Car Washing Grit Guard

Runner-up Copy Cat Reverse Engineering Challenge

I made it at Techshop

This instructable was Runner Up in the Copy Cat Reverse Engineering Challenge.

Commercially available Grit Guards (http://www.gritguard.com) fit in the bottom of your car wash bucket and clean your wash mitt, brush, or towel, to save your paint from swirl marks and scratches. Once the grit is removed from your mitt, the guard acts as a settling filter, keeping the grit away from your mitt, so that you don't recontaminate it.

Grit Guards may be purchased for $9.99 + shipping and handling, and according to their website, is the "most cost effective method for protecting your precious painted surfaces from being scratched while washing your vehicle."

However, this instructable will show you how to make your own grit guard for FREE*, making THIS the most cost effective method to protect your vehicle!

Materials:

(1) 5 gallon plastic bucket.
 

*Used pickle buckets from restaurants, paint pails, and cat litter containers are FREE.
If you must purchase one, Home Depot sells theirs for $2.60, which is still 1/4 of the price of a Grit Guard.
 

Masking/painters tape (optional)

Tools (available at TechShop):

Drill press
1" or 1-1/8" hole saw
 

Time to make:  < 30 minutes

Step 1: Mark the holes

On the bottom of the bucket, mark 8 lines, evenly spaced in a radial pattern (like spokes of a wheel). You don't need to be super accurate, just eye-ball it. You may use a marker and straight edge and draw the pattern, or you can do like we did, and use painter's tape.

(You may notice our bucket started out with a few saw cuts in it, after it was used as a makeshift sawhorse, making it the perfect donor bucket for this project!)