[LuvMyE92]

So it seems that everyone in every "car washing" video has a foam cannon. Everyone but me.

Now, I wash my cars weekly, so there's a lot of washing going on around here, and they're usually not too dirty when I do wash them; it's usually spurred by a day of rain or this time of year, a crapload of pollen.

I don't intrinsically understand the benefit of these foaming soap things, other than that it looks really cool when the entire car is covered... but I can't wash the entire car before some of the soap starts to dry. So I usually do it in sections, especially in the summer when it's warm/hot and often there's some direct sun as well. I use very soapy water, and a microfiber spongey thing.

Can someone educate me, or is it just another one of those gimmicks?

[CarsAndGuitars]

I've been using one - not for every wash - for only about a year, but have been serious about detailing my cars for many years. It is not a gimmick.

The idea is that some (most?) of the contaminants are loosened and carried away by the foam, rather than being rubbed into your clearcoat with your wash media. If your car is regularly washed (like mine are) there is not as much benefit since there is less dirt to damage your finish - but it can't hurt and is still just as fun. My process:

I use Meguiar's Hyper-wash, approx 3-4oz into the foam cannon reservoir.

First, rinse down the car, apply foam, starting with roof / hood and work down to vertical panels. Get full coverage including wheels. Allow the foam to dwell 5-10 minutes, depending on heat / sun (I am in S. Florida), then rinse thoroughly.

Here, I will either continue with my regular 2 bucket wash process or just reapply any remaining foam and agitate with a wash mitt and rinse.

[diirk]

The foam cannon has been pretty handy for me. I just make sure to wash early in the morning before it gets hot, rinse, then pull it into the garage to dry off out of the sun. This has worked well for me.
As for the foam cannon itself, it seems to help remove the grime where I'm pretty much just foaming the car, letting it sit for a few minutes, rinsing it off then drying it. Only the wheels are really getting any more attention than that.

[Theruleslawyer]

It gets soap on the car without rubbing anything. That give it a chance to break down whatever is on the car before you touch it with a rag.

I usually pressure wash to remove anything big and loose. Foam it and let it sit for a minute. Pressure wash again. If it was just road spray and well waxed, that's all you need sometimes. Otherwise proceed to refoam and go at it with your wash mitt.

If you already have a pressure washer you really should have one.

[dreamingat30fps]

I have one with a small electric pressure washer. Unless I'm washing the truck I don't even bother to take it out anymore. I was hoping I could wash the cars without having to srub them, has never worked. The foam and pressure alone never removes all the dirt. So it just ends up being and extra step. Since I'm not as OCD as some people about my cars I just pretty much do a regular wash. Maybe if it was super dirty and caked in mud or something... but I almost never let them get that dirty.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Haha yeah, so this is IMO a pretty debated topic and a lot of times it's really based on preference you know.

Do you need one? I would say no, not at all even for safe washing and to have no swirls. I'd say the main thing about foam cannons is they are fun. And arguably can help loosen more stuff.. But it's also going to depend on your soap, if you use a soap designed for foam cannons with high cleaning (usually a higher PH) that will do a lot of work for example CarPro Lift or Koch Chemie have some to. But since I personally prefer more doing more rinse less washes my foam cannon has not been used as much.

But also from your post I might understand you clean your cars maybe with just 1 bucket anyways and swirl prevention isn't that important? Is your car polished and all that? If not then I can see a foam cannon helping you out in speeding your whole process. Foam, touch with your mitt and rinse. But if doing 2 bucket wash with the usual proper ways, foam cannon IMO seems to actually slow my time down without providing many benefits, unless of course using a higher PH soap like Lift mentioned previously for a "pre-wash" on like a really caked on car.

[LuvMyE92]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

But also from your post I might understand you clean your cars maybe with just 1 bucket anyways and swirl prevention isn't that important? Is your car polished and all that?

LOL, good point. I consider myself (just ask my wife!) pretty OCD but I can't hold a candle to a lot of "detailing enthusiasts" as I call them, with their 27-bucket method that uses 6 different kinds of towels and takes a day and a half if they don't stop to eat or sleep.

One bucket works fine, the cars (and the wash water) are never really dirty enough to worry about, and since these are all drivers, left outside at work and used regardless of the weather, they do develop some swirls in the paint from my frequent washing and drying.

And yes, they do get polished but it's more of a semi-annual clay and wax regimen with only occasional polishing as needed on really bad horizontal surfaces. If I polished my cars every time they "needed it" I'd end up with nothing but primer after a few years.

