Its been worth the wait!  Last fall at SEMA I first saw the Grit Guard Washboard and I liked the concept so much that I was eager to run it through its paces in real time.  I’ve been begging and waiting for the item to arrive.  The owners of Grit Guard are SUPER nice and love to help out car enthusiasts with the process of washing cars, and have designed another product to move the standard for swirl free washing techniques.

Initial impressions:

Starting off, the concept is great one.  I can now knock off the debris from the wash mitt and not stir up so much of the debris that have fallen down under the Grit Guard I always have at the bottom of my bucket.

I received the first beta design and after some testing it definitely needed some changes.  The “towers”, or legs that hold the Washboard to the Grit Guard below were too loose and thus they were redesigned. They now hold the Grit Guard below very well.  The center attachment point was also improved and now holds much more firmly in place to the Grit Guard.  I have to give it to Grit Guard, they listened and tested this new product rather than just sending it out, well done!

Actual Use:

The Washboard is easy to use and very functional.  It stayed firmly in place when attached to the Grit Guard, and did exactly what it was designed to do.

The design changes that were made are very good and no more lifting or detaching from the Grit Guard when I went to rub my mitt on the Washboard happened.

Final thoughts:

The design works very well and it makes it so easy to clean off my wash mitt.  When I filled up the bucket I wanted my Washboard to be submersed, but it protruded more than I personally liked.  I also like to use 2 Grit Guards that are stacked, so I’m less likely to stir up debris that has fallen to the bottom, so this certainly pushed the Washboard higher up in the bucket that I originally intended.  To meet both of these personal preferences (two Grit Guards and submersed Washboard), I used a taller bucket that holds 7 gallons but is the same dimensions as a regular average 5 gallon bucket.

With all that being said, after use, I now think the Washboard does such a great job of allowing me to remove debris from the wash mitt, I likely don’t need the other stacked Grit Guard! This means I can use a regular 5 gallon bucket, one Grit Guard, and the Washboard.

The Washboard appears to allow a greater collection of debris at the bottom than just using the Grit Guard by itself as well.  While I can’t quantify my results, I washed one side of the car with the Washboard and Grit Guard, and the other with just a Grit Guard. I visually had more debris at the bottom of the Washboard and Grit Guard combo than just the Grit Guard on the other side. More debris on the bottom of the bucket means that there are less on my wash mitt and the car, to likely marr the finish.  I think we have a winner!

Here is a good video on the improvements made to the final version of the wash board.