Foam Gun + Z7
- Thread starter D Tailor
- Start date
imported_SHICKS
New member
Am I missing the point of a foam gun? I assume you still have to rinse your mitt. So does the detergent just sit on the paint until you wash the whole car? I am just not seeing the benefit.
Steve
Steve
imported_chpsk8
New member
SHICKS said:
Starts to lift the dirt off right away. Better than pre-rinse with water. Can be difficult on a hot day when you have to move fast.
My routine is to:
Foam rims and tires.
Hit tires with brush
Rinse
Foam all horizontal surfaces
Hit them with a mitt
Rinse
Foam passenger side
Hit with mitt
Rinse horizontal surfaces and passenger side
Foam Drivers side
Hit with mitt
Rinse entire car
Sounds like a lot, but its actually faster and the results seem to be better to me.
Now thats a big car or truck....
If you're talking about my Miata..
Foam entire car
Hit with Mitt
Rinse
Done.
Gotta love the tiny cars!
Accumulator
Well-known member
Or you can use the foamgun the way some of us do, to minimize wash-induced marring. But note that this makes the wash more difficult as opposed to easier. Makes the wash a bit of a chore, but it more than pays off IMO when you don't have to polish out any marring.
imported_Detailing Technology
New member
Accumulator said:
Which way is that?
jsatek said:
Foam gun in one hand, mitt in other, tripping over 2 buckets with ur feet!
Some guys have mastered the whole spray and "Scrub" which makes ur wash mitt feel like its gliding on ice when you wash. Foam small area, wash with mitt, and continue. Remeber to rinse your mitt often.
Accumulator
Well-known member
jsatek said:
It's a bit involved to go over in detail again, but generally I use a "dislodge and flush" approach where I have the foamgun in one hand and the mitt/BHB in the other. The foam is sprayed at the point where the mitt/bristles contact the paint, providing constant flushing and lubrication. I still rinse the mitt/BHB frequently and still use the two-bucket method.
The idea is to barely touch the wash media against the car and to flush the dirt away rather than wipe it across the panels. Done properly, you can wash for a long, long time without inducing any marring...I virtually never have to polish any "swirls"/"cobwebs" out any more- it's been over 2 years on the S8 and even my minivan (used hard in nasty weather) came through the last winter without any marring.
A less-marring-obsessed person could probably wash with only the foamgun and the BHB and be pretty satisfied with the results. At least it'd be better than the usual wash methods where a mitt picks up dirt from the first inch of paint and then acts like sandpaper for the rest of the trip across the panel.
Diesel1- Heh heh, ah, it's not that tricky...now my "mitt-balloon" method (where I shoot the foam through a chenille/MF mitt and barely touch the mitt against the car), well, that *does* take some effort
If anybody wants to look 'em up, there are a few threads where these techniques are discussed in greater detail.
slvr-bullet
New member
Is there a name for this technique so I can do a search?
I'd love to learn it Been doing the "Spray the car with h2o to wash off any dirt. Then work my way from top to bottom dunking the sponge every so often :scared:
I'd love to learn it
Been doing the "Spray the car with h2o to wash off any dirt. Then work my way from top to bottom dunking the sponge every so often :scared:Accumulator
Well-known member
I wish I had a perfect search key....I guess you could just look up foamgun threads with posts by me and/or Bill D.
Best advice I can give, *really*, is to think about this whole thing...what you're trying to accomplish is: move the dirt off the paint without pressing it against the paint. You want to minimize the possibility of marring and also minimize the severity of any marring that does occur. It's not rocket science, but it must be a bit trickier than people think or folks wouldn't be polishing out marring all the time.
Here's how I'd think it through:
Marring is caused by pressing something abrasive (e.g., dirt) against/into the paint and then moving the dirt *across* the paint. Don't do that and you won't cause marring. So the objective is to get the dirt off without pressing it into the paint.
Spraying on a pre-soak will allow for a more effective solvent action due to the extended dwell time, this will soften/dissolve some of the contamination and lessen its bond with the paint. Spraying foam/suds at the contact point- between the wash media and the paint- will provide lubrication and flushing so the dirt a) won't get pressed into the paint as much and b) won't stick to the wash media (turning it into sandpaper). Minimizing the contact pressure (e.g., with a BHB you'd barely press hard enough to bend the tips of the bristles) will lessen the likelihood that the dirt will get ground into the paint hard enough to mar it. Moving the wash media in tiny motions (e.g., jiggling the BHB instead of making big wiping motions) will ensure that any marring that does occur is tiny- you're only moving the BHB a fraction of an inch and a 1/4" scratch is better than a 12" one. Rinsing the wash media out frequently will minimize the likelihood that contamination will get moved from area to area. Washing an area several times, each time being so gentle that you don't cause marring, can be better than washing it once aggressively (which *might* cause marring). If dirt won't come off when with gentle washing, use fine clay to *VERY GENTLY* remove it- "very gently" being not pressing hard, doing single strokes at a time, kneading the clay after *every* contact with the paint, and again, not using big motions so that any marring that does occur is tiny.
Best advice I can give, *really*, is to think about this whole thing...what you're trying to accomplish is: move the dirt off the paint without pressing it against the paint. You want to minimize the possibility of marring and also minimize the severity of any marring that does occur. It's not rocket science, but it must be a bit trickier than people think or folks wouldn't be polishing out marring all the time.
