Foam Gun test with various shampoos

Accumulator : This could help with lubrication using it with your wash technique, using one which foams a lot and dwells meaning it offers more lubrication than one which doesnt foam or last as long.



Silvabimma : The gilmour seems good but not as good as the pressure washer, so if i had to choose one it would be the karcher to wash with and the gilmour for something that you need foam for.
 
I'm giving up on my foam gun. It works well, but I was never able to fit it into my wash routine. The last time I used it, I didn't have the quick connect pushed all the way on and the gun flew off and hit my car! It's for sale in the trading post section if anyone is interested.
 
After this test I dont see a use for my Gilmour because my jet wash takes just the same amount of time to set up as its at a power point and plugged in just need to switch it on.



I feel the jet wash seems to allow the foam to dwell for longer and in my opinion leave a less grimey surface, in all honesty I dont think we will ever get a wash which removes everything by just letting foam dwell on the surface. Fun all the same though ! lol
 
JJ_ said:
After this test I dont see a use for my Gilmour because my jet wash takes just the same amount of time to set up as its at a power point and plugged in just need to switch it on.



I feel the jet wash seems to allow the foam to dwell for longer and in my opinion leave a less grimey surface, in all honesty I dont think we will ever get a wash which removes everything by just letting foam dwell on the surface. Fun all the same though ! lol
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PM sent. Thanks!
 
JJ- Yeah, it seems you need *some* kind of agitation to dislodge the dirt, too bad the spray-on-spray-off doesn't work better.



After seeing this thread yesterday I cranked up the mixture when I washed the A8, didn't seem to hurt the LSP any. Yeah, there *is* something to be learned from your experiments even when using a different wash technique. Which of those shampoos struck you as having the best lubricity?
 
Yeah I agree there, you do need something to dislodge the dirt.



I think the most lubricity was offered by hyper wash or 1z Glanz weekly, im going to do a wash test as well go through each shampoo see which one I feel suits my needs the best. I have your wash technique printed out as I dont fancy continously polishing the car because of slight marring.
 
JJ said:
I have your wash technique printed out as I dont fancy continously polishing the car because of slight marring.
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Heh heh, a lot of people wouldn't fancy doing my wash technique every time either ;) But I hope it works out for you as well as it has for me.



And thanks for responding about the lubricity, I value that characteristic *very* highly.
 
I just bought a new foam lance at the weekend and I will post up some results with that over the next week or so, just to keep you guys up do date.
 
Ok well as promised!



For the guys across the pond 1oz = 30ml , saves any of you having to google it!



Well, this started a few weeks ago, I pm'd steve (l200steve) to ask him how I figure out what ratio of solution to put in my old Gilmour. I did something like this ages ago, refer to Foam Gun test with various shampoos - Autopia.org quite some years ago! I drew up an excel sheet so that I knew exactly how much I should put in my Gilmour running at 1:10.



First up



Hyper Wash

150ml by calculation, 150ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5 (score out of five?)

Foaming ability 3/5

Dwelling 2/5



Hyper wash is the uber dilution ratio of all washes, it is thick in consistency and I used hot water in the gilmour to get a more manageable wash solution. It is quite a lubricated wash and cleans well, it is not the best I have come across but the price of the product is tough to pass by. Thin suds left after, not a lot to be honest, it works but it is mid range.



Spraying

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After Dwell

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Meguiars Shampoo Plus

68ml by calculation, 70ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5

Foaming ability 4/5

Dwelling 2/5



Lots of suds here, very lubricated wash, my choice for wet sanding and clay due to the thick wash and high lubricity offered here. Not quite as long dwelling bit of a let down, however, this does perform very well as a normal wash shampoo.



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Chemical Guys big and tar wash

30ml by calculation, 25ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 5/5

Foaming ability 2/5

Dwelling 3/5



Bit of a wild card here, not a shampoo as such more of a stubborn mark remover, I decided to try this just for kicks, I took the strength down a notch as I didn't want to remove all the wax ! It actually performed better than some, very impressed. This would be ideal for the Pro or Hobby in the case that you have a heavily soiled vehicle, just sud it up and let it take the hard stuff off, since you would be restoring the dry paint anyway, handy size and not really a bad word against it.



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Well, this started a few weeks ago, I pm'd steve to ask him how I figure out what ratio of solution to put in my old Gilmour. I did something like this ages ago, refer to Foam Gun test with various shampoos - Autopia.org quite some years ago! I drew up an excel sheet so that I knew exactly how much I should put in my Gilmour running at 1:10.



First up



Hyper Wash

150ml by calculation, 150ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5 (score out of five?)

Foaming ability 3/5

Dwelling 2/5



Hyper wash is the uber dilution ratio of all washes, it is thick in consistency and I used hot water in the gilmour to get a more manageable wash solution. It is quite a lubricated wash and cleans well, it is not the best I have come across but the price of the product is tough to pass by. Thin suds left after, not a lot to be honest, it works but it is mid range.



Spraying

P1000204.jpg




After Dwell

P1000206.jpg




Meguiars Shampoo Plus

68ml by calculation, 70ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5

Foaming ability 4/5

Dwelling 2/5



Lots of suds here, very lubricated wash, my choice for wet sanding and clay due to the thick wash and high lubricity offered here. Not quite as long dwelling bit of a let down, however, this does perform very well as a normal wash shampoo.



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Chemical Guys maxi suds II

122ml by calculation, 100ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 4/5

Foaming ability 5/5

Dwelling 4/5



Ok we have a draw, this product was outstanding, super foam, dwelled nicely, nice sudsy wash, nice lubricity a well rounded wash solution, this is an excellent bucket wash performer too. It dwells on the rounded edge which I like as more of the harder dirt is down there so it dwells longer on the harder dirt! Great.



