Foam Cannon Foam - I want to believe the hype.

The dialog has been good. One thing that has come from this is that pre-washing is a necessity, and using foam (any type) maybe better than soaking with just plain water. In my estimation however foam cannon foam seems to be no better than the foam gun type of foam, even pre-washing with a car wash using the detergent setting (no pressure) on my pressure washer maybe just as good. In the end maybe all foam is created equal.
 
howareb said:
The dialog has been good. One thing that has come from this is that pre-washing is a necessity, and using foam (any type) maybe better than soaking with just plain water. In my estimation however foam cannon foam seems to be no better than the foam gun type of foam, even pre-washing with a car wash using the detergent setting (no pressure) on my pressure washer maybe just as good. In the end maybe all foam is created equal.
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As far as pre-rinsing/pre-soaking goes I think the advantage that the foam cannon has over the foam gun is the dwell time of the foam. The longer the foam stays on the paint, the more your soap has the chance to break up the contaminants. That's the reason why I think most people are in awe of the foam cannon is due to the frothy, shaving cream-like foam that we see on some videos.
 
BlackElantraGT said:
As far as pre-rinsing/pre-soaking goes I think the advantage that the foam cannon has over the foam gun is the dwell time of the foam. The longer the foam stays on the paint, the more your soap has the chance to break up the contaminants. That's the reason why I think most people are in awe of the foam cannon is due to the frothy, shaving cream-like foam that we see on some videos.
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I think, in addition to the time the soap stays on the surface, the foam enables the surface to remain damp/wet which might be more important when it comes to breaking up the dirt/contaminants.



Accumulator said:
Heh heh, I know people who think the whole proper-detailing thing is ridiculous and I can see where they're coming from.
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:soscared: ............heh,heh ;)
 
If you use soaps designed for tunnel washs, you'll get much better results. These soaps are applied the same way under high pressure.



You can see some at Professional Carwash Association.



There are many brands used, some work very well, provide thick foam and strip most dirt.



I did a charity event with neon-day-glo foam with a black light "tunnel tent" to raise money for a school. It went well and the foam looked cool glowing on car finishes as they moved through.



Or, go the opposite and use ONR which does release dirt very well.



Regards,

Deanski
 
Deanski said:
If you use soaps designed for tunnel washs, you'll get much better results. These soaps are applied the same way under high pressure.



You can see some at Professional Carwash Association.



There are many brands used, some work very well, provide thick foam and strip most dirt.



I did a charity event with neon-day-glo foam with a black light "tunnel tent" to raise money for a school. It went well and the foam looked cool glowing on car finishes as they moved through.



Or, go the opposite and use ONR which does release dirt very well.



Regards,

Deanski
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Yeah, there's a couple touchless automatics I like to use when my home touchless method isn't getting everything off. They always do a much beter job, but I'm sure they are alot harder on the LSP. Recently, my favorite touchless automatic's soap started smelling like isopropyl alcohol(!).



I've been putting the wax on much more often since using the touchless automatics.
 
Deanski- I think that was a great idea for the charity carwash!



Being me, I'd put a BHB in the mix ;) but I've always thought that there oghta be ways to do that kind of thing in a simple way that'd be heads and shoulders above the bucket-and-sponge approach. Good thinking :xyxthumbs
 
Deanski said:
If you use soaps designed for tunnel washs, you'll get much better results. These soaps are applied the same way under high pressure.



You can see some at Professional Carwash Association.



There are many brands used, some work very well, provide thick foam and strip most dirt.
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I am willing to try some, but cannot find the association that you are talking about, can you provide a link to either the association or the Car Wash product itself. Thanks.
 
Just want to mention used the Gilmor foam gun today for the first time and it worked great. Had some griots car wash and put in one squirt. That's it. Did the whole car and still had 1/2 bottle left of soap. Didn't even use the "foam soap" which is on the way, and it foamed nicely. Must admit, it cut the car washing time down by 50%. With frequent dipping into the rinse bucket it still seemed faster than 2 buckets and up and down a hundred times :). Even on the most lazy day when you don't feel like washing the car, the foam gun can help a lot.
 
