3d Car Soap Foam Bath not cleaning

irvsmith

irvsmith

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I have been having an issue with my process or the 3D Car Soap. I have been using the Gilmour 75QGFMR and while the foam seems quite thick - I note that after the foam has dwelled for 3-5 minutes a majority of the dust/light dirt is still intact on the surface. I have tried different ratios of soap to water (1/3 to 1/2), and the foam gun is fully open to the largest opening for the maximum suds/foam.

Am I doing something wrong?
Is it the soap?
Maybe my expectations are to high for this process?
Maybe I need to reduce the foam opening so the foam is comprised of smaller bubbles as opposed to large bubbles?
Hard water?

The dirt level is what I would describe as light to medium given the car gets a weekly WW at least and I am in a urban environment. I would not expect the bonded contaminants to be eliminated but a recent example was there was a light powder of pollen (which I could fairly easily remove with a finger) and after the foam had dwelled a majority was still intact.

I am probably doing something wrong but didn't think this should be a challenge given that I let it dwell for a bit.

Thanks in advance.
 
Do you pre rinse the vehicle prior to using the foam gun?
 
Sorry, you need to agitate the soap on the surface, or use a pressure washer (which will still likely need some contact after to remove the remaining dirt).
 
from what I've read foam guns are more for adding extra lubrication rather than actual cleaning unlike foam cannons.
 
AGOatemywallet said:
The two methods/tools do the same thing

Cannon just allows for a longer dwell time
Click to expand...

:dblthumb2:

Best way would be to rinse with a pressure washer, then foam/dwell, then rinse again.

If it's only a week of dust from driving, most of it'll be gone.

However... it will NOT be enough to be safe to go on from that point and start wiping the surface with a spray wax/sealant. :eek:

Only way to safely do that would be a thorough wash while foamed with your favorite mitt. :)
 
No foam cannon or foam gun will release all the dirt, dust or contaminants w/o some sort of agitation. Cleaners are designed to break down and suspend. You will need to use some sort of washing mitt. The more foam = more lubrication which will help minimize any marring or swirling.
 

Foam doesn't clean cars. It only helps with possible lubrication. Agitation breaks down and removes dirt a debris. Thus water from a hose agitates the surface as it is sprayed on and rinses dirt away.
 
Got it thanks. Sounds like my expectations and understanding of how the foam works were incorrect. I always continue with a 2BM after that but just was surprised on how little seemed to have changed after the full foaming. Thanks to all who helped in this inquiry.
 

Tell you what, I give up how I use the foam gun at times to help the process and my OCD.

1. Rinse car off with straight water to get as much dirt off as possible.
2. Connect foam gun and foam the panels you can work on quickly.
3. Let foam dwell for a 30s - 1min then 2BM wash those panels useing the clinging foam solution as added protection and lubrication.
4. Rinse panels and move on.


This has been the best use of a foam gun for me. I have even set the foam gun on full and used just the foam gun and a bucket to rinse my mitt in the past when the car was fairly clean. Shhh.....


 
I ditched my foam cannon years ago. They are a complete waste of time, product, and money. It looks cool but as stated before it does nothing to help clean the car.
 
irvsmith said:
Got it thanks. Sounds like my expectations and understanding of how the foam works were incorrect. I always continue with a 2BM after that but just was surprised on how little seemed to have changed after the full foaming. Thanks to all who helped in this inquiry.
Click to expand...

If you have a good LSP on, as Cardaddy noted, if you just have dust or pollen, sometimes you can get away with a good foam-down, rinse, and blow dry.

But if you've got road film, it's got to be agitated.
 
If you use a soap in a foam CANNON that's specifically designed as a pre-wash, you will get much better results. Still need to wash with some type of media after pressure rinsing. Products off the top of my head are bilt hammer snow foam and auto finesse Avalanche. AG doesn't carry either of these.
 
04accord said:
from what I've read foam guns are more for adding extra lubrication rather than actual cleaning unlike foam cannons.
Click to expand...

:dblthumb2: AGREE. My steps with a foam gun.

1. Rinse
2. Foam vehicle up
3. Wash as normal
4. Rinse/Flood rinse
5. Dry with WW.

The foam gun alone will not clean the vehicle. It is used to pre soak and loosen some of the dirt before a regular wash and add lubrication.
 
Thanks. This is basically what I ended up doing. I think it was a good use of the WW as a drying aid. I have the concentrate for the WW so I feel like it is worth the money for drying the car effectively.

David

pro 4x said:
:dblthumb2: AGREE. My steps with a foam gun.

1. Rinse
2. Foam vehicle up
3. Wash as normal
4. Rinse/Flood rinse
5. Dry with WW.

The foam gun alone will not clean the vehicle. It is used to pre soak and loosen some of the dirt before a regular wash and add lubrication.
Click to expand...
 
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