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Chemical Guys Cirtus wash and gloss

122ml by calculation, 100ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 4/5

Foaming ability 5/5

Dwelling 4/5



Its basically this easy, do you like yellow or pink, both the chemical guys products are excellent, the citrus may edge it on the fact that it is more glossy once it is rinsed and also it provides more suds on impact. So I would say if I had to choose this would be it!



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SIIIIMOOOOL Clear

166ml by calculation, 100ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5

Foaming ability 4/5

Dwelling 2/5



Ok so we have a top notch price here, good foam, good lube, nice fell to it, almost milky appearance, glossy, a very well rounded wash. I wasn't sure at first but the wash is certainly thick enough coming out of the bottle.



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Supagard Shampoo

203ml by calculation, 50ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 3/5

Foaming ability 4/5

Dwelling 2/5



Ok the further I got into this test, the more I realised that the solution was too thick, I was using too much shampoo for my very very soft water. So I reduced it with pleasant results. Not a fantastic shampoo for washing but seemed pretty good on the gilmour, but it just died not much left here.



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1z Perls

36ml by calculation, 60ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 4/5

Foaming ability 3/5

Dwelling 3/5



A good shampoo, nice and thick in the bottle, not much used in the gilmour compared to others, I was now experimenting with my results and being less scientific in my approach. This gave a nice foam and finished off with a nice gloss, not too different to say shampoo plus. Nice and lubed.



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1z Gloss

68ml by calculation, 60ml for the foam gun

Dwell time 5 mins

Cleaning ability 2/5

Foaming ability 3/5

Dwelling 2/5



A very thin wash, almost like CG bug and tar remover, nothing special, although I do like this as a wash, very nice to use.



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There ya go! Enjoy.
 
Re the CGW&G...wouldn't you be concerned that leaving that mixture on the paint for five minutes would erase the LSP? That is strong stuff.
 
rjom said:
Re the CGW&G...wouldn't you be concerned that leaving that mixture on the paint for five minutes would erase the LSP? That is strong stuff.
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CG Wash and Gloss? I dont think its strong, Bug and Wash is and that was only left to diminish, not something I would use on a protected car.
 
I have just done another wee test, newer shampoos.



Ok guys, here is the final instalment this time I am using the Foam Lance with a karcher. I have soft water so you may have to change the amount of shampoo used. Each product has about 5 minutes to dwell on the surface. The idea behind this is which product dwells the best, does it add anything to the paint, does it take away anything, is it a nice consistency etc.



This time I used hot water to evenly disperse the solution with the container, this should help with even dispensing, i.e. no globs or gloops.



The foam lance in general has better foaming properties and also with respect to the karcher £10 foamer and Gilmour the foam last longer, I feel both the karcher and gilmour add TOO much water even at 1:10 ratio on the gilmour, therefore I only use my gilmour for suds while actually washing the car.



The tools needed



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First up we have Hyper wash, I expelled one pump (30ml) but this didn't give the desired effect, so I put another pump in and we were good to go. I felt hyper wash was not lubed enough even at 60ml through the foam lance, which was strange considering the foam but when I felt the surface of the car it was sticking i.e. not allowing me to glide my hand over it.



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Next a favourite shampoo plus, very lubed wash, good size container one of my winter washes. Good foam, not as thick as hyper wash but a slicker feel to it. The actual shampoo is thinner in consistency so I wasn't really expecting it to cling to the paintwork for long. Good shampoo maybe just not geared up for a pre-wash. Did leave the paint brighter and glossier.



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Chemical guys wash n gloss, what can I say this is a real contender here excellent foam, excellent cleaning properties, nice and glossy, lubed wash, it ticks all the boxes. Still clinging on even after five minutes!



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Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II



Ok so same again, very good foamer, just lacks slightly in the finish, apart from that it is 2nd in this contest.



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Next up is a higher end shampoo zymol cleanse, not much to say, poor foam, poor longevity, poor slickness. Shame as I thought this might perform better in the foam lance.



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Now 1z perls shampoo, the monthly gloss enhancing shampoo from 1z. Promises quite a lot, very thin shampoo almost water like but it doesn't deliver the foam however it does help with the gloss and also leave some form of protection (good when Im testing all these shampoos!) You can see the protection forming on the windows, similar to a rinse aid. Didn't last long but I feel this would be good for a wax'd finish when using a bucket as it would enable water to sheet off easier.



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The final entry for today is 1z Exclusiv, the weekly shampoo, much better foaming, very nice smell too! Struggling to stick to the windows after 1z Perls. Left a nice glossy finish and didn't appear to strip the Perls protection so ideal for a soft nuba'd garage queen, since it isn't damaging the wax.



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Now I have put this aside, as I feel snowfoam isn't in the same category so it would be unfair to test side by side. Instead I tested snowfoam with the karcher foam gun, the foam lance and Gilmour foam gun.



Foam Lance



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After 5 Mins

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Karcher foam gun :(



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After Mins

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Gilmour



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After 5 Mins

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All that foam even with klass sg and collolnite 476s it struggled.



Ok so next one is the Autoglym consumer wash .



I used 4 ounces in the foam lance, about 7:1 I think.



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If you look to the left hand wing, I have zymol titanium on this, the soap can't even stick to it :LOLOL excellent !



It doesn't really clean very well, it is slick and would be fine in a bucket I imagine obviously just not suited to the foam lance.



Thanks, John. P.S. look at this for a beading shot !



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Any questions or if any manufacturers/members want me to try their shampoos of choice fire me a PM.



P.S. I have to add at this point, there is not SET way or SET dilution to use in your foam lance, my water is very very soft and so I can get away with lower dilution ratios. Finally, it's also just a bit of fun cos I had too much shampoo :lol:
 
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