Here's how I'd think it through:
Marring is caused by pressing something abrasive (e.g., dirt) against/into the paint and then moving the dirt *across* the paint. Don't do that and you won't cause marring. So the objective is to get the dirt off without pressing it into the paint.
Spraying on a pre-soak will allow for a more effective solvent action due to the extended dwell time, this will soften/dissolve some of the contamination and lessen its bond with the paint. Spraying foam/suds at the contact point- between the wash media and the paint- will provide lubrication and flushing so the dirt a) won't get pressed into the paint as much and b) won't stick to the wash media (turning it into sandpaper). Minimizing the contact pressure (e.g., with a BHB you'd barely press hard enough to bend the tips of the bristles) will lessen the likelihood that the dirt will get ground into the paint hard enough to mar it. Moving the wash media in tiny motions (e.g., jiggling the BHB instead of making big wiping motions) will ensure that any marring that does occur is tiny- you're only moving the BHB a fraction of an inch and a 1/4" scratch is better than a 12" one. Rinsing the wash media out frequently will minimize the likelihood that contamination will get moved from area to area. Washing an area several times, each time being so gentle that you don't cause marring, can be better than washing it once aggressively (which *might* cause marring). If dirt won't come off when with gentle washing, use fine clay to *VERY GENTLY* remove it- "very gently" being not pressing hard, doing single strokes at a time, kneading the clay after *every* contact with the paint, and again, not using big motions so that any marring that does occur is tiny.
slvr-bullet
New member
Ok, I'm having some trouble with Z7 and the foam gun. I have the small bottle (quart) and I'm not getting the great foaming action that some of you others are getting. It seems like there's not enough "soap".
On the Z7 bottle it says 2-3 cap fulls to a gallon of water but I added 3 cap fulls to about half a bottle of water of the foam gun thinking that this must make it more foamier. It did a little but not like what I've seen in the forum. I shook the bottle too and used the lowest and second lowest setting/mixture "hole".
Is there something I'm doing wrong?
On the Z7 bottle it says 2-3 cap fulls to a gallon of water but I added 3 cap fulls to about half a bottle of water of the foam gun thinking that this must make it more foamier. It did a little but not like what I've seen in the forum. I shook the bottle too and used the lowest and second lowest setting/mixture "hole".
Is there something I'm doing wrong?
-Lebowski-
New member
Totally, I can never go back to bucket washing again.Derf said:
there's a billion ways to use the foamgun. Accumulator is particularly anal with his foamgun wash, 
I am 97% sure my way is preventing marring too
My way is 1 bucket of clean water, foam the whole car down for a presoak. Hit the mitt for about 5 seconds with the foamgun on both sides to get it "primed". Then, hit the panel you're about to wash with the foamgun good, wipe it down with the mitt. After you finish a side, agitate the mitt in the clean water very well to rinse any dirt and smutz out of the mitt. Repeat the priming process of the mitt and do another panel.
With this method, I don't see any new marring and I've never detected any lubricity problems. If you go slow or pause on a panel, just hit it again with a quick shot of foam before wiping with the mitt.
Also, after I'm done washing all panels I like to give a good FOAM RINSE before doing a flood rinse. My theory here is that the foam will lift and carry away any of the dirt sill hanging around in any suds before the rinse.
I am 97% sure my way is preventing marring too
My way is 1 bucket of clean water, foam the whole car down for a presoak. Hit the mitt for about 5 seconds with the foamgun on both sides to get it "primed". Then, hit the panel you're about to wash with the foamgun good, wipe it down with the mitt. After you finish a side, agitate the mitt in the clean water very well to rinse any dirt and smutz out of the mitt. Repeat the priming process of the mitt and do another panel.
With this method, I don't see any new marring and I've never detected any lubricity problems. If you go slow or pause on a panel, just hit it again with a quick shot of foam before wiping with the mitt.
Also, after I'm done washing all panels I like to give a good FOAM RINSE before doing a flood rinse. My theory here is that the foam will lift and carry away any of the dirt sill hanging around in any suds before the rinse.
-Lebowski-
New member
My process is the same as your to a T with the exception if its very dirty I will use two bucket for rinsing and will change it half way through. I also use a rather high concentration of soap, prolly at least 6 ozs each time.autobahn said:there's a billion ways to use the foamgun. Accumulator is particularly anal with his foamgun wash,
I am 97% sure my way is preventing marring too
My way is 1 bucket of clean water, foam the whole car down for a presoak. Hit the mitt for about 5 seconds with the foamgun on both sides to get it "primed". Then, hit the panel you're about to wash with the foamgun good, wipe it down with the mitt. After you finish a side, agitate the mitt in the clean water very well to rinse any dirt and smutz out of the mitt. Repeat the priming process of the mitt and do another panel.
With this method, I don't see any new marring and I've never detected any lubricity problems. If you go slow or pause on a panel, just hit it again with a quick shot of foam before wiping with the mitt.
Also, after I'm done washing all panels I like to give a good FOAM RINSE before doing a flood rinse. My theory here is that the foam will lift and carry away any of the dirt sill hanging around in any suds before the rinse.
slvr-bullet
New member
slvr-bullet said:
Anyone????