How much dirt (rough %) can you remove just by hose vs Foam gun + hose vs foam cannon/pressure washer. NO contact.

[clevernickname]

tl;dr How much dirt (rough %) can you remove just by hose vs Foam gun + hose vs foam cannon/pressure washer. NO contact.

i 100% understand that no contact washes are not a solution and that's not what I'm aiming for. I just like to have rough numbers to compare for the half ass washes I do between real washes.

I recently bought a foam gun and it worked how you'd expect. Except I hadn't washed the car in about 3 weeks through salt and mud due to a vancouver winter. It's raining for the next two weeks so I didn't feel the need to do a hand wash and just wanted some of the gunk off so I just used a foam gun/hose. I probably should've taken before and after pics but to the naked eye and on a black car, it seems like almost none got removed. I'm sure that's not the case, and the salt and caked on dirt aren't doing me any favors. so just want to compare the methods since I think I'm going to buy a foam cannon.
completely rough estimates are fine.

I'm guessing

• hose only: 5%
• foam gun and hose: 10%
• foam cannon and pressure washer: 25%

If that's even roughly true I'm going to buy the foam cannon.

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[RichGT350R]

I purchased a foam gun, I haven’t tried it yet.. we have been slammed in snow lately and the car hasn’t been out.. she’s a fair weather queen.. “Cup2’s”! And she is brand new (200) miles. I cleaned her good, paint prep... when I got her home and ceramic coated her!

With all the salt and driving, look into an undercarriage pressure washer attachment! That would certainly be a good thing for you to have in your arsenal!

 

[kilobravo]

OP: First, IMHO, the answer to your question would be determined by:

- Amount and type of dirt

- Length of time on the vehicle

- Adequate pressure washer for good foam, most cheaper models will disappoint.

- Perhaps most importantly, how long you let the foam soak on the vehicle before rinsing. I'm CERTAIN that more dirt is removed with a foam, soak, and rinse than simply a rinse, even with the same quality pressure washer. No doubt whatsoever. If I were to estimate how much more is removed with a good foam cannon would be an additional 75 percent.

But, while I lived in snow country for too many years, I have no recent experience with that much higher level of contaminants.

 

[DFB5.0]

Adding to Kilobravo's post, the soap used will also have an influence in how effective a foam will be in removing contaminants during the soaking phase.

Most car soaps are labeled as pH neutral, important in maintaining the wax and sealant coatings on your vehicle. There are also stronger soaps that have a higher pH for more cleaning ability.

Using CarPro as an example, Reset and Lift are two soaps with differing abilities.

Reset being pH balanced offers sufficient cleaning power for most situations, generally for maintenance washes.

Lift is a much stronger soap used for stripping existing protection but can be used when you need much more cleaning ability.

" Use LIFT to soften bugs, baked on dirt, and more. Lift is formulated specifically to offer maximum wetting and rinses off easily as well. It is not a superficial high foaming product but has been designed as a true active surface agent. During the panel dwell period, Lift’s bubbles soak the hardened debris and allow it to release from the vehicle with ease during the wash."

In most cases, you want the pH balanced soap. If you have an extremely dirty vehicle, perhaps ready for a new application of protection too, use a higher pH soap to help the situation.

 

[lizardrko]

100% agree with the above comments. I will say even with the best pressure washer, high pH soap like Lift, good dwell time, my guess is at most on average, 60%-70% of the dirt will be removed. Your wheels will still be filthy. The top half may be cleaner, but the bottom will still be dirty as that is where most of the dirt clings to.

I like to do a hand wash, then the next week I will do a touchless wash and dry the car with a blower as not much dirt builds up after a week (in my driving style/amount. As long as the car has a ceramic coating or sealant, the blower will help a lot.

Good washing techniques, good wash mits, quality shampoo that adds lubrication will all protect against scratches of the paint. Wax as you dry drying aids also add that lubrication as you dry.

 

[Dr. Norts]

Chemical guys honey dew snow foam is great for foam cannons. It's not to expensive and comes in a big jug. It creates a super thick viscous foam and smells amazing too.

Reset is too expensive for foam cannons and doesn't foam up as good as a dedicated foam gun soap.

But use whatever you like, any foam is better than no Foam.

 

[Matti777]

I have found that a hp wash doesn't even get 50% off in some cases....depends what it is as mentioned.

ps are you even allowed to use soap to wash cars in your driveways these days? Around here you are supposed to use non-phosphate, biodegradable detergents

 

[Adamone92]

Chemical guys honey dew snow foam is great for foam cannons. It's not to expensive and comes in a big jug. It creates a super thick viscous foam and smells amazing too.

Reset is too expensive for foam cannons and doesn't foam up as good as a dedicated foam gun soap.

But use whatever you like, any foam is better than no Foam.

+1 on chemical guys. They also sell it at autozone and walmart now so thats a plus as well!

 

[WD Pro]

I would approach this with a slightly different response.

If we are talking about how much potentially damaging winter dirt it will remove without you physically touching the paint, a good foam / foam gun / washer combination will get virtually all of it.

You may not be left with a completely clean finish, but you should be left with one that’s almost / totally void of particles that might marr your paint if followed up by a hand wash.

Admttedley wheels are something else, but a good cleaner applied separately and maybe a little agitation before a foam should get you similar results on those too.

I snapped some random shots at weekend for another topic but they could prove useful here.

