for those who use a foam cannon/gun...

[Kevin Cullen]

I rinse first from the top down to keep lots of water flow and the dirt somewhat suspended. After the inital rinse the one side is pretty much dry and i foam on e side at a time. I use ONRWW in my soap bucket of my two bucket method and give the vehicle the rub down while the foam is still on it. Then the final rinse.

 

[Kacz]

Has anybody experimented with ONR prewash solution in foam cannon or gun? In theory it should be the perfect prewash.

I have tried it and the foam seems to cling better when in a foam gun/cannon. I would also imagine that since people who have hard water report they don't have good 'foaming action' or the foam collapses quicker--then adding ONR or a like product would possibly help create more suds. I see David G. says it creates a gel, but from my testing in the cannon and gun; I still got suds and it was clinging better.

However, that second part is an assumption on my part because I don't have hard water.

A tad unrelated, but do you guys dilute your foam soap while it is in the foam canon canister? Just wondered because I would love to get a little more life out of the soap (I've been putting JUST soap in the foam canon).

I always fill up the cannon or gun with water first, then add only 2oz of shampoo. I refuse to use more since a lot of good shampoos work perfectly fine with 2oz.

This has made me wonder the effectiveness of foam and of course have thought of a simple but different method to test out. Maybe will try it today.

Here it is : (forgot where I got this from, but saved it)





"om the keyboard of David Ghodoussi, when asked to describe ONR VS soap. good information to know and share with your customers.

Soap is a blend of surfactants that are designed to emulsify (dissolve)
oils into water. There is nothing in soap to help with dirt removal.
Foam is a by product of soap and it is caused by entrapment of air in
soap and water. People perceive foam to create lubricity and correlate
it to concentration and cleaning ability of soap. In fact, manufacturers
add foamers to increase foam to capitalize on these misconceptions.

No Rinse is based on reactive polymers that have the ability to bond to surfaces as well as dirt or oily particles. These polymers have much greater lubricity than soap and form a film around the particles as well as paint to protect from marring. The concentration of these polymers is very high which is why only 1 oz. per wash is needed. In fact, when people use 3-4 oz., they complain about the excess lubricity and streaking! If anyone washes half their car with no rinse and the other half with soap, over time, they will see marring on the soap side only!That is why many add no rinse to their soap bucket before washing which
works well. However, because of the nature of these reactive polymers,in concentrated form, they react with soap and foaming agents to form a gel (you can try this by mixing soap concentrate with no rinse). That is why we can not add foaming agents to no rinse!

The Water softening ability of ONR comes from bonding and removing minerals from water which takes place by the polymers in No Rinse in the same way as it bonds to dirt or other surfaces. The polymers remove minerals from water by bonding and trapping them similar to how they remove dirt particles and drop them down to the bottom of solution. There is nothing in soap that has that ability hence dirt or contaminants float in the solution. The reactivity of the polymers come from having both negatively charged and positively charged groups in the polymer which
gives it a zwitterionic character. It can therefore bond with any particle whether they are anionic or cationic in nature.

With the new no rinse wash and wax, we have further increased the
lubricity, gloss, and protection. There is no product out there that can
match the performance of these products."

I'm under the impression that foam is just helping cling better for better dwelling time.

IMO this is unnecessary for a pH neutral shampoo (or "mostly neutral" like pipUK says) because of what I saw with my own testing of different techniques . I think dwell time is more important for a higher pH shampoo because of its cleaning ability...but in order for it to clean, you would probably need to foam the car multiple times to get it mostly clean without touching it with you wash mitt/pad.

I do remember reading that suds help carry dirt particles away, but don't know how true that is. I do not worry about letting a maintenance shampoo dwell as I have come to the conclusion that its a waste of time, but I do like to have a good amount of suds because of the aforementioned sentence.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I have used a lot of shampoos and it seems like washing with a good amount of suds makes for a cleaner, scratch free car...:dunno:

 

[allenk4]

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the bubbles in the foam insulate the soapy liquid that is in the surface of the paint so that it dries more slowly.

This increases dwell time and allows the soap solution to mire completely dissolve surface contaminants like dirt and oils.

Science guys chime in...


Besides, Foam looks cool

 

[Mizzoutiger]

I rinse then foam, 2-bucket, rinse. If really dirty...I'll rinse, foam, rinse, foam, 2-bucket, rinse. Really 3-bucket...always doing wheels first.

 

[Bunky]

Given I can usually get 2 full coats with a full bottle (2-3 oz soap), I will foam, rinse, foam, then traditional wash unless using AF Avalanche.

 

[EVOlved]

I know zerix has tried ONR in the cannon and wasn't a fan. So that deterred me from trying honestly.

