honeydew ratio for gilmore foam gun

[lucky417]

i searched and didnt really find a good answer. ive read where some use 3oz of wash with a filled container but what setting on the gun? anyone have personal knowledge or exp? i just purchased the foam gun with some honeydew and figured someone already had a pretty good ratio for at least for me to start with. also i need it not to strip lsp, i read where some said ti did but i think the ratio for them was pretty high.

[theblob640]

Well, you are just in luck. I actually started a thread on the exact same shampoo awhile back.

Here is the link:
CG Honeydew with Gilmour Foamaster

[lucky417]

So what I'm gathering is about 2-3 oz in the foam gun and b or c setting?

[Christopher.Brown]

i use 4oz/ container ad fill the rest up with water. I do add some additional WW to the mix to A] soften the water and to B] give even more added lubrocity to the mixture

DESPITE what others say i use the MAX setting on the Gilmour gun. WHY --- because it imparts less water to the mix, THUS allowing for less running off when actually on the car.

Some may find this wasteful but i think of the gun in hand like a spray can. I do not simply depress the spray head and continuously release the contents....

Instead, I make short quick passes over the areas and then release the trigger after the pass. Similar to what one would do with the spray can as to not overly saturate to create running lines in spray paint, i want the foam to STICK, IN MAXIMUM AMOUNTS--- TO ENCAPSULATE & LUBRICATE THE DIRT/GRIME, so that when i do agitate it with whatever mitt [this is always a debate] i am marring it against the paint at the most minimal level possible

The ancillary benefit of this is i dont waste ANY suds. SO i get max suds, at max staying power to applied area, and maximize my product

_______________________________________

this is one method i use for the gun, another is to use the lowest sud setting and to have the gun on in a continuous stream, lubricating the area just in front of the mitt that is touching the paints surface. In this way all loose dirt is immediately ecapsulated by suds, and then rinsed off the paints surface.

[theblob640]

So what I'm gathering is about 2-3 oz in the foam gun and b or c setting?

this is one method i use for the gun, another is to use the lowest sud setting and to have the gun on in a continuous stream, lubricating the area just in front of the mitt that is touching the paints surface. In this way all loose dirt is immediately ecapsulated by suds, and then rinsed off the paints surface.

That should be somewhere good to start. In the end, you will have to play around with different oz of shampoo with different ratios. I seems to like 3oz in the bottle at max setting for the initial presoak. After I knock it down to C setting and do the aforementioned technique. Follow the front of the mitt around while shooting foam into/in front of the mitt.

[Christopher.Brown]

That should be somewhere good to start. In the end, you will have to play around with different oz of shampoo with different ratios. I seems to like 3oz in the bottle at max setting for the initial presoak. After I knock it down to C setting and do the aforementioned technique. Follow the front of the mitt around while shooting foam into/in front of the mitt.

you just wrote out the rest of my method verbatim

^5 [we really need a hi-5 emote here! quick somebody get an admin]

so blob, im envisioning your steps as:

1] presoak the dry vehicle.. let sit 2-4 min,
2] rinse
3] Re-foam again before washing phase?

because i cant see it gettin much more 'paint safe' than that

[umi000]

CG's recommended dilution for Honeydew is a bit difficult to ferret. On their site, they say 1:4000, but then go on to say one oz for four to five gallons of water, which works out as 1:512 or 1:640. Other sites say one capful for five gallons, which is supposed to result in a ratio of 1:1100.

Ok. Let's go with the 1:1100, which is the commonly quoted number. We want to mix the solution in the container so that the dilution when it hits your paint is this ratio.

Gilmour foam gun settings have the following dilutions:

A:1 oz / gallon = 1:128
B:2 oz / gallon = 2:128
C:4 oz / gallon = 4:128
D:6 oz / gallon = 6:128
E:12 oz / gallon = 12:128

Using some algebra, for the A setting:
1/128 x 1/x = 1/1100 => x = 8.593, which means mixing 1 oz Honeydew with 8.593 oz of water. In a 32 oz container, that means 3.34 oz Honeydew and 28.66 oz water, for a total of 32 oz diluted solution. The same logic will give you the dilutions for all of the settings:

A: mix 3.34 oz Honeydew and 28.66 oz water for 32 oz pre-mixed solution
B: mix 1.76 oz Honeydew and 30.24 oz water for 32 oz pre-mixed solution
C: mix 0.90 oz Honeydew and 31.10 oz water for 32 oz pre-mixed solution
D: mix 0.61 oz Honeydew and 31.39 oz water for 32 oz pre-mixed solution
E: mix 0.31 oz Honeydew and 31.69 oz water for 32 oz pre-mixed solution

This, of course, is with the assumption that the desired dilution for foaming (I've seen one manufacturer refer to as panel impact ratio) is the same as the dilution for a bucket wash, which may or may not be the case (none of the sites I visited seem to say anything definitive on this point).

[theblob640]

you just wrote out the rest of my method verbatim

^5 [we really need a hi-5 emote here! quick somebody get an admin]

so blob, im envisioning your steps as:

1] presoak the dry vehicle.. let sit 2-4 min,
2] rinse
3] Re-foam again before washing phase?

because i cant see it gettin much more 'paint safe' than that

Yup, you got it. Well, my step 1 is just do an initial rinse, not sure if its a redundant step, but it makes me feel better about it. Then the steps you just mentioned, then hit it with the wash mitt foam gun method.

[Christopher.Brown]

Yup, you got it. Steps 1-3, then step 4 is hit it with the wash mitt foam gun method.

lol

same here

[lucky417]

Awesome. I was planning on foaming, then rinse, the the foam in front of the mitt as u wash. I can't see it getting any safer really. So I guess the three oz is right. I guess I'll just have to play with settings. As I wash to see what works better for me. I'll start out with c probably just don't want to strip LSP. I also bought a electronic leaf blower. Super excited