How do you guys use your foam guns?

A

autobahn

New member
From what I've read by SEARCHING ( ;) ) people have different methods of washing with the foam gun.



Well, I just jumped into the fray and ordered up a foamgun yesterday. I'm wondering what people with foamgun's different wash techniques are.



I know the basic premise is to use the foamgun to presoak the car with suds and to apply soap with the foamgun rather than from a bucket. But I assume you still have to have a sudsy bucket to wash out the mitt and stuff. Is this the case?



Thanks guys :)
 
I use two buckets. One is a bucket of clean water to rinse out my mitt after I wash a panel. The other is a sudsy bucket. After rinsing the mitt, I get the mitt soapy and wash a panel. If the car is not too dirty, I use very little pressure--often, just the weight of the mitt itself as I glide over the panel I am washing. I never bear down on the mitt.



If the car is rather dirty, the rinse bucket will get dirty quickly. I often refill it, sometimes a couple of times. The cleaner the rinse water, the less chance you're gonna have dirt trapped in the mitt as you wash the next panel.



The foam from the gun helps to dislodge some of the dirt, and it makes for an easier pass with the mitt. The gun and the two buckets have helped me cut down greatly on the marring that I was inadvertantly applying to the car as I washed it.
 
Here's an abbreviated explanation of how I'm doing it these days:



-Rinse car off

-Spray some foam on panel

-Dunk BHB in shampoo bucket

-Wash panel with BHB while spraying suds through bristles at point where bristle tips contact paint. Move foamgun along length of BHB to evenly distribute suds, keep foaming the whole time BHB is in contact with panel. Don't press hard enough to really bend the bristles, barely touch the panel. Rinse BHB frequently if panel is dirty, don't try to wash the entire panel without cleaning/re-shampooing BHB at least once (numerous times for a large panel)



[EDIT: Merely "jiggle" the BHB across the panel, don't "swipe" with it in large arcs. If any marring *does* occur, the small motions of the "jiggling" will ensure that the marring is very tiny. A 1/4" flaw won't show up like a 4" one will]



-Rinse panel and inspect. If much dirt remains, repeat BHB/foamgun washing

-Dunk mitt in shampoo bucket. Fill mitt with shampoo mix and hold mitt shut at cuff

-Rewash panel with mitt and foamgun spraying suds at point where mitt contacts paint. Barely touch paint with mitt (don't scrub), rinse/re-shampoo mitt frequently (as soon as the shampoo drains out of it), don't try to do a whole panel without rinsing/re-shampooing mitt and keep mitt full of shampoo mix

-Rinse and inspect

-Repeat mitt/foamgun washing if necessary, re-rinse

-If any dirt doesn't come off, use Sonus green clay to remove it (work very gently and carefully), rewash with mitt (no need for foamgun) and rinse

-Move on to next panel
 
BHB = Boars Hair Brush?

Also how long does this was process usually take you? My foam gun should be here early next week and I'm looking forward to playing with it.



Andrew
 
If I'm not mistaken, I do believe that Accumulator takes a couple of hours on a wash. Bear in mind, he might just do the most thorough, paint-friendly wash on the planet.



My wash takes about 45 minutes, if I am just looking to wash and go. Sometimes a while longer, if I'm sweating a few extra items, or washing as the first step in a full detail.
 
2.5RS said:
BHB = Boars Hair Brush?
Click to expand...



Yep. I'm currently using the ones from Autogeek. That reminds me, I failed to mention how I use them. Recheck the previous post for the edit.



Also how long does this was process usually take you?
Click to expand...



You don't want to know :o If the car's basically clean I can do the whole wash/dry thing in about 90 minutes, but that's unusual. Washing usually takes me 2-3 hours, but a) I'm as careful as Hey, Moe implied and b) I do *everything*, even the undercarriage, every time I wash. But it's not like I dawdle, I work fast enough that it's aerobically demanding, and I'm in very good shape. Still, just doing all the nooks and crannies in a wheelwell can take quite a while, ditto for the areas around door hinges/etc.



I'd start with just trying to wash without marring the paint, taking as long as it takes. Then you can expand (undercarriage, etc.) or contract it (i.e., start cutting corners ;) ) until you find a happy medium that works for you.
 
15 minutes for my 06 Civic, not including some of the lingering water drips from the side view mirrors and such, and not including cleanup (emptying buckets, rollup hose, etc)



(1) Sheepskin Mitt

(2) Buckets - wash and rinse

(1) Foam Gun

(2) Green WW Towels

PB S&W

(1) Cobra Plush MF



1. Pre-soak front end of car and mirrors with Bug Squash (3:1 water to BS).

2. Wet car / rinse off excess dirt, grime and Bug Squash (back to front to allow BS to soak a little longer)

3. Spray entire car with foam (using liberal ratio of Meg's Gold to water)

4. Rinse foam off entire car

5. Wash 1 (small) section of car at a time as follows (section = 1/2 of hood, or 1/2 of a door, etc)

.....a. Spray foam on section

.....b. Carry as much suds on mitt from wash bucket.

