Doing some rounds with the BOSS Foaming System.

[oneheadlite]

Hey Gang

Back when the BOSS Foaming System came out, I picked it up direct from the source as I was intrigued by the notion of a foam that designed to drop the dirt off the car, not just providing more sudsy lubrication for the wash process. I posted my thoughts over on the sister site ( Doing some rounds with the BOSS Foaming System. ) since I didn't want to bend any forum rules here as Autogeek wasn't carrying it yet.

Since there really hasn't been much talk about this system here, wanted to cross post my thoughts from over there and share with anyone considering the system/chemicals.

Cliff's notes: Love the system. Due to various circumstances, I haven't been able to keep up on the maintenance to find out how well the Foaming Poly Gloss can stand up as a sole LSP (if you read below, I stress that that's not the use case they advertise it for, but isn't testing that notion what we do here? ). The Surface Wash really works well to drop grit/dirt off the car if you've got a really dirty starting point, leaving a safer surface for a traditional wash.

I haven't had the chance to try the Foaming Surface Prep, though at this point it would be the logical start-over step for both my cars. Looking forward to them bringing a 35oz bottle to the store, as there's no way I'd put a dent in it with how little liquid you actually use with the cannon.

Last - I'll try to port over other thoughts I had as I can - I'm always sneeking in my AG/Autopia time in during free moments at work.


"So I`ve now had the chance to spend some time with the BOSS Foam Starter Kit, which has the cannon, Surface Wash, Foaming Poly Gloss, and the new beach towel sized PFM. Summary - I`m really digging it.

Long story short, my first go-around with the system was on my road warrior level dirty daily driver. The last LSP applied was probably Hydro Blue sometime last fall, so it`s safe to say there was no LSP assistance with dropping dirt off the car. To be honest, it was intended to be a torture test for the Foaming Surface Wash that is apparently in search of appropriate bottling. The level of dirt was not what I was expecting just the Surface Wash to take care of without getting the mitts out.

After acquiring the correct pressure washer fitting (thanks Vanquish!), I applied the Foaming Surface wash with my lil Ryobi 1600psi/1.2 GPM pressure washer. Like I mentioned in the BOSS Foam thread, I know Older is using the same pressure washer, but I was pleased to see the foam output was perfectly adequate from the little guy. I`d read about people switching to a smaller orifice in the gun to boost the foam, but as of now I`m not seeing a need.

Followed the instructions - foamed from bottom up, allowed to dwell, then pressure wash rinsed from top down. As expected, the car was cleaner, but still had obvious road film present. I then hit it with a single bucket wash w/ grit guard. I was surprised when I was finished - the bucket was much cleaner than I was expecting given the starting condition. The surface wash really had done it`s job to drop a lot of dirt off the car. Cleaned the wheels with Iron X on one side, Griot`s Fallout Remover on the other side just as a curiosity comparo (slight nod to the Griot`s, but overall pretty much a draw).

Foamed with the Poly Gloss, dried with the newest full size PFM that came with the starter kit. Personal preference, it`s too big for my style. Works great matador style, but it`s a bit much for me on the side panels. You basically just show it to the water and it disappears though. Car was left with a noticeable boost in slickness, and gains in gloss as well. The plan for this car is to see how the Poly Gloss holds up as the sole LSP on the car. It`s not advertised to be used as such, but it`s what my current free time allows. I`ll reapply each wash since it`s so easy (and the poor car needs some love).

I`m typing this during the in-betweens at work, so unfortunately this will be a bit broken up. I`ll add some pics from my phone shortly.

Up next I`ll add how it went on my wife`s car, and a one-week-later maintenance wash on my avant.

*Continued*

The pics: Starting off, shot of the bonded road film:

Surface Wash applied:

Allowed to dwell:

After the Poly Gloss:

Sorry, not the best pictures; my main goal was production. Did both cars that day, with both of them needing physical washing as well. Plus jams, wheels, etc. Usually I can only manage to get through one at a time."

 

[oneheadlite]

"Avant, round 2: The maintenance wash.

While I was originally hoping to do it on a weekend, I ended up doing a maintenance wash on my avant during my lunch break. No pictures, as I was trying to see how quick I could get it done. It was a little over a week later (roughly 400 miles, no rain this time) since I had gone through the process above.

Again, the car was wearing only the Poly Gloss. Set up my pressure washer, foamed with Surface Wash. Allowed to dwell for about 5 minutes while I had some pizza. Rinsed and inspected: This time it got a clean bill of health. You could actually see the water behavior still present from last weeks Poly Gloss. With no road film requiring scrubbing, I proceeded with another application of the Poly Gloss. After dwelling, rinsed off with the pressure washer, followed by a flood rinse with the naked hose to pull as much water off as possible. Dried with a standard PFM. No evidence of wiping any dirt off either on the towel or by cleaner spots on the car after wiping. Even my wheels were left in the same shape as after my first wash, which was impressive for the stock pads.

This is is exactly what I was hoping for! I know I won’t get away with it every time, but to not have to dig in for an in depth wash each time will be a huge boost to keeping the car cleaner more often. Total time spent with dragging out the pressure washer, putting it away, and having lunch in between was about 45 minutes.


*Continued*


Also, that first weekend I did my wife’s Q5 as well.

Her car has had an LSP applied much more recently, though I don’t remember how long it’s been. Pretty sure it was a round of OptiSeal applied after a wash (not as a drying aid). Condition wise, her car had gone a couple weeks since it’s last wash, and was grittier than I would have approached for just a rinseless wash. Her car is Phantom Black (black metallic), and inevitably I’m always fighting the sun when I get a chance to give it a bath. True to form, when it came time to put the foam to her car, my washing area was no longer shaded. I was curious how the foaming would go, worrying I would face rapidly diminishing/drying foam. Thankfully, I was still able to allow it to dwell and do it’s thing, probably 5 minutes or so. I then pressure wash rinsed it, and inspected. Her car also had some road film remaining, so this time I pulled it into the garage for a Rinseless wash.

Paint and glass were done with Griot’s Rinseless Wash and Wax multi-towel style with a pre-spray @ their 15:1 waterless/Clay Lube ratio. Towels came out with mild dirt, but nothing gross. Wheels I did with N914 at waterless mix with a boars hair brush and a small round Microfiber applicator. I really need to get a strong LSP on her wheels, they’re gonna be the end of me. Due to time constraints, I didn’t get to give her car a Poly Gloss application.

I’ll update this again when I get a maintenance wash in on her car."

 

[DBAILEY]

That's good know that you didn't pick up any dirt on the PFM towel after wiping it dry during round #2. Still looks like shorts weather up there in MN.

 

[oneheadlite]

Disclaimer - those were from August.

Though, right now it is freakishly warm up here - it's almost 45 right now.

 

[UncleDavy]

Thanks for the review as I also would like to try this system. I love foam and I look for any excuse to use the pressure washer and foam cannon. I am particularly interested in the Poly Gloss. You have to be suspicious of a foam on sealant.
I am glad that some body else picked up on the pictures. There is no way that a northern suburb of Minneapolis has green lawns and leaves on trees in December. I spent a lot of time in Apple Valley and Bemidji when I was a kid and I spent a few Christmas holidays there. We were snowmobiling, x country skiing, ice fishing and splitting wood rather than auto detailing.