Car Wash Buckets & Grit Guards

The 2 bucket wash method is the most common technique for washing a car safely. As the name says, you use two car wash buckets, one for your wash solution and one for rinsing your wash mitt out between panels.

The reason it works comes down to where the dirt ends up. Most swirls and spider web scratches aren't caused by the wash itself, they're caused by grit being dragged around the paint by a mitt that picked it up on the last panel. Rinsing in a separate bucket means that grit leaves the mitt before it goes back into clean soapy water.

A third bucket for wheels is worth adding if you're doing the job properly, since brake dust and wheel cleaner are the last things you want anywhere near paintwork.

There's a full walkthrough in our guide on the two bucket car wash method.

20 litres is the size to go for, and it's what nearly every detailing bucket on the market is built around.

Capacity is part of it, you want enough water that the rinse bucket doesn't turn to mud halfway through a car. The bigger reason is diameter. Grit guards are made to a standard size, and a bucket narrower or wider than about 300mm at the top won't take one properly.

Our Economax Car Wash Bucket runs 20 litres, 300mm across the top, 265mm at the base and 380mm tall, with a metal handle and a plastic grip. Those dimensions are typical of a detailing bucket and they're what the grit guard, gamma lid and dolly are all sized to.

Smaller buckets are fine for wheels or as a dedicated rinse bucket for interiors, but for bodywork, 20L is the one.

A grit guard is a plastic insert that sits in the bottom of a wash bucket and keeps the dirt down there instead of back on your wash mitt.

It does two jobs. The ridged top gives you something to scrub the mitt against, which releases the grit it's picked up, and the grid itself stops that grit swirling back up when you dip the mitt in again. Everything heavier than water settles underneath and stays there.

Necessary is a strong word, but a bucket without one is doing half the job. Rinsing a mitt in still water leaves most of the grit floating where you'll pick it straight back up. That's the whole reason the rinse bucket exists.

Worth having one in both the wash and rinse buckets if you can, so the soap side stays clean too.

None of them are essential, but each one solves a real annoyance.

A gamma sealing lid turns the bucket into a sealed storage tub between washes, so your cloths, mitts and bottles live in the bucket rather than spread across a shelf. It also means you can leave a bucket outside without it filling with leaves and rain.

A dolly puts the bucket on wheels. Sounds indulgent until you've dragged 20 litres of water around a car three or four times, or you're working on a driveway that isn't flat.

A bucket organiser sits inside or over the rim and holds brushes, bottles and applicators where you can reach them, which saves the constant walking back to wherever you put things down.

If you're buying one thing, make it the lid. Storage is the problem most people actually have.

It's the cheapest insurance in detailing.

A two bucket setup with grit guards is a one off cost that lasts longer than most people keep the car. There's nothing to wear out, nothing to replace, and you'll spend more on car shampoo over a couple of years than the buckets cost in the first place.

Set that against what it prevents. Swirls put into paint by a dirty mitt come out with machine polishing, which is a full day's work and a measurable amount of clear coat, or a few hundred dollars if someone else does it.

A bucket kit is the easiest way in, since it pairs the bucket and grit guard at a better price than buying them separately.