Foam guns / cannons

Skelly · July 18, 2016

Is a foam gun / foam cannon a good investment? I'm wondering if using one can replace physically touching the vehicle with a wash mitt and avoid possible swirls, or is it just used to apply the soap and then you go over it with a wash mitt?

txab · July 19, 2016

Used to apply a thick layer of foam. You still need to use a high quality mitt and use the at the very least a 2 bucket wash system to avoid grit contamination

Tony Bianco · July 19, 2016

Is a foam gun / foam cannon a good investment? I'm wondering if using one can replace physically touching the vehicle with a wash mitt and avoid possible swirls, or is it just used to apply the soap and then you go over it with a wash mitt?

^^^^

This.

LTZDaddy · July 19, 2016

A Foam Cannon with just a basic 1700 PSI electric pressure washer not only will help you clean better but it'll actually help you save shampoo. I use less shampoo in my foam cannon than I do in my buckets. And I always use dedicated two bucket method. I even have 2 Grit Guards in in each bucket.

Of course I also have GG in my wheel bucket but that's another story. LOL

The truth is if all you do it wash off a little regular road dust then absolutely you can clean it and never touch it... I do it all the time. I've been doing it for years.

Full disclosure here however is that you need a good quality foam.

The best I've found so far is Meguiars Hyper Wash. I also use Chemical Guys Mr. Pink and Chemical Guys Honeydew, plus I usr Duragloss 901 because it has a bit of slickness to it.

Beyond that however under the Heading of ***full disclosure**" is you you need either a very good sealant or better yet a coating on the paint to be able to wash and dry it without touching it.

And getting it clean of course. ;)

Once the coating is on it however I'll take the little pressure washer and knock the dust off then I'll foam it, let it dwell, rinse it with the pressure washer, foam again, then do another rinse with the pressure washer followed by a flood rinse with the water hose.

After that take your 12 amp leaf blower or your Master Blaster and you can dry 99% of all the water off of that thing faster, easier, and better by blow drying it than you can with a towel... (make that multiple towels) and never have to lay a hand on it. VBG

The key however (as I mentioned above) is to have it either a good coating (first) OR a quality sealant (second) so that the surface is as hydrophobic as you can get it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Skelly · July 19, 2016

A Foam Cannon with just a basic 1700 PSI electric pressure washer not only will help you clean better but it'll actually help you save shampoo. I use less shampoo in my foam cannon than I do in my buckets. And I always use dedicated two bucket method. I even have 2 Grit Guards in in each bucket.

Of course I also have GG in my wheel bucket but that's another story. LOL

The truth is if all you do it wash off a little regular road dust then absolutely you can clean it and never touch it... I do it all the time. I've been doing it for years.

Full disclosure here however is that you need a good quality foam.

The best I've found so far is Meguiars Hyper Wash. I also use Chemical Guys Mr. Pink and Chemical Guys Honeydew, plus I usr Duragloss 901 because it has a bit of slickness to it.

Beyond that however under the Heading of ***full disclosure**" is you you need either a very good sealant or better yet a coating on the paint to be able to wash and dry it without touching it.

And getting it clean of course. ;)

Once the coating is on it however I'll take the little pressure washer and knock the dust off then I'll foam it, let it dwell, rinse it with the pressure washer, foam again, then do another rinse with the pressure washer followed by a flood rinse with the water hose.

After that take your 12 amp leaf blower or your Master Blaster and you can dry 99% of all the water off of that thing faster, easier, and better by blow drying it than you can with a towel... (make that multiple towels) and never have to lay a hand on it. VBG

The key however (as I mentioned above) is to have it either a good coating (first) OR a quality sealant (second) so that the surface is as hydrophobic as you can get it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Thanks for the write up!

A few questions. Since the foam/soap is coming straight out of the cannon, the 2 buckets are both filled with rinse water?

I definitely like the idea of a leafblower to dry the truck without touching it, (one more thing to spend money on ), but if I were to use towels to dry, I'm guessing that you would recommend using a wash mitt while washing to avoid any possible left over gritt that the drying towel could pick up and drag across the surface?

What are your thoughts on drying blades/ squeegies?

