In Walmart quantities maybe it retails for $1.99 but then we are talking hundreds of thousands not hundreds.


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[FUNX650]

Wonder how much those things cost to manufacture.

^^^^^^^^

-I'll venture a guess, though, and say:
Probably a lot less than the retail price!

-Don't get me wrong...
Due to the hard economic times in which we are currently living,
I'm not averse to anyone attempting to save a few bucks;
or, re-inventing the wheel, so to say. I've even attempted to do so, myself.

-In fact, different car-forums have postings where folks have made their versions of the
Grit Guard from items such as collanders and flourescent light fixtures' diffusers/eggcrates.

Question: Do they function as well as the patented (U.S. Patent Number 7,025,880)...
held by Mr. Doug Lamb, inventor/owner of Grit Guard, Inc., Bellefontaine, Ohio??

Only the inventors of these: "Homemade Grit Guards"...can honestly attest to their functionality.

-There's got to be a very good reason why the original Grit Guards
are endorsed by many well-known car-care companies/re-sellers, and sold World-wide.

For example:
-"The perfect solution for washing your car easily–the CCP Bucket combined with a Grit Guard.
Bucket Proudly Made in Australia and Grit Guard made in USA"

-Meguiar’s; Swissvax; DoDo Juice; PoorBoys; Adam’s, to name a few.

If this sounds like an unabashed promotion/recommendation [not-quite-a-shilling, though ]...
It is!!...Because the Grit Guard works!!!

Also...
Speaking of hard economic times:
Please find it in your heart to support another Ohio-based Company's products.
You, along with many others, will not be disappointed!



Bob

[magna_power]

If you have found the solution why reinvent the wheel? This product seemed good enough for someone to patent, which would have cost $10,000+ to start with.

As another poster said, time is money, if you wanted to save money then the most effective way probably would have been to buy 2 without thinking about it and spend the time detailing someone's car

[Texsox]

I forgot about the patent. If they sell 10,000 grit guards, which imho is probably optimistic, then a buck or so of that $10 is paying that as well.


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[wikkid]

Old yard sale colander.

And rinse the MF mitt with a good wash from the hose before you dip it back in, leaving lots of new, fresh water in the mitt to replenish the suds in the bucket.

[FUNX650]

I forgot about the patent. If they sell 10,000 grit guards, which imho is probably optimistic, then a buck or so of that $10 is paying that as well.

I'd almost bet the farm that several hundred thousand (or more)
Grit Guards have been sold since Mr. Lamb filed for his patent.

This from a guy from a little town in Ohio, no less!!

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

To Wit:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States Patent 7,025,880
Lamb


Fluid receptacle and filter system


Abstract

A system for separating particles from fluid which includes
a receptacle for containing the fluid, a lid for covering the receptacle,
and a filter assembly which includes a filter component shaped
to fit the receptacle, an o-ring encircling the perimeter of the
filter component for securing the filter assembly in the receptacle,
and at least two baffles attached to the bottom of the filter component for
reducing the motion of the fluid around and through the filter assembly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Lamb; Douglas R. (Bellefontaine, OH)
Appl. No.: 10/056,277
Filed: January 24, 2002

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

-Shoot, even the Grit Guard pad washing system has been around since 2006!!
Imagine how many of them have been sold World-wide with
different "Company Labels" attached thereon!!

-And...Lest I forget...
As I beseeched in an earlier post: Ohio's economy can also
use the boost---Grit Guard for the win!



Bob

[Texsox]

Several hundred thousand? How are you arriving at that number?


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[magna_power]

Maybe someone from autogeek, if they thought it was alright to share, could tell us how many they sold last year, or guess at on average how many they sell a week.....

There are also maintenance fees that need to be paid on a patent, but he probably gets the cheaper "small entity" fee for that.

In terms of selling them around the world, he only has a patent in the US, so anyone elsewhere in the world could copy and sell the product as is if they wanted to, so long as it wasn't to America.

As has been said, the product is probably priced where it should be, and I think represents good value for money, considering how much time it takes to get all those swirls out when you don't use one.

[sharpcard]

I used to use a five gallon paint can grid instead of a grit guard. It worked ok for most sponges and mitts. Now most of my family has been given grit guards and buckets from me.

[Bunky]

I am sure putting something similar in the bucket can provide some equivalent function - keep the mitt from the bottom of the bucket and provide some barrier to reduce circulation.

There are other ways to get an equivalent end result. You can just use one bucket and rinse out the mitt with a hose rather than in a rinse bucket.

Now, in the grand scheme, a grit guard costs about the price of 2 gallons of gas. If you just not go on one quick trip, you will save the money to justify it. You can use the same rationale for other similarly priced consumables (beer, wine, etc).