Chemical Guys IAI503 Grit Guard Insert, Black

• Grit Guard is a radial designed insert that fits in the bottom of any 3.5 to 7 gallon bucket and cleans your wash mitt, brush, towel, or other washing utensil
• The whole idea behind Grit Guard is to protect your precious painted surfaces from being scratched
• Grit Guard is a product that simply works - it separates the grit from the mitt
• Grit Guard prevents the swirl marks in your paint, caused by improper washing
• The product's radial designed surface extracts particles such as dirt, grit, and grime from your wash mitt, providing a clean, scratch-free wash mitt, every time you go back to the bucket for water

How it Works

The Grit Guard Insert is a raised radial surface that fits into the bottom of any 3 to 5 gallon bucket. The Grit Guard Insert extracts grit and dirt from your wash mitt, sponge, towel and any other washing utensil when you drag it across the Grit Guard. The dirt settles at the bottom of the bucket so your wash water stays clean. Four quadrants at the base of the Grit Guard calm the wash water and hold the grid above the bottom of the bucket. Dirt and grit fall to the bottom and stay there. The Grit Guard Insert is designed to protect your paint from being scratched - it separates the grit from the mitt. It also prevents swirl marks in your paint which are caused by improper washing.

The Grit Guard Insert extracts particles such as dirt, grit and grime for your wash mitt, providing a clean, scratch-free wash mitt every time you go back to the bucket for more water. The Grit Guard Insert is a real paint-saver but also has a number of other uses too. You can use the Grit Guard Insert to clean paint brushes by running the bristles across the grid in a bucket of water or paint thinner. It can be used to clean automotive parts or to drain your oil filter. You can even use the four quadrants as a grid when laying tile.

                                    

By Dog Lover

THIS IS A GREAT PRODUCT !! PLEASE don't pay any attention to the people that complained that it wouldn't fit their buckets. FOR THE RECORD: I have Homer Buckets from Home Depot and buckets from Lowes Hardware. These grit Guards fit just fine in either, The go all the way to the bottom and do the job they're supposed to do (trap dirt and grit in the bottom of your bucket so it isn't reintroduced to your paint). There are people that just like to complain and there are those who are so baffled by anything mechanical that opening a jar of peanut butter is a challenge for them. (I appreciate a bad review - it saves me time and trouble. BUT writing a snarky review because you're so stupid that you bought the wrong bucket is something else again. THESE GRIT GUARDS FIT THE ORANGE HOMER BUCKETS FROM HOME DEPOT. You will not have a problem with them.

By Neil Sasaki

I have two of these and use the "two bucket method" when washing my car. Basically one 5gal bucket (with grit guard) from home depot is filled with soapy water and the other 5gal bucket (with grit guard) is filled with clean water. Soap up the sponge in bucket #1, wash a panel on the car, clean the sponge in bucket #2, repeat. This keeps the large pieces of dirt at the bottom of the bucket.

This wont work with odd shaped buckets like rubbermaid ones, however fthey fit perfectly in the standard 5gal buckets you can buy at any hardware store.

By Shawn Tedrow

This item is great for washing a car. Some people use two Grit Guards but I use only one. If you are using one, and you are using thr two bucket method then place the Grit Guard in the rinse bucket. This is where all the dirt will accumulate. After washing a section, if you see dirt buildup on the mitt, that will not rinse off, rub the mitt against the Grit Guard and all the dirt will fall right out. Great product!

By J. Robidoux

This is a must have for a truly good car wash. you can buy all the right products and tools but without this you are going to introduce contaminants and abrasive junk to the paint as soon as you start. Great price and well worth it. Most of these are the same, and there isn't much to say however I had a generic no name grit guard that had shallower fins. These fins are about 3"-4" tall and very rigid. This helps to keep the water in the very bottom from getting agitated when you rub the guard with your wash mitt or whatever you are using and keeps the grit at the bottom of the bucket where it belongs.

By W. Groth

Great component for my carwash system. Keeps grit that has entered your wash water (from your car or boat) from being re-deposited on your mit or sponge. Grit sinks below the guard, and cannot be picked up again (and deposited back on the car, creating scratches.) Fits a 5, 6, or 7 gallon bucket. Works great, fits great and is super simple to use. See my other component reviews under the same title - Wash & Roll.

 

By Frank

I vacillated about buying this product. I really wondered whether it was worth the extra $10. After the first use there was no doubt. If you are cleaning your own car, you need to be using the 2 bucket system and you need this in the 'dirt' bucket. Simple as that. If you don't, it is much harder to get dirt off the mitt (or rag, although I highly recommend a good mitt) and that leads to scratches in your paint. If you don't care about scratches, why are you bothering to wash your own car? Bring it to the local drive-through for $8.

By Nathaniel Andrew

HELLO!