[chicagob5]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

One bucket works fine

Hopefully this doesn't come off the wrong way but based on this comment alone, I'd say you can probably not worry about getting a foam cannon. If you don't care enough to use the 2 bucket method, you likely won't care enough about the benefits of foaming your car before you wash it to warrant the additional amount of soap you'll be using to get a decent foam.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

LOL, good point. I consider myself (just ask my wife!) pretty OCD but I can't hold a candle to a lot of "detailing enthusiasts" as I call them, with their 27-bucket method that uses 6 different kinds of towels and takes a day and a half if they don't stop to eat or sleep.

One bucket works fine, the cars (and the wash water) are never really dirty enough to worry about, and since these are all drivers, left outside at work and used regardless of the weather, they do develop some swirls in the paint from my frequent washing and drying.

And yes, they do get polished but it's more of a semi-annual clay and wax regimen with only occasional polishing as needed on really bad horizontal surfaces. If I polished my cars every time they "needed it" I'd end up with nothing but primer after a few years.

Okok, yeah I think at the end of the day it's going to be preference and like chicagob5 mentions to, how OCD you are about not preventing the swirls and if an additional step is worth it to you VS the amount of prevention it does.

Also another thing I like to do with the foam cannon step that is actually useful for me is I use the foam on the car to use my brush in intricate unpainted areas and emblems, although I tend to go back to my bucket to pick up more suds so yeah.. It's really just an accessory but it's fun to.

[Theruleslawyer]

Originally Posted by chicagob5

Hopefully this doesn't come off the wrong way but based on this comment alone, I'd say you can probably not worry about getting a foam cannon. If you don't care enough to use the 2 bucket method, you likely won't care enough about the benefits of foaming your car before you wash it to warrant the additional amount of soap you'll be using to get a decent foam.

Might as well get one of those foaming bushes like at the DIY car wash stalls.

[malvern_man]

I use a foam cannon to apply snow foam to my X5 every time I wash it. Snow foam is a pre wash and is designed to soften/loosen and remove a lot of the traffic film before you do your 2 bucket (with grit guards) contact wash.

Here's my X5 with the snow foam applied and dwelling before rinsing off.

[Pentland]

I use the one bucket method….

Mist rinse car to wet it with a unpowered hose. Power washers can “blast” grit across the car.
AutoGlym polar blast snow foam. Let it dwell while you wash the the wheels and rinse off.
Then AutoGlym polar wash snow foam. Use a lambs will wash pad rinsing after each panel in the one bucket of freshwater! I use this rather than a bucket with shampoo.
Rinse. Dry.
Seal and wax as required.

The less touching off the car the better.

[hufington]

I just started using the foam cannon and it is very useful to get rid of the dirt off of the car.
I am using MJJC Foam Cannon Pro v2 with 1.1 mm orifice nozzle on my pressure washer. I am not very picky with the detergent as any decent car wash detergent that is ph-neutral would do the trick. The foam cannon is especially helpful if you have intricate design wheels as you can cover almost all of the wheel outside and inside surface with the foam that would be a PITA to reach with a brush etc.
I cover the car with foam, leave 5 mins, then rinse. Then cover again and use a microfiber brush mitt with a long handle to agitate and clean the surface and then rinse again. Use a blower to dry.

[spazzz]

I will use foam with Iron-X snow foam to help decontaminate the paint but as far as using it a lot, not going to happen.
I got tired of soap in every crevice and trying to blast all the excess soap out of places that really shouldn't be blasted.
Spraying a car off with a pressure washer before washing is all I need.

I could see it coming in handy for soaking bug guts off the front end.
Just buy a cheap one, I did and it works great.
I did buy a MTM handle for wash time, I don't have to dangle the canister when I use it.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

LOL, good point. I consider myself (just ask my wife!) pretty OCD but I can't hold a candle to a lot of "detailing enthusiasts" as I call them, with their 27-bucket method that uses 6 different kinds of towels and takes a day and a half if they don't stop to eat or sleep.

One bucket works fine, the cars (and the wash water) are never really dirty enough to worry about, and since these are all drivers, left outside at work and used regardless of the weather, they do develop some swirls in the paint from my frequent washing and drying.

And yes, they do get polished but it's more of a semi-annual clay and wax regimen with only occasional polishing as needed on really bad horizontal surfaces. If I polished my cars every time they "needed it" I'd end up with nothing but primer after a few years.

I use 1 bucket (technically 2 if you count a separate bucket for wheels) and never had any issues. While most of my neighbors think I'm OCD I guess they haven't been on Youtube or forums.

Anyways typically the cars I'm more OCD about are usually small. When I had my Z4MR or the Model 3 or the Miata I can basically wash them with 2 passes. I get that shit real soapy and pass 1 is from the top down to around the mid door. One side for one side of the car, flip and do the other side of the car. Then I go back into the bucket and do the same from mid door down.