I've used Collinite 845 which I've been told is kind of a sealant/wax hybrid. Very hydrophobic however water is starting not to bead already after a few weeks, even though I read everywhere before I bought it that it last months. Seems to be only on the hood though... I don't know if its the the soap I'm using to wash my truck ( Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax) that is stripping the Collinite or what the problem is, I'm going to apply more in the next couple days but I understand what you're saying about the importance of a good sealant when using a foam cannon. Thanks again and thanks in advance if you can answer these questions!

USCGRetiredJosh · July 19, 2016

Don't waste your money on big brand foam cannons!!!!! i got this one and it does the same thing as the big brand ones.

https://www.amazon.com/DUSICHIN-SFL-001-Pressure-Release-Adjustable/dp/B00WPKHFA6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468943862&sr=8-3&keywords=snow+lance

I have an electric pressure washer and this foam cannon it works great. I use Adams polishes products with it.

Skelly · July 19, 2016

Don't waste your money on big brand foam cannons!!!!! i got this one and it does the same thing as the big brand ones.

https://www.amazon.com/DUSICHIN-SFL-001-Pressure-Release-Adjustable/dp/B00WPKHFA6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468943862&sr=8-3&keywords=snow+lance

I have an electric pressure washer and this foam cannon it works great. I use Adams polishes products with it.

Oh trust me I'm all about amazon! That's the exact one I was looking at lol. If there are hundreds of 5 star reviews for a product 1/5 the price of a name brand, I am getting it! I'm looking at a Sun Joe electric pressure washer (2030 psi) for 150$ which I think is a killer deal. What brand are you using?

USCGRetiredJosh · July 19, 2016

I have the same pressure washer. Make sure you check the used prices, I got mine on an Amazon warehouse deal and saved some money. It came brand new in the box never opened and it was listed as having box damage.

On the pressure washer quick disconnect fitting, make sure its snug. My Oring split and I put some teflon tape on the threads and no leaks since.

A pic of that step up foaming my wifes 4runner

Skelly · July 19, 2016

I have the same pressure washer. Make sure you check the used prices, I got mine on an Amazon warehouse deal and saved some money. It came brand new in the box never opened and it was listed as having box damage.

On the pressure washer quick disconnect fitting, make sure its snug. My Oring split and I put some teflon tape on the threads and no leaks since.

A pic of that step up foaming my wifes 4runner

Sweet will do. You need to hit that basketball hoop next!

What's your process when using the foam cannon?

USCGRetiredJosh · July 19, 2016

The basketball hoop is gone now. I spray wheel wells first with pressure washer and then foam the vehicle and the wash with a pad.

Skelly · July 19, 2016

The basketball hoop is gone now. I spray wheel wells first with pressure washer and then foam the vehicle and the wash with a pad.

Ok. Did you have the problem I'm reading about with the cheap plastic connector?

USCGRetiredJosh · July 19, 2016

Which connector? I haven't had any issues with the pressure washer. Only issue with the foam cannon was the oring splitting at the qd connector, which was fixed with Teflon tape.

Skelly · July 20, 2016

Which connector? I haven't had any issues with the pressure washer. Only issue with the foam cannon was the oring splitting at the qd connector, which was fixed with Teflon tape.

I read a bunch of reviews where people had problems with the female connector where the hose goes into the pressure washer. Apparently it's really flimsy plastic and the stress from the hose being pulled in another direction can strip it easily. Easy fix with a brass connector though

LTZDaddy · July 20, 2016

Thanks for the write up!

A few questions. Since the foam/soap is coming straight out of the cannon, the 2 buckets are both filled with rinse water?

I definitely like the idea of a leafblower to dry the truck without touching it, (one more thing to spend money on ), but if I were to use towels to dry, I'm guessing that you would recommend using a wash mitt while washing to avoid any possible left over gritt that the drying towel could pick up and drag across the surface?

What are your thoughts on drying blades/ squeegies?

I've used Collinite 845 which I've been told is kind of a sealant/wax hybrid. Very hydrophobic however water is starting not to bead already after a few weeks, even though I read everywhere before I bought it that it last months. Seems to be only on the hood though... I don't know if its the the soap I'm using to wash my truck ( Meguiar's Ultimate Wash & Wax) that is stripping the Collinite or what the problem is, I'm going to apply more in the next couple days but I understand what you're saying about the importance of a good sealant when using a foam cannon. Thanks again and thanks in advance if you can answer these questions!

