First time foam cannon user

[Fishroes]

Didn’t think I would ever need or buy one since I have a gas pressure washer to pre rinse with but got to thinking with the pollen season here now in Va. it might not be a bad idea. I still have that image in my head of a piece of pollen under a microscope that someone posted here a year or so ago so I’m easing up on the 2 bucket washes until the pollen has quit. My Tundra and the wife’s Highlander stay under a metal carport but pollen blows in there so I got a Trinova and tried it out today. I thought it worked pretty good. I played with the air adjustment and got it where the foam stuck good. Never could get it too thick though. I used approximately 3 ozs of optimum car wash with a half bottle of hot water. It took exactly that amount to do the whole truck. It’s a crew cab. Somewhere If I remember correctly someone had said 1000 psi was the best for the Trinova. My pump is 2400 psi. 2.4gpm. The pw has a throttle control. I was throttling that down also trying to find the sweet spot. Any tips or tricks from Trinova users will be greatly appreciated
Most of my washes for the next 2 months will be with the cannon. I have noticed that about 80% of the power lock has gone. That was put on in August. The spring detail will have to wait probably until sometime in July. They will be pouring the footing for my garage Thursday. Can’t wait til that’s done. Sorry for rambling on


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[Coatings=crack]

I’ve tried a couple of amazon specials and gave up. Bought the MTM PF22. From recommendations and research would recommend if you can, return and spend on a MTM. I here it’s worth the investment and I have never seen video of shaving cream foam from an amazon special.

Used the MATCC, Suds Magic and one generic no name a friend bought. Theirs a thread I believe on AG or maybe here that has a 20% off coupon through MTM. I went through everything you went through and just never seen a happy camper till they upgrade.

Regardless of what you do would recommend getting a foaming soap. Black fire makes one. Chemical guys melon foaming snow works well. You will probably not find a bad word about a Griots foaming surface wash. My top pick.

Tried 3-4 different foaming soaps, different ratios, different orifices and found a decent combination but still was not happy.

Good luck


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[briarpatch]

Based on what I`ve seen, the results you got are typical with Optimum Car Soap. Not all soaps will give you the crazy, shaving cream type foam. As previously mentioned, some soaps are designed to give you maximum foam, such as Chemical Guys Honeydew, Mastersons Snow Foam and Griots Surface Wash. To me, I want a soap with good cleaning power, good lubricity, and long dwell time to allow it to do it`s job. Of those I`ve tried, the Griots Surface Wash has worked out the best in those areas.

When it comes to foam cannons, there are lots and lots of people who say there`s no difference between the MTM PF22 and the less expensive ones....I disagree. I have a PF22 and an inexpensive one , and the PF22 is definitely better. If I owned a better pressure washer, I`d expect the difference to be even more noticeable.

Do not swap the orifice in your foam cannon...the smaller one is meant for low output (typically electric) power washers.

[Fishroes]

That sums it up. I will get the Griot’s. Thanks

[SWETM]

The orifice in the foamcannon is more depending on the gpm from the PW you have. With yours at 2.4gpm it`s perfect with the standard orifice 1.25mm. So have the PW setting on the max water pressure and flow. It`s when you come down under 1.6gpm and especially 1.2gpm that a 1.1mm orifice in the foamcannon is a benefit. If going with the 1.1mm orifice in the foamcannon you drastically gets a higher water pressure that can actually damage the PW and hoses and such.

For doing touchless washes with the PW. I would look at the dedicated prewash foams. We here in EU have a much wider offerings of these prewash foams. But you in the US is catching up. Griots Garage BOSS Foaming Surface Wash is a big step forward to this I think. You also have the 3D Super Pre-Soak and Poorboy`s World Super Slick & Foam and gtechnic w4 citrus foam and Gyeon Foam and what I have heard Turtle Wax has released theirs in the US too.

Most of these prewash foams when used often as a touchless wash as more than weekly. I would test to dilute it 1:10 in the foamcannon bottle. If you have hard water you may need a little more prewash foam product. Max chemical mix setting on the foamcannon and foam it on. Now it`s cool with shaving cream thick foam to play with. But when it comes to cleaning ability you would want something in between shaving cream thick foam and runny foam. I want the foam to cling and slowly run off during the dwell time. So coming to the around 5min I want the most foam to run off but also leave a wet surface on the parts that your LSP has not repelled it away.

Know to something I preach about much. Are you a rinse guy or a cleaning guy? You can start at the top and rinse the foam off. IMO that you can do with a hose if you like it that way. The most effective cleaning you get if you start at the bottom and work your way up. Use the width of the water pressure from the PW to clean the car with as you wipe a wash mitt with it. This is what is recommended here in Sweden at least for all of the prewash treatment you use as if you where applying a degreaser with a pump sprayer bottle and clean it off. The benefits with this is you see where you have cleaned with the water pressure from the PW. And dirty rinse water runs off better on a clean surface as with the opposit the dirt is able to cling to dirt better and you don`t get it as clean on the lower panels. When I do the touchless washes I lastly when reach the top doing a thorough rinse down again so all possible residue is rinsed off. As you would be doing when rinse off the car soap from top to bottom. Test it out at least as it`s easy to do.