MY take on the foam cannon:



I live on a gravel road. Ever since I moved in I started having wash induced marring. If I wash once a week my truck it still gets very dirty. I only drive about 20MPH on the road, its only 1/2 mile long. If it rains the dirt will get very stuck to the paint, might have something to do with a high clay content. I also get a lot of bugs on the front of the trucks. Rinsing with hose pressure may not get enough mud off to even see the what color the vehicle is. A pressure washer helps. I have used an auto-mix Ortho sprayer to get soap on the trucks, and it made a good difference.



Now I use a foam cannon. I will usually foam up the truck first and let it dwell 3-5min. Then I high pressure rinse. This will remove 90% of the gunk for me without touching the truck (no scratches). I will then do 1 of 3 things to finish depending on the weather.



1) If its cool enough and I have some shade and the vehicle is pretty clean: I will re-foam the vehicle, wash using a rinse bucket and a grout sponge only. The I will high pressure rinse, flood, then dry.



2) Normal 2 bucket wash with a normal hose rinse. Then flood/dry.



3) Pull into garage after touchless wash while still wet. Wash with onr 2 buckets. This is if it is too hot or no shade outside.



This system I have is a little over the top, but I have not had any swirls added this way in over a year. For me I cannot wash a vehicle fast without it and not add swirls.



I can also wash a full size truck, dry and follow with AW in a little more than 30 min. In 1 hour I can usually touch up on any other required cleaning, like glass, carpets, dressing tires and trim. My trucks stay as clean as I can keep them.



As always this is all IMO/IME and YMMV. Have a nice day.
 
citizen arcane said:
...I then use the two bucket method, spraying the panels w/ concentrate before I apply my wash media to it.

.
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Thank for that tip. I tried this 2 days ago and it really does help. Spraying the panels with concentrated shampoo mix produced much less friction and made the washing process so much easier and safer.



Cheers:xyxthumbs
 
I have recently thought about doing this with a wash mix in a spray bottle. I have this crappy little foamish thing that came with my cheapo power washer (actually I really dig the little PW and it cost very very little on clearance)



I just can't seem to find a fast and non-marring method to clean
 
sharky nrk said:
..I just can't seem to find a fast and non-marring method to clean
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IMO/IME "fast" and "non-marring" are pretty much mutually exlusive when it comes to washing.



Noting the Subie in your avatar, back when I had my WRX I only needed to polish it lighty once a year or so (after winters) even though I washed it *fast* compared to the way I wash my cars these days. I used my standard regimen, only I didn't obsess over doing every square inch as carefully as humanly possible.



I just used the foamgun (with Griot's Car Wash), constantly flushing the point where the wash media touched the paint; BHBs for the initial passes, mitts (full of wash solution, barely touching the paint, virtually no pressure) for the subsequent passes. If anything didn't come clean from those gentle methods I clayed it off with Sonus green (very, very carefully). FWIW I used KSG on my WRX, but IMO Collinite probably woulda shed dirt better.
 
she wears collinite and sheds dirt OK, but I guess I am always looking to one up my washing game over the time intensive two bucket method
 
sharky nrk- Eh, at some point you gotta choose between the time and the marring IMO. I'd rather spend time on the wash and not have to polish, but that's just me.
 
Accumulator said:
sharky nrk- Eh, at some point you gotta choose between the time and the marring IMO. I'd rather spend time on the wash and not have to polish, but that's just me.
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+1



My washes get slower and slower. My trucks stay non-swirled, though :spot
 
The results achieved using a foam lance will depend alot on the foaming agent/shampoo used and water temp. There are some good specific shampoos available that depending on how good the vehicle is procteted and the type of product used you will be able to do a touchless wash on the vehicle and achieve good results.
 
Anyone ever tried to add some ONR caps into the solution (water+shampoo) in foamgun's bottle for release dirt from paint more easily? :waxing:





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ReDaLeRt said:
Anyone ever tried to add some ONR caps into the solution (water+shampoo) in foamgun's bottle for release dirt from paint more easily? :waxing:



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I haven't, but I will now. :up
 
I use a new foam from a UK company called Bilt Hamber and after a year of very disappointing results with my foam cannon, I am finally happy :D It shifts loads of dirt without any touching of the paintwork. A mildly dirty car can come up completely clean... It really does what a pre-wash should do, after so many foam and shampoo mixes that really did absolutely nothing:(



My issue is simply water spotting, so unless it does get a follow up wash and dry, I get spotting. Hence my desire to perfect the ONR process.



I do plan to use foaming alone as 90% of my winter routine no wthough, as I'm convinced a huge % of marring comes during winter.
 
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