Soak car before using foam gun?

**J Cole** · 06-12-2015, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by SameGuy

J Cole: I'm not knocking whatever works for you, but that does seem like an awful lot of chemicals to mix in a foam cannon solution. Have you checked the various compositions and pH numbers? I'd think a few of them probably neutralize the others.

They're all either around 7 or close to 14 at 13.5. I originally didn't use the Iron X Snow Soap or the Bug Squash but slowly added them in. When I added in the Iron X I ensured that it still reacted with areas iron was present. The snow soap isn't as strong as normal Iron X but when I rinse the car off there is still some purple in the foam being rinsed off. And last I added the bug squash, I'm still trying to determine if it's better to add that to the foam lance or if it's more beneficial sprayed onto the surface of the car by itself. So far it seems like it's working pretty well and by putting it in the foam lance it does save time.

Obviously every car is different so it's hard to compare side by side. It may add no benefit at all but the cars seem to come cleaner easier during the following 2BM wash - and the foam lasts a bit longer.

**Bunky** · 06-13-2015, 05:17 AM

Unless I am using AF Avalanche, I like:
1. Rinse
2. Foam
--optional
Rinse
Foam
------
4. Wash

**shagnat** · 06-13-2015, 11:46 PM

I don't think two foams are going to do much unless you've got some sort of 4x4 that's just terribly filthy from going off-roading.
If it's just a DD I think a 2 foam waste product/water/time/energy.
Just my 2 cents

**DZ302** · 06-14-2015, 05:47 AM

I always rinse the vehicle first to remove any large debris, mud, dirt, bird dropping etc than I use the foam gun....much better final product and your not grinding mud , dirt etc you can not longer see through the foam over the painted surfaces....make sense ?

**ducksfan** · 05-19-2016, 06:48 PM

Isn't foam like horsepower ? Can you have too much ?

**ducksfan** · 05-19-2016, 06:51 PM

Well, actually I guess you can have too much. But how many people would recognize that they have too much until they had gone way past the point of too much ?

Deep questions requiring deep thoughts.

**shagnat** · 05-19-2016, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by ducksfan

Isn't foam like horsepower ? Can you have too much ?

How well could you drive a Pinto with a 428 cu CobraJet? So, IMO, you can definitely have too much horsepower.... Plus ducksfan said it as well as can be.

**lawrenceSA** · 05-20-2016, 05:46 AM

Originally Posted by shagnat

I don't think two foams are going to do much unless you've got some sort of 4x4 that's just terribly filthy from going off-roading.
If it's just a DD I think a 2 foam waste product/water/time/energy.
Just my 2 cents

I often see people commenting about how little benefit there is to using a foam cannon, and I've never quite understood why...

The sequence of pics (all the pics are straight out the camera) were put together for my fellow local VW Club members to demonstrate how effective a pressure rinsing and foaming are at removing dirt before you make contact with the paint...

The 'before' condtion - with around a month's daily driving on it.

The wheel, arch and front fender were then pressured rinsed clean and dried using a blower, leaving less dirt than before

Then some snow foam was applied (Valet Pro ANSF @ 1:10 if anyone is interested - I know its not a product AG sell so mods can remove that bit if need be as this is not so much a review of the product per se, more just the process as a whole)

Left to dwell

Then pressured rinsed and air dried again.

**Setec Astronomy** · 05-20-2016, 06:33 AM

Lawrence, I could argue that the pressure washer alone would do that without the foaming prior. IME a hose-end foam gun at normal dilutions doesn't touch road film, it's going to be the pressure washer or at least a "flat spray" which is a sharper stream, from a regular hose nozzle, that is required to really knock anything other than loose dust/pollen off.

**lawrenceSA** · 05-20-2016, 08:45 AM

Firstly, I must apologise.... I misread and thought the OP was talking about a foam cannon, not a foam gun (I have no experience with the gun, so can't really comment on its effectiveness).

I agree that the pressure washer itself does remove a lot of the dirt, as is evidenced by this pic

But, if you then look at the same area after foaming, some more dirt is removed - to my mind, this is evidence enough the the foam does remove some additional dirt...

To clarify, the process in the above sequence of pics was

Pressure rinse the dirty paint - and I really did try and get it as clean as I could
Air dry to see effectiveness of the pressure rinsing step only
Foam and let it dwell
Rinse
Air dry to see the effectiveness of the foaming itself.

I accept that in respect of the total amount of dirt removed, a larger portion of it may be coming from the pressure washing itself, but I can't accept that the foaming step does nothing (and this was more where I was coming from - that I often read about people claiming there is NO benefit to the foaming step).

I still personally think the spend on the cannon and associated 'foam' products is money well spent as a 'swirl mitigation measure', but obviously this thinking may not be the same for everyone....and I respect that.

Lastly, when it comes to traffic film, I agree that your typical snow foams don't usually tackle this and I would typically use a dedicated TFR product for this purpose through a normal handheld pump sprayer, should the car have been driven in the wet an exposed to traffic film, and then, it would usually only be on the lower half of the vehicle...