During a recent indoor demo at a drywall yard, I was about to mix a full 5-gallon bucket of joint compound with my power mixer when a store employee handed me a Bucket Splash Guard to snap onto the bucket. He said he wanted my opinion of the product, but I think he also didn’t want me to make a mess. Made from recycled plastic, the guard is about 6 inches tall and tapers slightly toward the top, which has an inner lip. The guard popped on and off the bucket easily and did such a good job of containing splatters that I now often use one when mixing buckets of compound and paint where I need to keep the floor or my clothes clean. Cost: $14.95, plus shipping and handling, at bucketsplashguard.com.
—Myron Ferguson is a drywall contractor in Middle Grove, N.Y., and presents the Drywall Trade Secrets clinic at JLC Live.