To Foam or Not to Foam???

Garry Dean said:
Its a waste of soap, but some love it and believe in it so.... To each their own.



I truly feel like a good, thorough low pressure rinse does the same job.



In my new Perfect Wash video I foam the car because I wanted everything that is possible to not install marring to be a part of the Perfect process.
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Garry Dean said:
My point, exactly.
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It seems you are contradicting yourself. Am I just reading it wrong?
 
David Fermani said:
Not if you're using a power-washer 1st. You could have 6 inches of foam on a dirty non-pre-blasted car and use the softest mitt possible...it still isn't going to compare to 1st blasting all the abrasives off instead. It might buffer things up a tiny little bit if all things are equal, but it doesn't substitute a high pressure pre-rinse.
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I'm comparing a foam gun to just washing with a mitt and not a pressure washer. The title was "To Foam or not to Foam" not to foam or pressure wash.
 
Legacy99 said:
I'm comparing a foam gun to just washing with a mitt and not a pressure washer. The title was "To Foam or not to Foam" not to foam or pressure wash.
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It might help if you explained that? And you also replied to Dan's comment who was referring to pressure washing and who's comments I agree with. :)
 
Legacy99 said:
I'm comparing a foam gun to just washing with a mitt and not a pressure washer. The title was "To Foam or not to Foam" not to foam or pressure wash.
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Does that title preclude anyone from posting anything that relates? IMO a pressure washer an essential tool in scratch free washing.
 
I use a pressure washer in all washes. Foaming is a here and there depending on what feels right for the situation. But I do feel like there is a difference in the types of contaminants that are removed from just blasting the surface with a PW'er and using chemicals that will break down, for example, bugs or tar. There is a fine line between using pressurized water to remove surface dirt and being, in my opinion, too aggressive with using pressurized water to blast hard baked on garbage off. There is a recurring nightmare of doing the latter on a front bumper and watching the clean peel from getting to close/aggressive.



Like a lot of situations in detailing, I don't believe there is an absolute yes or no to replacing foam with pw'er. I think they should both have a place in your arsenal for when the time comes.
 
Dan said:
Does that title preclude anyone from posting anything that relates? IMO a pressure washer an essential tool in scratch free washing.
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I wouldn't go quite as far as calling it "essential". I can wash marring-free without one, though not *nearly* as easily as I could *with* one.



Note I'm talking about washing vehicles (including that black Yukon XLD I had) that get so filthy you literally cannot tell what color they are. Utterly caked with abrasive grit. It *can* be done but it's a bit of a chore, to the point that where many people have said they'd rather just polish every now and then.



But yeah...IMO a pressure washer deserves to be part of this discussion as it can be a game-changer.
 
Accumulator said:
I wouldn't go quite as far as calling it "essential". I can wash marring-free without one, though not *nearly* as easily as I could *with* one.



Note I'm talking about washing vehicles (including that black Yukon XLD I had) that get so filthy you literally cannot tell what color they are. Utterly caked with abrasive grit. It *can* be done but it's a bit of a chore, to the point that where many people have said they'd rather just polish every now and then.



But yeah...IMO a pressure washer deserves to be part of this discussion as it can be a game-changer.
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I should have added "....in a timely manner." :D
 
pwaug said:
How about something like Chemical Guys Citrus Wash which is very popular for stripping wax/sealants?? Is that any more effective than Dawn?
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Never tried that :nixweiss



I'd just order the ValuGard "A", but then I'm such a big fan of certain AutoInt/ValuGard products that I probably sound like I'm shilling for them :o
 
I have it..just for fun, to experience new things



I use to for 2 main uses:



1. if the car is REALLY dirty, I would foam and rinse first before using elbow grease with MF mitt

2. if the car is just slightly dusty, I may just do a "touchless" wash...I won't even dry it, as all the water just sheets off (this is only in summer where my car is nicely polished and waxed)
 
I do along the lines of 2 above. Its clean down here in Florida so just a good foam down does the trick. I'm not so lucky about the not having to dry part though.
 
Ya know...for a pre-treatment of a really dirty car, doing my foamgun/BHB combo isn't all *that* much tougher that just doing a foam/rinse. Well, guess different people might feel differently about how much tougher :think: :nixweiss But it'd sure accomplish a whole lot more.



IME, using the Gilmour (as opposed to a foam cannon/etc.), a foam/rinse does *VERY* little to a dirty car.
 
I picked up the Gilmour Foammaster II this week from Amazon. They were selling it for around 35 bucks. I couldn't pass it up for that.
 
LilJayV10 said:
I picked up the Gilmour Foammaster II this week from Amazon..
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Cool! Now take off that [crappy] pistol grip and replace it with a full-flow Gilmour shut-off (flipping the shut-off's valve 90° with your thumb is quick and easy whereas the pistol grip's angle is simply not user-friendly for car washing) . Get a quick-disconnect setup to make it easy to switch back and forth between the FoamMaster and your regular nozzle. You'll be all set!
 
Accumulator said:
Cool! Now take off that [crappy] pistol grip and replace it with a full-flow Gilmour shut-off (flipping the shut-off's valve 90° with your thumb is quick and easy whereas the pistol grip's angle is simply not user-friendly for car washing) . Get a quick-disconnect setup to make it easy to switch back and forth between the FoamMaster and your regular nozzle. You'll be all set!
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That is exactly what I did to my setup. It makes it so much nicer and easier to work with.
 
I've actually gotten a bit, uh...extreme about this (gee, big surprise, huh? ;) ), I have dedicated hoses for the foamguns and the "regular" nozzle so I don't have to swap them out but rather just grab the other hose. One pair (foamgun and regular) of hoses on each side of the wash bay.
 
Accumulator said:
I've actually gotten a bit, uh...extreme about this (gee, big surprise, huh? ;) ), I have dedicated hoses for the foamguns and the "regular" nozzle so I don't have to swap them out but rather just grab the other hose. One pair (foamgun and regular) of hoses on each side of the wash bay.
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I just bought a bunch of quick disconnects for the pressure washer (with or without foam cannon), foam gun, fire hose nozzle, and multi-pattern sprayer so I can use one hose but use any sprayer method. I even have a disconnect from the hose to the house spigot going to the hose reel.



Foam is cheap entertainment...just 1,5 ounces soap will foam a car. In the grand scheme, not very expensive but then some are on a quest to spend as little as possible no matter what the relative expense.
 
This past summer, I picked up another Gilmour foam gun for cheap. It's the model with brass fittings but no adjusting slider which is fine by me. I now have both kinds. I can very much see myself buying more. The foam gun is one of my favorite detailing tools! :D
 
so no one here feels that using high pressure is more likely to marr the finish than using a mild pressure with soap to slicken the finish so that the grit may not marr the finish as much?
 
I wouldn't, largely for that reason, but my environment ( not to mention increasing the frequency of washing if necessary) results in my not needing it. Certainly if I detailed professionally, I'd have to have a pressure washer but then the car would be getting polished right after any way.



The only time I turn the faucet on higher is when washing wheels, wheel wells, and the undercarriage.
 
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