,

The 2BM (two bucket method) is where you'll have one with rinse, the other with soapy (water). You also want Grit Guards in ALL your buckets. You want to dedicate your wheel bucket to just that job and DARE ANYONE to use your soap or rinse buckets for anything but what they are labeled for. LOL

I actually use 2 Grit Guards in both my soap and rinse buckets, turned at 45° to one another and fastened to each other with small wire ties. (You go to the bottom of the fins and drill two ¼" holes in all the fins (of all your Grit Guards). Then you take hot glue and a sliding fishing weight and glue it into 4 of those holes to keep the Grit Guard from floating. Then on the ones where you use 2 Grit Guards you use the hole(s) to attach the top unit to the bottom one.) ;)

When shopping for a leaf blower look at the CFM rating first. There are plenty of 12amp (and now even battery powered ones) that give a speed rating in MPH. That can be misleading as you can get fast air out of a small opening, but not move much air through that opening. So what you want is the highest CFM at the highest MPH you can find.

Actually I'm thinking about rigging up 2 blowers and a plenum with PVC, then using a long hose and put my nozzles on the end. Even with two $80 blowers and some hardware it won't cost as much as one of the Metrovac / Master Blaster products. ;)

Collinite 845 is pretty good stuff.

Losing a bit of beading doesn't mean it's not still protecting however. We've had this discussion regarding coatings on a few forums. Some just don't bead, others do nothing BUT bead. (And tout things such as slip angles.) Actually if you could find a product that has excellent sheeting properties and didn't bead AT ALL, you'd get better protection from water drops. This is why I mentioned rinsing with only the hose between the pressure washing rinses etc. By using the hose, and a medium flowing stream, you can get better surface tension, and get more water to leave the surface, leaving less beads behind.

Back a couple years ago I had a problem with my daughters brand new Sportage as well as my Infiniti on a family vacation to St. Augustine. I had put the Duragloss coating on both, and we woke up one morning to find that the sprinklers had ran overnight. That water, that HORRIBLE calcium loaded, extremely hard, well water had hit the left side and tops of both vehicles (as well as her husbands parents CX-9). It left white circles and white streaks down the left side of both vehicles. I was PISSED! I keep an entire box of QD sprays, glass cleaner, even some rinseless wash products in my car (as well as a couple dozen quality microfiber towels) and NOTHING would touch the calcium damage. Couldn't even get it off with your fingernails. I ended up having to buff both vehicles to remove it.

Now did that help or hurt the paint?

I can say that no long lasting discoloration was present in either vehicles paint. Hers is Black Cherry metallic, and mine is solid red (BC/CC). But both had to be polished to remove the damage. Albeit not a heavy compounding session, just a medium cut pad with some Menzerna FF-4000 and it was new again. BUT.... I had to put another coating on it. (Put a sealant on hers.)

As for the right shampoo....

As I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of Meguiar's Hyperwash, along with CG Mr. Pink and CG Honeydew, plus Duragloss 901 (902 in the gallon container). Poorboys is coming out with a purple shampoo (that's in beta now that I've tested) that smells like grape and is pretty good as well.

I've had discussions with folks about whether or not they dilute their shampoo before putting it in a foam cannon. I'd FORGET about dilution in a foam gun completely as they just don't foam like the cannon(s).

I find that I use less shampoo, and get FAR BETTER foam by not diluting it at all. I'll just put it straight into the bottle and use maybe an 1"~1½" foaming the vehicle twice. ;) If I dilute it say 50/50 I'll use half a bottle trying to get the right foam mix with 2 trips of foaming and rinsing.

Still haven't buffed and coating the new truck yet. Had a major lightning strike Saturday and just got internet back yesterday. STILL finding new things not working around the house. Lost most of my home theater rack, damage to 2 TV's, garage door systems, invisible dog fencing (it was blown out of the ground and all the copper wire VANISHED, then the transmitter in the shop was blown apart), antenna preamp in the attic, computer, ALL my home network gear, a 12K hot tub, and as of last night.... my main AC condenser.

So yeah... the truck is having to hold it's own about now. ;)

But its at least got a coat of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Spritz Sealant on it (for now).

Hope that helps.