Foam Guns (Gilmour)

O

oak3x

New member
Never used a foam gun. I am just curious how much water pressure is despursed from the foam gun. Does it simply provide a soapy application to the car, or does is act more like a pressure washer (to remove the dirt)?



I am looking to purchase a foam / wash gun to apply the soap with enough force to remove the dirt, so I then can simply rinse the car off with water. I would like to eliminate the use of a wash mit.



Any insight to the brand and results you have achieved would be greatly appreciated!



Thank you Autopia members for your help!
 
Foam guns are not going to make the pressure of the water from the hose increase at all. I suggest a power washer if you want something with a little more power to blast dirt off.
 
If you want to blast dirt off you need a pressure washer. I think the idea behind the foam gun is to supply a wash foam to loosen the dirt so it will be easier to remove. So you can not just foam gun the car then rinse it and expect it to be clean. It requires a little effort by washing with a good mitt.
 
I'd be extremely cautious if you wish to blast the dirt off the car :eek: with a pressure washer. If it is that dirty, the chance for marring is greatly increased. It's safer to use the foam gun and wash the car a few times until it gets completely clean and the use of many mitts is even more of a good idea in this case.
 
I never use my pressure washers for this, but Karcher makes a foamer attachment for them.



I'd rather use a foamgun and a gentle wash media (probably a BHB) to clean a very dirty vehicle. Much harder than using a pressure washer though...
 
I'm never going to use a pressure washer on a car again. Pre-autopian I decided to pressure wash my old chrysler concorde. i came upon a spot that wouldnt come off, so what would any fool do? I got right up on the spot and got it off! The paint included... :( This has just scared me ever since.



With using multiple mitts, a foam gun, and alot of time, you can completely wash a dirty vehicle with little to no marring whatsoever. Besides, do you really want to go off and forcefully blast dirt against the paint with a pressure washer?
 
Yeah, I recently had to caution a pro here (a guy who usually doesn't need *any* advice from me!) about using the pressure washer...blowing the paint/trim off a vehicle can be an irrevocable mistake. Sometimes exterior trim isn't as firmly attached as you'd think and you won't know until it's too late.



Also, a few years ago there was a big fuss about using them to clean wheels. People were messing up the seating/beads of their tires by hitting the seam between the wheels and the tires.
 
Accumulator said:
I never use my pressure washers for this, but Karcher makes a foamer attachment for them.



I'd rather use a foamgun and a gentle wash media (probably a BHB) to clean a very dirty vehicle. Much harder than using a pressure washer though...
Click to expand...



Waht is your take on the Karcher foamer attachment ? do you think it is gentle enough ?
 
I don't know enough about it to venture an opinion. If I *had* to guess I'd assume it's gentle enough and that it would work OK for a presoak but would not work too well as a touchless wash for a truly dirty car.
 
Accumulator said:
I don't know enough about it to venture an opinion. If I *had* to guess I'd assume it's gentle enough and that it would work OK for a presoak but would not work too well as a touchless wash for a truly dirty car.
Click to expand...





Thanks for your view, I use QEW for customers cars and was thinking of maybe grabing the foaming attachment for my Karcher. never used it on a car but wondered if the foamer would help pretreat a real dirty car before QEW. hmmmm might have to check into this :think: . anybody use the Karcher foamer in this manner ?
 
A power washer is not what I am considering.



I read the description of the Gilmour Wash Gun, which has twice the water output as the Gilmour Foam Gun. The Wash Gun produces 3 gallons per minute. Again, I want to try to eliminate using a Wash Mit.



The car is mostly in the garage, so dust (and light road dirt) are the main colprits. Figured, I could spray the car with the Wash Gun (and a mild shampoo), then blow dry with the Metro Vac.



Here's the link for the Gilmour Wash Gun



http://www.gilmour.com/Cleaning_Maintenance/Washguns/washgun.asp
 
Ah, that's the one without the brass mechanism. The foam gun with the all brass one is preferred for durability and reliability reassurances. If you do go with that one, get the one with the multi ratio mixer.
 
Accurately mixes non foaming cleaners or sanitizers with water as you spray

its even diferent than the plastic foam gun

the simple green foam gun came with that wash gun nozzle also
 
oak3x, that wash gun nozzle comes with the foam gun. Although it's a nice idea, and one I tried, I found that you can't really get to a "touchless" wash with the foamgun, the road film really doesn't come off without mechanical agitation. What you can get away with, is a touchless pollen washoff with the foam gun, particularly with a DI rinse.
 
oak3x- I've tried the washer nozzle (in place of the foaming nozzle) on mine, it didn't make a favorable impression on me at all and I even have boosted water pressure. I'm pretty certain that it won't work well for what you're considering. Sorry, but I'd hate for you to get one and be disappointed. FWIW, you really can wash without any marring (assuming that's your goal, if not "never mind" :D ) using the foamgun with mitts. My "mitt balloon" technique is something I wouldn't hesitate to use on the softest black lacquer.



If anything, I'd get a foamgun that also comes with that nonfoaming nozzle, that way you'd be covered with regard to both approaches.



Atticdog- I got that nozzle with one of my three foamguns but I can't remember which one it came with :confused: Good to know that the Simple Green one comes with both.
 
Accumulator and everyone else, thank you for the feedback as well as your opinion. The Gilmour Foam Gun is the direction I plan to go. Any recommendations on the best place to purchase the Gilmour. I've seen them priced at around the $75 point, but this seems excessive.
 
I can't really help with the cheapest place to buy one as I think I probably found the *most expensive* source :o



Note that (IIRC) the Simple Green one comes with the larger bottle. Pros and cons to that; you could always find the smaller one if you decided you need it.
 
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