I am an absolute rookie at auto "detailing" and will not claim to know much of anything about it since I am very new and am learning as I go along.

What I can tell you is that the blue colored grit guard is the least expensive color (not sure why) and that it is identical in every way to any of the other colors that cost more. If you need to color coordinate your Grit Guards to match the color of your underwear or the color of your flip flops, by all means, please do so. Otherwise buy the blue one because as of this writing it is the least expensive at just over $7 dollars.

I can also tell you that the "chemical guys" one is the very same "Grit Guard". There is no difference, just that Chem Guys sells GG"s on Amazon along with some other sellers like Adam's and others. A GG is a GG, there is only one. It is stamped GG and just buy one for the best price, period. I suppose it is possible there are "fake" grit guards out there, but the ones I bought on Amazon are legit / real meal deal. Model is GG-1010B.

I can tell you that this is MADE IN THE U.S.A. and is very well built of solid plastic. It does not feel cheap or flimsy at all.

Finally, I would tell you to take this to your local ace, lowes, depot whatever and test fit it into the various buckets. I did so and this fits perfectly in both the orange "Homer" bucket that is sold for $2.97 and also into the 5 GAL WHITE bucket that Depot sells for $4.28. I use orange for rinse water and WHITE for sudsy water.

Depot also sells the GAMMA LIDS for $7.25 if you want to go that route.

So, hoping to help others who are new or confused, the fast facts are:

MADE IN USA
Chemical Guys GRIT GUARD is the exact same unit / it is stamped as GRIT GUARD, no difference, buy the cheapest color.
BLUE is the cheapest color and is identical to all other colors
Will fit in the ORANGE and WHITE 5 gallon buckets sold at DEPOT perfectly.

I also bought two of the "Grit Guard Washboard Bucket Insert - Attaches to Grit Guard Insert" which is also very well made and I highly recommend them to go along with the GG's. It is easier to wipe your wash media onto it since it is angled up and higher in the bucket versus the primary GG which sits at the bottom.

Having both a GG and the angled GG insert snapped onto it is best of both worlds and will really ensure that MOST of the crap on your wash media is getting knocked off and staying down at the bottom. When you have a GG+insert in your RINSE water AND in your SUDS water, you are setting yourself up for success!

Doing anything at all, is worth doing it RIGHT. Get two 5 gal buckets, two grit guards, and two grit guard angled washboard inserts. The gamma seals and any sort of a lid is totally optional. Two gamma lids at Depot will run you about $15 for the pair which is not that bad.

Finally - be wise with your money, don't fall for goofy "gadgets". I've noticed a TON of doohickery and gimmickery in the detailing world that pertain to accessories and widgets and malarkey and all that.. Be wise with your heard earned money and get depot buckets for $2.97 instead of paying $15 or more for a bucket with a "logo" on it. Unless you are a full on pro with decades of experience there is no reason to chuck cash on the crazy expensive Wolfgang stuff when your experience is going to top out at Meguiar's. Also, those silly "dollys" they sell for the buckets? Holy cow.. I use an old Torin "creeper" that I have had for ages and put both buckets on it - wheels around just fine, thank you very much.

WELL. That's it. I hope some found this helpful. My 2 GG"s and my 2 GG angled inserts were a total of $40 and to me are worth every dime because I know that I am doing all I can as a total amateur to have my rinse and suds buckets setup optimally to not reintroduce any nasty crap back onto my expensive Lexus.

By Section 80

Great and a priced right. This grit guard does its job and is a bit cheaper than say the Adam's guard. However note that this will not sit at the proper bottom location in a Lowes bucket. It will sit about half way down on the Lowes bucket which is slightly tapered at the bottom. Being such, having it sit in the middle defeats the purpose of the guard . This will however sit at the very bottom of the Home Depot orange bucket.

By ATK

It's a grit guard. Does the job. It fits the $2.97 5 gallon “let's do it " home depot buckets with no issues.

By xgaul

This is a must have for anyone who washes their car by hand and actually cares about how well the wash turns out. The purpose of a grit guard is to allow dirt/debris from being swirled around on your paint when you are using something like a microfiber car wash mitt. To use this its very simple. Just place it in the bottom of your bucket then load your soap and water mixture, thats it. The way it works is that it simply allows all the debris to settle to the bottom of the bucket like it normally would but when you insert your mitt into the bucket you are prevent from going all the way to the bottom of the bucket catching all of the debris down there. The idea is very simple behind this product and the Grit Guard meets all expectations. Just realize that you will be losing about 4" of your bucket so make sure you fill the water as close to the top as you can. Cleanup is simply removing it from the bucket, spraying it off and either placing back in the bucket once thats cleaned or hang it up to dry for the next use. If you love your car and want to keep the paint swirl free for years to come pick one of these up today.