 

[PA DETAILER]

I always clean the wheels/tires first. Then rinse the vehicle. Then hit it with foam and wash as usuall with bucket(s).

 

[cardaddy]

Remember the instructions on hair shampoo?

Lather - Rinse - Repeat

That's what I do. :dblthumb2:
Works great on a dry and dirty automobile surface.

(Just not with hair shampoo, and NOT on my head!) :laughing:
Why not you ask?
My folks used to own 3 beauty salons when I was growing up, and I'd work part time during the Holidays shampooing hair for my Mom's oldest and best friends (they tipped GREAT in the early 70's, usually around $20).
But the reason we (I) never did the later - rinse - repeat thing with hair is even my Mom told me it was the biggest lie ever told to the public. (Mainly to sell more shampoo!!!!!)
Work up a good lather and work it in good, that's all you need for your head.

OTOH, for your vehicles paint you simply CAN NOT "work it in good".... unless of course you want a swirled up mess afterwards. So the least amount of "agitating" you can do, (IMO) the better.

 

[aztec1987]

WOO HOO!!!!! Anyone else would like to Join the Dark Side??

If Darth Vader (Puckman) likes it and (Me) Boba Phet likes it then why not join us?? If not I will have Darth Vader do the death squeeze on ya.....Y'ALL Have been warned!!!!!.....lol

Im the MAN

I'll join the minority with ya, kamakaz. I, too, rinse first then foam in usually 4 sections then rinse each section again before moving on to the next section.

I rinse, foam, and tow bucket method too!!!!

 

[VISITOR]

I do it when it's dry and dirty. This way the foam clings on longer and doesn't run off as fast. Then you can pressure wash off the last bit of foam and dirt and proceed with your 2BM routine.

same here when i use the foam cannon. i feel that the soap emulsifies the dirt more when sprayed on a dry car that hasn't been pre-rinsed where water is already on the car. thanks everyone for the replies thus far...

 

[phens82]

I always clean the wheels/tires first. Then rinse the vehicle. Then hit it with foam and wash as usuall with bucket(s).

Same here. For a car that isn't totally wrecked, the initial rinse (with a pressure washer, in my case) stage allows you to ID any bird bombs / sap spots, blast off what you can with water-only, then pay special attn to the area when you agitate your foam with your mitt. :xyxthumbs:

 

[LRC3]

I always clean the wheels/tires first. Then rinse the vehicle. Then hit it with foam and wash as usuall with bucket(s).

Same but no bucket....

I haven't used a bucket since I got my lance and discovered UWW+.

 

[Aingoi10207]

I start by cleaning wheels, tires, and wheel wells first of course. Then ill rinse, foam, let the foam dwell for a minute or two, rinse again, then foam, wash, and rinse each panel individually as I go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TCFatboy]

I belive is not a good Idea foaming a car while is dry / In my opinion you have to remove the most that you can, dirt on your car otherwise your are just making a mix of shampoo & dirt

I pressure wash the complete car / Do a nice pass with the foamer. let it sit a few seconds, do a complete pass by hand this gives a much better result than just rinsing with water

at least here in South Baja we have a lot of dust,mud, and this is the method we use.

first pressure wash / then the Foam / Hand Wash final with Pressure rinse!!

 

[VISITOR]

I belive is not a good Idea foaming a car while is dry / In my opinion you have to remove the most that you can, dirt on your car otherwise your are just making a mix of shampoo & dirt

I pressure wash the complete car / Do a nice pass with the foamer. let it sit a few seconds, do a complete pass by hand this gives a much better result than just rinsing with water

at least here in South Baja we have a lot of dust,mud, and this is the method we use.

first pressure wash / then the Foam / Hand Wash final with Pressure rinse!!

that's what i was thinking too, but if the car is wet after you rinse it down, the dirt may or may not be as effective at eating away the bare dirt on the surface. all i can say is whatever way everyone is doing it and it works out for them, then that's all that matters...

 

[Shortspark]

Most of the time you are going to go over the car with a two bucket wash, or at least with another lather of foam and wash mitt. Seldom are you going to just foam and rinse. However, I did just that today because the car was virtually spotless except for some dust. I foamed first when the car was dry, rinsed, foamed again, rinsed again and then dried with a blower. I never touched the paint and it came out fine. My LSP was Sonax Polymer Netshield and dirt does not stick to it. In fact, nothing sticks to it, including the foam and that is why I foamed twice. I think if the car is really dirty you need to knock off as much of the dirt with a power washer first and then foam, but if it is not too bad I would foam while the car is dry and then power rinse.