The problem I have with doing touchless washes is the drying part. Either I drive the car dry LOL easiest way. Or blow dry the car with the leafblower or a car blowdryer. You could also do a waterless wash as it`s very clean and safe to be doing this. And you get a safe way if any spots are missed while touchless wash. I just saw that my PW is able to use water from a bucket as it`s able to draw from a shorter distance with the PW pump. So is going to be looking for some distilled water in bulk. If you have the option to DI water or something for the last rinse would be the ultimate touchless wash.

/ Tony

[Dan]

Know to something I preach about much. Are you a rinse guy or a cleaning guy? You can start at the top and rinse the foam off. IMO that you can do with a hose if you like it that way. The most effective cleaning you get if you start at the bottom and work your way up. Use the width of the water pressure from the PW to clean the car with as you wipe a wash mitt with it. This is what is recommended here in Sweden at least for all of the prewash treatment you use as if you where applying a degreaser with a pump sprayer bottle and clean it off. The benefits with this is you see where you have cleaned with the water pressure from the PW. And dirty rinse water runs off better on a clean surface as with the opposit the dirt is able to cling to dirt better and you don`t get it as clean on the lower panels. When I do the touchless washes I lastly when reach the top doing a thorough rinse down again so all possible residue is rinsed off. As you would be doing when rinse off the car soap from top to bottom. Test it out at least as it`s easy to do.

The problem I have with doing touchless washes is the drying part. Either I drive the car dry LOL easiest way.

That sure sounds like a lot more work than actually washing a car, old school style. I can certainly see a pre-wash foam being effective for a really dirty vehicle, all this foaming, rinsing, switching things around for a regular wash? I guess if you have super soft paint it might make sense? I wash, dry, and QD/spray wax a car in <30 minutes.

[Fishroes]

I’m on well water. No filter system. Leaf blower to dry. I think I will use the mitt and rinse bucket. I will also increase the amount of car soap. It’s definitely faster and the truck bed gets foamed up too

[briarpatch]

I’m on well water. No filter system. Leaf blower to dry. I think I will use the mitt and rinse bucket. I will also increase the amount of car soap. It’s definitely faster and the truck bed gets foamed up too

I have a well ...very hard water...just don`t have the coin to shell out for a DI system. The hardness of your water will impact how well a soap foams too. I think you`ll like the performance of the Surface Wash with your setup.

[Accumulator]

Fishroes- I bet you`re really looking forward to getting the shop done!

FWIW, while pollen does indeed look scary under magnification, I`ve never found it to be a functional issue with regard to marring or anything else, it just washes (or even just rinses) off. Really...from "vehicle looks greenish-yellow it`s so covered with pollen" to "nice and clean" with no real effort compared to, say...winter cleanup. But I guess there are lots of different types of pollen and YMMV, huh? I guess my point is to watch you don`t get so potent with the washing (and wash off your LSP) if it`s not really necessary.

I wash, dry, and QD/spray wax a car in <30 minutes.

Oh man, you`re killing me! I can`t even do the jambs that fast Just pressure-rinsing the Tahoe with the CRS took me nearly an hour by the time I blew it dry.

the most effective cleaning you get if you start at the bottom and work your way up... Test it out at least as it`s easy to do.

Not arguing, but I`ve never understood the rationale behind that and it never worked any better for me. I just work top-down...

[Bill D]

Top-down for me too and I always do the wells-tires-wheels first.

[Accumulator]

T.. I always do the wells-tires-wheels first.

Same here. Those and the undercarriage are the nastiest parts of the wash, so yeah...I too want them out of the way so I don`t move that [stuff] onto other portions of the body after I`ve already cleaned them. I want the nastiest stuff *OFF* of there before I start touching the panels that show.

[Fishroes]

I’ll only be using the cannon during pollen season. My thinking (with my last brain cell Lol) was the suds would help with getting the pollen off. Also both Toyota’s don’t get driven in bad weather so the paint is in very good shape, kept out of the sun and rain at the house. One thing for sure it will never take the place of a 2 bucket wash

[Accumulator]

Fishroes- So the pollen in your area is hard to get off? I guess that`s the part that always surprises me.

[Fishroes]

I just thought that making the surface slicker it would come off easier, plus I know I can get 100% coverage with the cannon vs just rinsing. I do have a lot of trees on all 4 sides of the house. Only 2 or 3 that could fall on it

[briarpatch]

I’ll only be using the cannon during pollen season. My thinking (with my last brain cell Lol) was the suds would help with getting the pollen off. Also both Toyota’s don’t get driven in bad weather so the paint is in very good shape, kept out of the sun and rain at the house. One thing for sure it will never take the place of a 2 bucket wash

A little off the original subject.....but I`ve switched from the 2-bucket wash to the one bucket/multiple mitt wash. My process is foam...rinse....foam again...wash with one bucket/multiple mitts. Once both sides of a wash mitt have touched the paint, they are separated to be washed and never touch the vehicle again. As a side note...I do a lot of laundry