Pressure washer and foam cannon

I bought myself some Christmas presents and decided to test it out. It's a portable electric pressure washer and a foam cannon. This works great for removing caked on dirt and road grime. Just spray the foam on, let it sit for 5 minutes or so, wash it off, then hand wash your truck like usual. This method of washing reduces scratches on your paint because the majority of the dirt is already removed from the foam soap and pressure washer. It's kind of hard to see the foam because my truck is already white, but it's awesome!
http://youtu.be/dCohtW4kjSY

 

Thats cool. Where do you get it?

Looks cold.

 

Want

 

Yes, please.

 

I got the foam cannon at this place: The pressure washer is an AR Blue Clean electric pressure washer I got off Amazon:

AR Blue Clean AR118 1500 PSI 1.5 GPM Hand Carry Electric Pressure Washer

http://www.amazon.com/AR-AR118-Electric-Pressure-Washer/dp/B003B6KQZE

 

Foam cannons are a lot cheaper on Amazon

$70 MTM Hydro Car Wash Sprayer for Car Wash Foam Pressure Washer Attachment Pump Dispenser Foam Lance Adjustable with 32 oz. Bottle

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-...F8&qid=1356451345&sr=8-2&keywords=foam+cannon

 

That's where I got mine. Very high quality.

 

Didn't know they sold them on Amazon. Damn, that's like half off!

 

Works good, but you still need to agitate the surface in order to get it totally clean. It helps a lot to remove the majority of the dirt and grime though.

 

Nice stuff man! if y'all dont want to use the foam cannon and pressure washer setup you can always just go with a . just plug into your water hose and achieve the same thing!

 

The foam is an excellent tool.
However, I would not pressure wash the foam off. Pressuring that dirt and mud into your paint can and will scratch it.
After foam, remove with a light spray and then move it up to medium pressure.

You should be gently removing contaminants, not forcing them into the paint

 

I know this is an old thread. But I really like this unit.

What type of soap is used?

 

Chemical Guys Honeydew snow foam.

 

Thnx

 

Continued bump of an old thread.

How realistic is it to expect a somewhat clean truck result if I were to only foam cannon, let soak, and then rinse off the truck? Theoretically this process, sans hand wash, would be akine to a touchless (soap/foam/spray/rinse only) drivethrough car wash.

I ask because I don't wash my truck regularly, but I like the concept of the foam cannon/pressure washer. What I don't like is that utilizing the foam cannon/pressure washer method, you still have to hand wash the vehicle.

I fully recognize and agree that from time to time a hand wash is necessary, but for the casual washer, would the foam cannon/pressure washer only method be a worthwhile investment?

 

That's my routine. I use the pressure washer to remove most of the dirt.

I expect the foam cannon will enhance how well the pressure wash rinse will work. Hopefully this lengthens the number if pressure washes before I need to do a deep hand wash.

 

It depends.

On a vehicle with no outer protection such as a sealer or coating, will likely hang onto dirt and debris more than a car with a quality sealer or coating.

The blast and rinse method is good for getting salt off your truck in the winter. Dirt doesn’t harm your paint, so if that hangs around who cares, your main goal is to get the corrosive salt off.

Heres the thing though, if you do not wash the truck with a mitt and a two bucket method YOU CANNOT DRY THE TRUCK WITH TOWELS. The truck will still be dirty and any attempt to dry will result in a lot of swirling.

I’m going to assume you do not have a water filtration system to give your truck a spot free rinse (ie removal of all minerals and salts in the water).

So really if you want to use this method it’s fine but your stuck if you don’t have access to filtered water (or youll get calcium build up on the paint and glass).

So its probably easier to just take the truck to the quarter wash and use their spotless rinse.
The issue I have with the quarter places is typically you are stuck with their soaps that strip sealers and waxes...

So in essence there is no way yo be lazy about autocare. Short of being rich and paying a pro detailer to wash the truck for you properly on a regular basis lol


A little aside, my dad is lazy like this. I went with him in his Porche Carerra 911 (dark grey metallic) to take his car through the quarter wash.
He blasted it down, rinsed, then pulled the car out into the parking lot and pulled out old bath towels from his trunk and started wiping the car down. The beige towels were BLACK after a single swipe on the lower door panels.
Needless to say I nearly had a stroke.



Use a gas powered leaf blower to dry... while it will still scratch the paint its probably better than hand drying.

 

The main thing the foam cannon is good for is wasting soap. Personally I spend more time using an electric pressure washer to get most of the dirt off. You really need to touch the vehicle with a mitt(s) or microfiber towel(s). Use more than one of either or both.

The foam cannon and two bucket method are a couple of techniques that I'm starting to find are overrated steps.

Now replacing the foam cannon for the soap bucket I'm finding may be a better technique. Working in panels or sections of vehicle. I use the pressure washer to spray out the wash mitt, hence not needing a dirty water bucket. Use extra mitts and or towels if you're paranoid about scratching.

Leave the buckets for collecting the ditry wash mitts and carrying your wash supplies.

 

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Being as this is the Detailing section, I should have anticipated responses from folks that are more enthusiastic about cleaning vehicles than myself.

I don't currently use a 2 bucket method, I don't wax or seal anything, and the only thing that gets towel dried after a wash in my house are beings with a pulse. Truly, I don't ever see myself utilizing any of those either.

My original inquiry was inspired more out of laziness rather than a desire for the best possible car wash methodology. By no means am I knocking those that enjoy a clean vehicle and pursue that end goal vigorously, I just recognize that isn't me.

 

You only use about 1oz of soap in a foam cannon. I waste more in my bucket.

Foam cannons conserve soap, they don’t waste.