.....c. Join mitt and foam gun foam together at surface of car and wash surface. Repleanish with suds and turn mitt over 1/2 through wash of this section.

.....d. Rinse section with water

.....e. Rinse rest of car with water

.....f. Rinse mitt in rinse water bucket

.....g. Move to next section of car and do 5a to 5f. When done with entire car, go to #6.

6. Flood rinse entire car from top down to encourage water sheeting off of surface

7. Dry off car by towel patting remaining water droplets

8. S&W all of car to assure no left over soap film
 
I douse the car with the foamgun, spray it off, then go to work panel by panel using the foamgun to soap and one 5 gallon bucket to rinse. I figure around 30 minutes a wash now, but atleast 10 of that is drying. If I get a CRspotless system (which I hopefully will in the near future), I should be able to cut it down to 20.



My method isn't quite "marring-free" like Accumulator's, but it's pretty low marring and I have been able to cut abrasiv polishing to twice a year on my daily driver. Theres something to be said for a better method though, I still polish twice a year and my car never sees winter.
 
So using just the foam gun to soap and just having a bucket full of clean water to rinse the mitt out after each panel would work?



I'm just looking for ways to cut down on wash time and complication without introducing too much marring.
 
Back when I had a beater that I couldn't even *dream* of getting marring-free I just used a greatly simplified method and it was quite satisfactory. Heh heh, there's something to be said for not spending ages on every wash!



autobahn- For what you're after, I'd use a (high quality) BHB instead of a mitt. The BHBs are *VERY* free-rinsing so spraying the suds through the bristles works great (dirt gets dislodged and flushed away instead of getting trapped as it usually does with a mitt). Use the "jiggle method" with it and I think you'll be happy. The foamgun/BHB combo is the best I've tried for ~quick washing but it works best with a healthy LSP that dirt won't stick to too tenaciously.



Using the right shutoff with the foamgun will make the whole thing go a lot faster and easier too, gotta find one that works easily one-handed so you can hold your wash media in the other hand. Being able to manipulate the on/off easily is downright invaluable IMO.
 
Accumulator, are you just NOT using the anti-siphon valve? Or maybe it fits into a gilmour brand plastic shut-off.



The first thing I did was strip down my foamer, take it all apart, clean the threads, parts, lol, insert inexpensive, plastic quick connects. Ended up with a enzo inspired plastic water pistol to brandish.



I used a long sweeping motion, doh, not sure if I created any new marring because the area I tried was already machine swirled to start with.



From talking to you before Accu-man, I think you had said to put a couple squirts in each qt. bottle. I have 3 qt bottle. So I can try different choices, or have back ups.



Oh, yeah, and getting the new bhb is similar to getting a new pet, but without the care and feeding. Somehow, mysteriously, I found a nice wire to hang the brush from while drying.
 
DuMouixe said:
Accumulator, are you just NOT using the anti-siphon valve? Or maybe it fits into a gilmour brand plastic shut-off.



The first thing I did was strip down my foamer, take it all apart, clean the threads, parts, lol, insert inexpensive, plastic quick connects. Ended up with a enzo inspired plastic water pistol to brandish.



I used a long sweeping motion, doh, not sure if I created any new marring because the area I tried was already machine swirled to start with...
Click to expand...



I really would quit the long sweeping motions, if you ever *do* get marring you'd hate to have a foot-long scratch to deal with.



While doing the field-stip of your foamgun, I hope you put a little LockTite on the threaded retaining plug at the end of the mixing valve rod. I had one unscrew and get lost, never did find it.



No anti-siphon valve on mine (with my boosted pressure back-flow siphoning isn't gonna happen). What anti-siphon are you talking about anyhow :confused: Do you mean the pistol-grip sprayer that comes on the foamgun? Sorry, you lost me here :o



I took it apart at the central quick disconnect, leaving the male part sticking out of the foamgun. I hook this into the female brass quick disconnect on the end of my hose (downstream from the shutoff valve which is attached via another pair of brass quick disconnects).



Be careful with the plastic quick disconnects, you'd hate for one to fail when the foamgun is over your hood ;)



The way I mix shampoo for the foamgun is to put ~5-6 pumps/ounces of shampoo in a gallon jug and fill with water. I then refill the foamgun from that.
 
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