How to use a foam gun by Mike Phillips

[HondaMan]

Mike,

I bought one of the foam guns recently (3 weeks ago). What do you do with the soap mixture between washes? Is there any concern about soap drying & clogging the orifices? I wash my car every other week.

I just store it in the bottle attached to the foam head, and haven't run plain water through the unit to clean it.

FWIW, I rinse the car with water, do the foam gun and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse the car again. I am hoping this gets rid of a lot of the loose dirt on the car. My water is surprisingly clean when I am done washing the car. Better than the old days.

I like the foam gun, recommend it to anyone thinking about buying one.

JD

[custmsprty]

No doubt, it seriously uses up the solution fast!!!

[jeepngli]

Great Write up. I love mine. I noticed the dilution you used is significantly more soap than I use when I use Mr. Pink yet I get as much foam. While Mr. Pink is very gentle, its awesome at sudds and foam. Am I not using enough or do you think Mr. Pink is a little more concentrated?

[scuff]

For anyone waiting for a sale, AG has the Pinnacle version marked down at the moment, with 2 oz. of Bodywork Shampoo added for free. I'm looking forward to using mine. Thanks again to Mike and the rest of you foamers.

Foamaster foam car wash gun

[silverfox]

Great write up but if I read correctly, @10oz of product per wash...it had better be more fun than a lonely, wild 29 yo Italian girl who just inherited $6 billion. With my rinseless I can get 10 washes with 10oz of product. How many washes does that 32oz mixture provide assuming one is not washing an 18 wheeler?

[ski2]

FWIW, I rinse the car with water, do the foam gun and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse the car again. I am hoping this gets rid of a lot of the loose dirt on the car. My water is surprisingly clean when I am done washing the car. Better than the old days.
JD

I get the same results by giving the car a quick pressure wash before doing a traditional wash--the wash water stays almost perfectly clean and most certainly has no gritty type dirt in it after the wash.

[Mike Phillips]

Great write up but if I read correctly,

Thank you but "no" you didn't read correctly. Here's a quote from my original article.

Note the portion I made BOLD

The big picture is I want lots of suds.


In order to completely fill the 1 quart bottle with a uniform mixture of soap and water solution at the 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water dilution level I fudged the math to make it EASY to mix a strong dilution of soap and suds.

If you want a weaker solution then simply add more water than I show below and less soap.

I didn't invent the foam gun nor do I make soap formulas. What I wrote explains how to make the foam gun MAKE a thick frothy layer of soap on your car.


So silverfox - mix your soap and water dilution to whatever level makes you happy. Whether that's to please your pocketbook or your taste. That's your personal preference.

With my rinseless I can get 10 washes with 10oz of product.

How much foam do you get with your rinseless?

I think... and I could be wrong.... but I think you're comparing apples to oranges.


I don't like rinseless washes myself, never use them. . I use tons of waterless washes because I work on a lot of cool cars that I don't wash classics, muscle cars and streetrods with a traditioinal wash. The rinseless method is too messy for my taste as I end up with water on the floor. Now I have to clean the floor. With a waterless wash I get the car clean and no water on the floor.

[Mike Phillips]

Great Write up. I love mine.

Thank you.

I searched the blogshere for an in-depth article on how to use the foam gun and couldn't find one that covered every base. So I wrote my own.

I noticed the dilution you used is significantly more soap than I use when I use Mr. Pink yet I get as much foam.

While Mr. Pink is very gentle, its awesome at sudds and foam. Am I not using enough or do you think Mr. Pink is a little more concentrated?

It could be the Mr. Pink is more concentrated? I don't know - I've never used it.


I have a saying that I've been posting to the forum world since the early 1990's - goes like this,

"Find something you like and use it often"


There's actually an article by that name on this forum and if you do a Google search with that title and add my name you can pull it up. In a nutshell, find a product you like and use it. If you like Mr. Pink then go for it.

[4u2nvinmtl]

Amazingly thorough write-up Mike, as always. I actually never knew what those screws were for on the foam gun.

Q: In your opinion, is there any advantage for using a foam gun over a foam cannon/lance?

I personally prefer my foam cannon/lance over the foam gun because it uses less soap, less water, and produces thicker clinger foam.

I also find it more effective to foam the paint when it's dry rather than starting with a rinse. That way the foam clings longer and has more of a chance to loosen dirt and grime, then I rinse the foam and dirt off and proceed with my two bucket wash. While the foam is dwelling it gives me a chance to prep my buckets and finish washing the wheels.

- Thanks (John Rogers from Facebook)

[4u2nvinmtl]

Great Write up. I love mine. I noticed the dilution you used is significantly more soap than I use when I use Mr. Pink yet I get as much foam. While Mr. Pink is very gentle, its awesome at sudds and foam. Am I not using enough or do you think Mr. Pink is a little more concentrated?

Interesting I had orignally used my foam gun with Mr. Pink and wasnt that impressed. I ended up using around 8-10oz per wash in my foam gun and went trough the gallon in no time. Personally I find Meg's Hyper Wash foams much more and cleans better than Mr. Pink (if your looking for another soap to try out after Mr. Pink that is).