My setup (Megs ultimate wheel cleaner is in the wheel bottle) :

Doing it’s job (purple is iron, but you can see dirt in the foam) :

After jet wash only, the winter salt on our local roads is a brown grit that gets mashed up and turns sandy :

The paintwork on this isn’t slick (which would help), it’s nine years old and is in desperate need of some TLC. Rear kerbside which gets it worst - jet wash only :

Up close :

The wheels came up great, but they were refurbed about six months ago so they are like new / still slick / not a fair test :

After that, I two bucket washed including under the sills, arch / inner fender edges etc and this is what was in my rinse bucket after I carefully drained it down :

Bear in mind that’s under the grit guard and not in my wash bucket (that also has a grit guard). Also bear in mind some, if not all of the black ‘flakes’ are off my wash mitt that I use for that car which has started to shed some skin :

I don’t think that’s bad considering ? Without the foam that rinse bucket would be trashed ...

Just for the record, here are the other tools I used for that bucket wash (and they are new following the arrival of the mustang with PP1 wheels ... lol) :

My advice - if you care about your paint get some good quality foam, foam gun and washer. Never touch your paint without using that trio first

Hope that helps

WD

 

[DFB5.0]

Chemical guys honey dew snow foam is great for foam cannons. It's not to expensive and comes in a big jug. It creates a super thick viscous foam and smells amazing too.

Reset is too expensive for foam cannons and doesn't foam up as good as a dedicated foam gun soap.

But use whatever you like, any foam is better than no Foam.

Can certainly agree with the expense of Reset. (I used that as an example of two soaps from the same company having differing abilities.)

In terms of foaming with Reset, I have found it foams pretty good. Although as you mention, the expense to get it to foam well counts against it.

Personally, I only use Reset every now and then. It is expensive but I use it as an indulgence, it smells so good and cleans very well too. (Yes, I know, I'm one of those sort of people. )

 

[DFB5.0]

I have used a lot of car wash soaps but I seem to circle back to a brand called NV. Seeing as these products are now available in the USA, I think it's worth mentioning and hopefully help others discover this brand.

https://nvcarcareusa.com/collections/exterior-series/products/nv-snow-ph-neutral-wash
https://nvcarcareusa.com/collection...urs-snow-intensified-foaming-wash-500ml-1l-5l

NV offer two soaps, Snow and Snow+.

Snow is a pH neutral soap for maintenance washing. This stuff pours easily unlike some thick and gloopy soaps (Adam's and Meg's Gold Class for example), foams exceptionally and provides excellent lubrication.

Snow+ is a strip wash with a higher pH suitable for preparing for a new coating. I use this on neglected cars when I want some extra cleaning punch.

I'm in no way connected to this brand. As I said, having used so many products, I keep coming back to these.

 

[kilobravo]

Good stuff, guys!

Regarding foam, I am convinced that the amount and quality of foam achieved is a whole lot more dependent on the pressure washer and cannon than it is the soap formula. I have been using Griot's Foaming Wash for some time. I've used others but with previous machines and while I haven't tested other soaps with the new machine, I would bet a good bit of dough that they'll all produce fairly similar foam.

 

[WD Pro]

I think you are right, I hadn't mentioned foams as I am UK based and I only have limited experiences (also with what I think are UK brands).

I noticed (very) slight cleaning differences, but certainly not night and day

Autobrite magifoam ( https://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/product/magifoam-ultimate-prewash-snowfoam/ ) = Used this for years (maybe 8+). Out of the products I have used this produced a really thick long lasting foam.

Then I tried Anglewax fastfoam ( https://angelwax.com/fastfoam-professional-detailing-snowfoam/ ) = Only tried one bottle then moved on. No better cleaning / foam didn't last as long or cling as well.

Since then I have been using Bilt Hamber auto foam ( https://www.bilthamber.com/auto-foam) = Foam thickness somewhere between the other two. Might be subjective but I think this cleans a little better than both of them.

I cant provide a direct comparison as I used one product until empty before moving onto the next. Value for money (UK prices) v performance, something is going to have to really grab my attention to move on from the Bilt Hamber stuff ...

WD

 

[WD Pro]

@clevernickname - Another example of foam and jet wash only - on a white car this time which wont hide anything

I washed the misses car today. It doesn't get pampered (it's a lease), it's coming up to three years old, it gets used everyday and she doesn't really care about cars.

It brings it up good enough for me not to bother getting the buckets out for every wash :

It's never going to be a show winner, but in her eyes it's now a clean car and it gets me in her good books ... lol

A few things to note :

• The car hadn't been washed for a few weeks, but the wheels were washed reasonably well last weekend (I had new wheel cleaner to try) i.e. don't use the wheels as a guide.
• There are some debris left on the panels, but to be fair they don't come off with a follow up bucket wash either. They are mostly tar spots and fallout - the car really needs a good decontamination (which in turn will make the foam wash appear even more effective).
• There is some light paint staining that a follow up bucket wash would help with. The camera doesn't really capture them well, the areas where water runs out from under door handles and door shuts etc.

Hope that helps

WD

 

[kilobravo]

Good writeup, WD, and the photos are very convincing. I just can't imagine driving that car but with fuel prices what they are, I get it. My younger brother who lives on the left coast, is probably ashamed of his older brother for having gas guzzlers like diesel pickups (15.5mpg) and Shelbys (9.3mpg at fill-up yesterday.) :-)

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