OCDetails Detailing Blog

I saw the Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer in use at the Autogeek booth at the SEMA show this year. It seemed like anybody demonstrating polishing products had one at their booth. Autogeek had one at their booth too and I got to hear the inventors of the product talk about it a lot. So I decided it was worth giving it a shot. Holy cow!! Why didn't I get one of these sooner??? This is an absolutely awesome device that is a must have for anyone who uses a machine to polish their vehicles.

The product actually serves multiple purposes. It is a pad washer, pad dryer, wash bucket, and grit guard all in one. If you take out the center device that elevates the grit guard above the water level then it is a great wash bucket. Put the grit guard in the bottom and you get the added benefit of being able to scrub your mitt before going back to the car to keep washing. And we all know how much of a pain it is to wash out your pad and go back to polishing with it still damp. Spinning it on the highest setting will still only get so much of the water out. So this product is really a very versitile and useful purchase.

I let my son do the initial inspection and test fitting of everything. It got a big thumbs up from him. The thing I was really curious about is how intuitive this product was. If a 5 year old can figure out how to put it together and understands how to use it, then I am pretty sure anybody will be able to figure it out. ;)

After we got it put together and understood the rules, I put it to the test. It is the end of my detailing season and I had a lot of pads to wash. I rounded up as many as I could find and got ready to clean them. I think I might have missed a few in the garage somewhere... I could have sworn I had a couple more blue ones.




I did learn something interesting through this little experiment. I picked up my Porter Cable 7424 first to do the job, but I think the Flex 3401 is a little better at getting them clean. The entire motion of the Flex is gear driven and the pad doesn't stop spinning just because you put a little pressure on it. I cleaned a couple with the PC, but then I used the Flex for the rest.










I started at 20 after the hour and I put the last pad back on the shelf at a quarter till. It took me maybe 30 minutes tops to wash and dry every one of these pads. And that is considering I had to switch from the Edge 2000 adapter backing plate on the Flex to the velcro one halfway through.










After I poured out the water there was quite a bit of... something left in the bottom of the bucket.




I would say that is just proof that it works! Every one of those pads had been sprayed out, so this is also proof that spraying a pad cleaner and hosing them off isn't enough to get them clean. If you value your pads and want them clean then this is a must have product! Even if you don't care that much about your pads, if you hate polishing with wet pads and the resulting mess that they cause, then you still need to get one of these. It is a new must have recomendation for OCDetails.com for sure!