I need a few more 5-gallon buckets for automotive detailing and around-the-house tasks. I’ve always been a fan of the gamma seal bucket lids, because it lets me use the buckets for dust-free storage. They also prevent critter occupancy.
In general, the detailing stores online want too much money or add non-optional accessories I don’t need (such as Grit Guards). To be clear, I have nothing against Grit Guards, in fact I like them and have 4 of them. But I don’t need more of them for the additional buckets and see no sense in paying for things I don’t need.
ULINE of course has buckets in several colors and gamma seal lids in a few colors. But their minimum bucket order per color is five buckets and I don’t need five more buckets of the same color; I need two or three. At the moment I want some blue ones to hold rinse water, and I’d like some orange or yellow ones for soaking dirty microfiber towels and foam pads.
This year I’m going to try recycling some of my dehumidifier water, which I’ll only use for washing the cars. It’s fairly easy for me to collect a few gallons of water a day from it, but right now I have nowhere to store it.
Hmm… I might wind up with six new buckets; three blue buckets and three yellow buckets, with the corresponding blue gamma seal lids and yellow gamma seal lids. The cost comes to $62.88 plus $26.94 shipping for a total of $89.82.
For some, the immediate response would be “Ouch!”. However, if you’ve ever had a quality bucket with a gamma seal lid, you know they’re very handy and not throw-em-away-when-done. If FDA approved, they’re great for dry pet food or grain, for example. Or sidewalk salt (if you’re in a snow zone), potting soil, fertilizer, noxious rags, etc. A polyethylene bucket is fairly resistant to chemicals, which also makes it handy for re-use of chemicals, whether it’s rust remover, iron phosphate bath, parts cleaner or just microfiber towel cleaner and water.
March 31, 2012
I ordered three yellow buckets, three yellow gamma seal lids, three blue buckets and three blue gamma seal lids from BayTec Containers.
April 9, 2012
The buckets finally arrived from BayTec Containers. I mixed the colors on the buckets that I put GritGuards inside: the blue bucket with a yellow gamma seal rim and the yellow bucket with a blue gamma seal rim have GritGuards in them. The other two yellow buckets have full yellow gamma seal lids and the other two blue buckets have full blue gamma seal lids.
It’s worth noting that Autogeek wants $35 plus shipping for a single bucket with gamma seal lid and GritGuard. I paid less than $15 per bucket with gamma seal lid, and already had the GritGuards which were $9 each. I saved more than $11 per bucket (plus shipping costs) versus buying directly from Autogeek. The gamma seal lids are exactly the same, made by the same company here in the U.S.A.