What difference does a bucket make?

With literally hundreds of buckets available, various sizes and prices from a few pennies what difference does a bucket make? The answer is not straight forward, in fact it might be easier to explain the meaning of life, but to some it makes a lot of difference, who is right?

Just like in this image both sides of the argument are right and wrong at the same time, can this be possible? Its largely an opinion, but an opinion that is based on facts, facts which help you make an informed decision. So, enough confusing waffle, lets look at the facts, the reasons some people like certain buckets, then you can make your own mind up.

To start, the small, very common bucket, normally around 10 Litre capacity, found in most homes, available almost everywhere, relatively cheap. Can you use it to wash your car? Yes, of course, but it has downsides. First downside is,  these buckets are often too small in diameter to allow the use of a bucket filter, such as a Scratch Shield, which increases your chances of Scratching your precious paintwork, you also may find that 10Litres of foamy water isn't enough to clean your car thoroughly. In our opinion and in the opinion of most car wash professionals/valeters/detailers or enthusiasts, not a great choice for for car washing.

"The builders bucket", again a very common bucket and found in most domestic situations, a term used to describe a sturdy and very practical bucket commonly used on building sites. Readily available at varying prices and quality, often with a capacity of 12-15 Litres. This is a very popular choice with car wash professionals/valeters and enthusiasts alike. Its low cost, some bucket filters will fit (Scratch shield fits) and holds enough water to clean a  car. The cheaper end of the market tend not to be great quality, so it would be worth buying the slightly better quality ones, which then puts you close to the "20Litre buckets".

Once only the choice of the professionals and the enthusiasts that wanted to emulate professionals the 20Litre bucket used to come with a hefty price tag. In recent years decent quality "20Litre" buckets have become available at prices similar to the "builders style" buckets, so why would you pick one over the other? Like the "builders" bucket you can fit in a bucket filter, it will hold enough foamy water to do a car, only real downside, when full its heavier to carry. Many believe that the extra capacity means less chance of contaminated water, which is a good point. Some opt for two and three bucket system. In brief, two bucket consists of one bucket of soapy water and one of rinse water, the idea is to keep the soapy water cleaner (and it works). The three bucket system is for the very "particular" the third bucket is dedicated bucket for extremely dirty areas, such as wheels, engine bays, wheel arches etc. These buckets will be marked "wash", "rinse", "wheels" to ensure they are always only used for the one application, avoiding any contamination.

Once you have made up your mind about the size of bucket, what about the colour?

This is where personal preference and opinion kick in. Does the colour matter? A black bucket is practical, as it doesn't show any dirt, but its difficult to see how dirty the water is too. Light colours such as white, yellow or orange bucket, will show dirty marks. The old army saying "Always keep your weapon clean" springs to mind, would you want to clean your pride and joy with dirty equipment? Would you want a professional using dirty equipment? Probably not, but white buckets can easily be kept clean and the low costs mean you don't have to spend a fortune replacing them when they do become tatty and shabby.

The difference is clear, opaque buckets are the choice of some, it helps you see just how dirty the water is and can help you see what settles under the filter.

As mentioned in the first lines of this post there is a vast choice of buckets, our aim has been to give a balance review of what we believe is the most relevant to car washing and hopefully explains why we offer the buckets that we do. Good quality with exceptional value for money.

We will be back very soon to talk about patents, packaging and waxstock.