Doing some rounds with the BOSS Foaming System.

Oneheadlite

Oneheadlite

New member
So I`ve now had the chance to spend some time with the BOSS Foam Starter Kit, which has the cannon, Surface Wash, Foaming Poly Gloss, and the new beach towel sized PFM. Summary - I`m really digging it.

Long story short, my first go-around with the system was on my road warrior level dirty daily driver. The last LSP applied was probably Hydro Blue sometime last fall, so it`s safe to say there was no LSP assistance with dropping dirt off the car. To be honest, it was intended to be a torture test for the Foaming Surface Wash that is apparently in search of appropriate bottling. The level of dirt was not what I was expecting just the Surface Wash to take care of without getting the mitts out.

After acquiring the correct pressure washer fitting (thanks Vanquish!), I applied the Foaming Surface wash with my lil Ryobi 1600psi/1.2 GPM pressure washer. Like I mentioned in the BOSS Foam thread, I know Older is using the same pressure washer, but I was pleased to see the foam output was perfectly adequate from the little guy. I`d read about people switching to a smaller orifice in the gun to boost the foam, but as of now I`m not seeing a need.

Followed the instructions - foamed from bottom up, allowed to dwell, then pressure wash rinsed from top down. As expected, the car was cleaner, but still had obvious road film present. I then hit it with a single bucket wash w/ grit guard. I was surprised when I was finished - the bucket was much cleaner than I was expecting given the starting condition. The surface wash really had done it`s job to drop a lot of dirt off the car. Cleaned the wheels with Iron X on one side, Griot`s Fallout Remover on the other side just as a curiosity comparo (slight nod to the Griot`s, but overall pretty much a draw).

Foamed with the Poly Gloss, dried with the newest full size PFM that came with the starter kit. Personal preference, it`s too big for my style. Works great matador style, but it`s a bit much for me on the side panels. You basically just show it to the water and it disappears though. Car was left with a noticeable boost in slickness, and gains in gloss as well. The plan for this car is to see how the Poly Gloss holds up as the sole LSP on the car. It`s not advertised to be used as such, but it`s what my current free time allows. I`ll reapply each wash since it`s so easy (and the poor car needs some love).

I`m typing this during the in-betweens at work, so unfortunately this will be a bit broken up. I`ll add some pics from my phone shortly.

Up next I`ll add how it went on my wife`s car, and a one-week-later maintenance wash on my avant.
 
The pics: Starting off, shot of the bonded road film:

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Surface Wash applied:

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Allowed to dwell:

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After the Poly Gloss:

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Sorry, not the best pictures; my main goal was production. Did both cars that day, with both of them needing physical washing as well. Plus jams, wheels, etc. Usually I can only manage to get through one at a time.
 
Glad you like it! I’m really impressed with it also. Just make sure the knob on the cannon is turned towards the minus all the way. Kinda backwards but that’s for more foam.
 
For sure. From your posts I just made sure to have it set all the way. I figured with the smaller pressure washer there wouldn’t be much use for an in-between setting.
 
Thank you for the review. I`ll be trying these as soon as my current soap supply runs out, which will be a while. In the Griots foam cannon, I`m not sure you can change the orifice. Typically, people only go to the smaller one if they have an electric p/w versus a gas p/w. I posed this question on another thread here, and I believe thats what those metering tips are for.
 
briarpatch said:
Thank you for the review. I`ll be trying these as soon as my current soap supply runs out, which will be a while.
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Yeah, maybe me too, but at the rate I`ve been washing this year, it looks like about 2030 before my current wash supply runs out; do you think there will be a Griot`s BOSS flying car wash by then?
 
Cool. So this foaming system doesn`t eliminate the need to hand wash? I thought that was the selling point. It`s still very attractive for professionals if it helps shed a good amount of dirt.
 
It is designed to minimize the amount of touching the surface and to remove as much abrasive as possible before you need to wash. This is not a touch less wash, but if you maintain the car well, you probably won’t have to do a bucket wash.
 
Nice follow up. I still haven`t used mine after waiting a month to get it they new "kits" are no longer coming with any type of connector on the cannon at all? Apparently the online page failed to mention that and I couldn`t find anything locally so waiting for a connector from MTM to arrive from back east.
 
briarpatch said:
Thank you for the review. I`ll be trying these as soon as my current soap supply runs out, which will be a while. In the Griots foam cannon, I`m not sure you can change the orifice. Typically, people only go to the smaller one if they have an electric p/w versus a gas p/w. I posed this question on another thread here, and I believe thats what those metering tips are for.
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Thanks! I’m just glad to finally be able to put a review up of any kind.

So, technically you can change out the orifice, though it’s nothing they offer/recommend as an option. I would guess it’s like carburetor adjustments, where the orifice is a coarse adjustment and the metering tips are the fine adjustment. One of the reviews on their site someone commented they felt the need to change it out to get fluffier foam than they could get with their pressure washer with the cannon as supplied. Even having a pressure washer that is the very bottom of their required specifications, I didn’t need to use the “max foam” metering tip, just the one recommended for electric pressure washers. Wasn’t looking for 2” of standing foam on the car, just enough for it to do the job as described.

Showbbq: My interpretation of the system is like Mike Lambert said - it drops the grit to redcuce the chance of marring (as evidenced by my surprisingly clean single bucket findings). My follow up wash proved that it can indeed work as a touchless wash when used under less extreme circumstances (more on that shortly).

KevinKunkle: Correct- I had the Foaming Surface Wash in my cart when I ordered the starter kit, but got the notification that it was being delayed. That step is billed as being potent enough to remove road film (and waxes/sealants), and was the original step I had in mind for torture testing based on the cars condition.