If its extra dirty way at the bottom, around the wheel wells etc I'll typically take care of that first with my wheel bucket before doing wheels. Then I blow it dry with my masterblaster and if I'm in the mood do ceramic boost detail spray with micro fiber.

I use to do 2 buckets way back when, but didn't feel it did much and I just didn't go into the bucket very often. I never really saw much of anything at the bottom of the water bucket when I was done.

That being said my cars are typically used (except the model 3) so they already come pre-swirled. I will typically polish them and what not when I first get them, but they are never perfect. I also tend to get colors that don't show swirls much. Right now the only car that's a PITA is the Cayenne that is black and shows everything. I had that one professionally polished when I got it and while it still has imperfections, I have not noticed it get any worse with my washing method.

[malvern_man]

Originally Posted by Pentland

I use the one bucket method….

Mist rinse car to wet it with a unpowered hose. Power washers can “blast” grit across the car.
AutoGlym polar blast snow foam. Let it dwell while you wash the the wheels and rinse off.
Then AutoGlym polar wash snow foam. Use a lambs will wash pad rinsing after each panel in the one bucket of freshwater! I use this rather than a bucket with shampoo.
Rinse. Dry.
Seal and wax as required.

The less touching off the car the better.

No need to mist rinse the car, the best way is to snow foam onto a dry car then let it dwell then rinse off.

There are far, far better snow foams on the market that Autoglym Polar Blast, even members on the Autoglym Users Group on FB moan about it.

The best way to use Polar Blast is either spray your lower panels with Autobrite Direct Citrus pre-wash/apc then Polar Blast over the top of it to increase the dwell time, or add 50ml of citrus pre-wash/apc to your Polar Blast mixture.

The only 2 decent products that Autoglym do are Polar Seal and Rapid Ceramic Spray.

If you want to try a decent snow foam then I can recommend Garage Therapy Snow Foam V2, Gyeon Foam, Autobrite Direct Magifoam and of course Bilt Hamber Auto Foam or the new Bilt Hamber Touch-Less.

What do you mean by....seal and wax as required...do you mean you use a spray on rinse off product such as Polar Seal.

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by malvern_man

No need to mist rinse the car, the best way is to snow foam onto a dry car then let it dwell then rinse off.

There are far, far better snow foams on the market that Autoglym Polar Blast, even members on the Autoglym Users Group on FB moan about it.

The best way to use Polar Blast is either spray your lower panels with Autobrite Direct Citrus pre-wash/apc then Polar Blast over the top of it to increase the dwell time, or add 50ml of citrus pre-wash/apc to your Polar Blast mixture.

The only 2 decent products that Autoglym do are Polar Seal and Rapid Ceramic Spray.

If you want to try a decent snow foam then I can recommend Garage Therapy Snow Foam V2, Gyeon Foam, Autobrite Direct Magifoam and of course Bilt Hamber Auto Foam or the new Bilt Hamber Touch-Less.

What do you mean by....seal and wax as required...do you mean you use a spray on rinse off product such as Polar Seal.

As I mentioned, I prefer to avoid the power at which a jet wash administered product can be applied on a dry car. It can blast grit which can scratch the paint.

ETTO for their chosen snow foams. You’ll get 1000s of different opinions on each one. IMHO the BH one is inferior. But there you go.
Regarding “the only 2 decent products AutoGlym do”, again that is your opinion, to which you are welcome, but SRP and aqua wax are fantastic products to name but 2 others. That said, that’s my view

As for seal and wax, I occasionally use polar seal but generally use 2 coats of Black light then Luminous Glow wax. I said as required as seals and waxes of different types in different environments last differing times.

[malvern_man]

Originally Posted by Pentland

As I mentioned, I prefer to avoid the power at which a jet wash administered product can be applied on a dry car. It can blast grit which can scratch the paint.

ETTO for their chosen snow foams. You’ll get 1000s of different opinions on each one. IMHO the BH one is inferior. But there you go.
Regarding “the only 2 decent products AutoGlym do”, again that is your opinion, to which you are welcome, but SRP and aqua wax are fantastic products to name but 2 others. That said, that’s my view

As for seal and wax, I occasionally use polar seal but generally use 2 coats of Black light then Luminous Glow wax. I said as required as seals and waxes of different types in different environments last differing times.

The BH one is inferior to what?

For a top up on your protection give SOFT99 Fukupika Spray Advance Strong Type a go, I'm very impressed with it, or SOFT99 Luxury Gloss mist and wipe spray wax, another brilliant Soft99 product.