LGHT: That’s interesting you didn’t get any connection with yours. I at least got the quick connect fitting, though it wasn’t compatible with my Ryobi. I would say that’s my one disappointment with Griot’s- this seems like a huge oversight on their part. I think they were one part away from having each option needed for people to be able to hook right up. All you’d need would be a drop down selection box (much like what size product when you’re ordering liquids) when you order your cannon/kit. I really hope they’re going to correct that.

Mike Lambert: Well said. In fact:
 
Avant, round 2: The maintenance wash.

While I was originally hoping to do it on a weekend, I ended up doing a maintenance wash on my avant during my lunch break. No pictures, as I was trying to see how quick I could get it done. It was a little over a week later (roughly 400 miles, no rain this time) since I had gone through the process above.

Again, the car was wearing only the Poly Gloss. Set up my pressure washer, foamed with Surface Wash. Allowed to dwell for about 5 minutes while I had some pizza. Rinsed and inspected: This time it got a clean bill of health. You could actually see the water behavior still present from last weeks Poly Gloss. With no road film requiring scrubbing, I proceeded with another application of the Poly Gloss. After dwelling, rinsed off with the pressure washer, followed by a flood rinse with the naked hose to pull as much water off as possible. Dried with a standard PFM. No evidence of wiping any dirt off either on the towel or by cleaner spots on the car after wiping. Even my wheels were left in the same shape as after my first wash, which was impressive for the stock pads.

This is is exactly what I was hoping for! I know I won’t get away with it every time, but to not have to dig in for an in depth wash each time will be a huge boost to keeping the car cleaner more often. Total time spent with dragging out the pressure washer, putting it away, and having lunch in between was about 45 minutes.
 
Also, that first weekend I did my wife’s Q5 as well.

Her car has had an LSP applied much more recently, though I don’t remember how long it’s been. Pretty sure it was a round of OptiSeal applied after a wash (not as a drying aid). Condition wise, her car had gone a couple weeks since it’s last wash, and was grittier than I would have approached for just a rinseless wash. Her car is Phantom Black (black metallic), and inevitably I’m always fighting the sun when I get a chance to give it a bath. True to form, when it came time to put the foam to her car, my washing area was no longer shaded. I was curious how the foaming would go, worrying I would face rapidly diminishing/drying foam. Thankfully, I was still able to allow it to dwell and do it’s thing, probably 5 minutes or so. I then pressure wash rinsed it, and inspected. Her car also had some road film remaining, so this time I pulled it into the garage for a Rinseless wash.

Paint and glass were done with Griot’s Rinseless Wash and Wax multi-towel style with a pre-spray @ their 15:1 waterless/Clay Lube ratio. Towels came out with mild dirt, but nothing gross. Wheels I did with N914 at waterless mix with a boars hair brush and a small round Microfiber applicator. I really need to get a strong LSP on her wheels, they’re gonna be the end of me. Due to time constraints, I didn’t get to give her car a Poly Gloss application.

I’ll update this again when I get a maintenance wash in on her car.
 
Newb question. Are you (not sure if this system specifies one way or the other) doing a pre-rinse or just straight to foaming on a dry surface?

Thanks for the detailed first impressions and follow ups thus far.
 
Oneheadlite said:
LGHT: That’s interesting you didn’t get any connection with yours. I at least got the quick connect fitting, though it wasn’t compatible with my Ryobi. I would say that’s my one disappointment with Griot’s- this seems like a huge oversight on their part. I think they were one part away from having each option needed for people to be able to hook right up. All you’d need would be a drop down selection box (much like what size product when you’re ordering liquids) when you order your cannon/kit. I really hope they’re going to correct that.
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I didn`t get it from them directly. There was a special at DI so I saved a bit getting it there with some other goodies. Apparently a few other customers who got the deal also had the same problem and it seems griots didn`t mention they wouldn`t get tips so they gave everyone $15 coupon toward the next order. Problem now is just sitting and waiting. However I may just keep waiting since you seem to be doing all the test I was planning on doing and on a black Avant just like mine which is even better!
 
EKhatch said:
Newb question. Are you (not sure if this system specifies one way or the other) doing a pre-rinse or just straight to foaming on a dry surface?

Thanks for the detailed first impressions and follow ups thus far.
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They recommend applying it to a dry car. I know, slightly against what your brain thinks (get that dirt off now!); but the idea is to allow maximum cling for the foam. If you spray the car with water first, you’re cutting down on the ability for the foam to cling and dwell. As it dwells, the theory is that it lifts the dirt and then helps drop it off the paint. You then chase it with a top-down pressure wash which blasts everything off.

LGHT - thanks for the rundown on your buying experience. That’s nice about the coupon they gave. Looks like stainless fittings are like $7 on the River site. I got my BOSS kit straight from Griot’s since I had a gift card for them to burn.
 
LGHT said:
Nice follow up. I still haven`t used mine after waiting a month to get it they new "kits" are no longer coming with any type of connector on the cannon at all? Apparently the online page failed to mention that and I couldn`t find anything locally so waiting for a connector from MTM to arrive from back east.
Click to expand...

Let the record show- that was an accidental dislike: too easy to hit the wrong button on a phone!!! Wish they could be retracted!
 
Home Depot or a place like that has the connectors. They recommend foaming the car dry, but even after bringing a car in from the rain, it worked great.
 
I tried the Ace hardware by me, but they didn’t have anything. I worried the big box stores wouldn’t have actual stainless fittings; was worried about corrosion from dissimilar metals.
 
Doesnt seem much different than any other soap in a foam cannon. Am I wrong? Still a film left afterward just like those.
 
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