Honestly, is foaming even effective? Isn't a simple wash mitt much better?

There has been a couple times when my truck has just been dusty from sitting in the garage, etc. that I just foamed it, rinsed it then dried it with the Master Blaster.

No touching, no scratching!
 
I generally don't foam but...... Think of it a a presoak. It's easier doing dishes if the sit in some soapy water for a short amount of time as compared to not. Same effect from foaming a car!
 
I just foamed my car last weekend for the first time after getting my order from AG, and man do I wish I had done that a looooong time ago, I loved it:)
 
Joelotto said:
I can say up to about a week ago I wondered the same thing with regards to doing a presoak. A few months ago I removed all the swirls on my car and put a coat of opti-coat on it. I don't wash the car at my house as I have very hard water. So I goto a manual car wash and hose everything I can off the car, then I dry it with a good MF and ONR. Up to now it's been working great and no more swirls. About one week ago I put about 1500 miles on the car in a matter of days and the front had tons of bug, pollen all over the car...along with a bunch of other stuff. So I goto the car wash and use their presoak that I never used before and as I was spraying the car down it looked like all the crude was just melting and running down the car. I was really amazed with how well it work(I plan to ask the owner of the car was what brand of presoak solution he uses) so I decided to go around the car one more time. Remember this presoak at the car wash was very very low pressure......when I went around for a second time and made my way back to the front bumper area 100% of the bugs came off with the limited pressure from the presoak.

So if you asked me now about doing a foam job or presoak prior to touching the car with anything I would say absolutely. After doing the presoak I hit it with high pressure wash and then HP rinse. Without touching the car I removed 95% of the dirt and crud...the other 5% was in the door jams and under the hood. I have very little chance of doing damage to the paint on my car this way. just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

A forum member and I had a highly different set of opinions on the "presoak" topic in this thread.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...76-pressure-washers-what-do-you-use-them.html

I was taught by the carwash industry that the presoak option is the most unused option at most self serve carwashes.

It's a shame most people don't know what you've experienced.

Derrick
 
Mr Megane said:
At a pH of 8.5, realistically it is barely alkaline at all - some would consider it so minimally so as to describe it as neutral. In mineral rich areas, your water supply can be at that level. Practically it will not have enough alkalinity to do much good. Consider that many ready to use APCs on the market will have pH in excess of 12 - this will be approximately 10000 times stronger than the alkalinity providers at pH 8.5. I would honestly say you need to be well above pH 10 before you will see any big improvement in greasecutting power.
Click to expand...

Please keep in mind that I said D110 is not too alkaline for my personal Health & Safety...
FUNX725 said:
...Meguiar's D110 Hyper-Wash...
@~ 8.5 ph...not too alkaline for my personal Health & Safety.
Click to expand...

Although others may disagree...
Mr Megane said:
What I am saying is that there really is nothing particularly special about D110
Click to expand...

...That's just one of the reasons I consider D110 to be special.


-When I do need to use a degreaser that's of 10,000 times the 'strength' of D110...
I will already know, and deem, that it is too alkaline for my personal Health & Safety.

Therefore...
I will utilize the proper PPE, as well as follow the manufacturers' recommendations
for safe usage not only by/for the end-user...but the environment as well.


Mr Megane said:
Coconut Diethanolamide is in all manner of products (think washing up liquids) but would be considered a secondary surfactant - it isn't what gives the flash foam necessary, rather it stabilises the foam. The anionic you refer to is what gives the flash foam, but again, these are ubiquitous and there wont be many high foam products which do not contain one or other anionic primary surfactant. .
Click to expand...
IMO...This is just exactly what I was trying to 'drive home'!
Thanks...Really...for clarifying my below layman's-speak approach. :xyxthumbs:
(Afterall...The Science of Surfactants is one of your fortes.)
FUNX725 said:
Foam/Suds(?):
Are they only as "good in/for cleaning"...
as the surfactants that are in the car-wash shampoo solution?

I've heard that at least some, if not all, surfactants may produce foam/suds...
But isn't it nice to have some good ol': Coconut Diethanolamide (DEA)...
added to a product such as: D110 to assist in producing copious amounts of foam.

That, and Meguiar's choice of 'anionic surfacatants' for D110...could very well be for you, OP...
The: Car-wash-shampoo/Pre-soak/Snow-foam: "Deal-maker"
Click to expand...

Side Bar:
You've stated before that guys in your neck-of-the-woods are acclimated to using
stronger cleaning-agents than the guys do over here. I do believe you.

:)

Bob
 
Foaming as a pre-soak makes PLENTY of sense as far as reducing the chance of swirls.
 
I'm with Mike as I use it just for marketing. If I am doing a mobile wash/detail and I foam, it catches others attention. The owner may feel I am going above and beyond. It's something that you do not see everyday and it does not add that much additional time for me.
 
FUNX725 said:
Please keep in mind that I said D110 is not too alkaline for my personal Health & Safety...

Side Bar:
You've stated before that guys in your neck-of-the-woods are acclimated to using
stronger cleaning-agents than the guys do over here. I do believe you.

:)

Bob
Click to expand...

Ah Bob - you are too cautious! Just remember that lemon juice and vinegar will be in the region of pH 2, 5 units off neutral (so equivalent alkaline is about 12), yet they are safe to ingest. Milton sterilising solution, which is wiped directly onto wounds, will be a pH of 10.5 to 11. So honestly, there is very very little to be concerned about at these sorts of levels. Of course, each to their own but don't be afraid of this sort of alkalinity - you will encounter much worse without ever realising it.

Bang on about the strength of products here. Whilst caustics clean well, there are too many people over here who use trade products, with very high levels of caustics. They often do this with little or no appreciation of the dangers and often fail to even read the labels and spot the 'corrosive' danger symbols! So there is a lot to be said for a bit of caution! :xyxthumbs:
 
i use it as a quick wash if i have recently put wax on and its Just barley to dusty to wipe down with detail spray ill Hit it with the foam gun light pressurized rinse and blow dry no touch cleanIm the MAN
 
Mr Megane said:
The effect is extremely dependent upon your product. As I have pointed out before, the products in the US tend to be extremely mild and are often also used as a regular bucket wash shampoo. Chemically these have very little effect, a scientific consideration would not have you believe they would have a massive effect. In practice, a regular bucket type shampoo will have minimal benefit compared to simply using a high pressure water jet - such a mild product has no chance of cutting through oily films such as those resulting from vehicle exhausts. Do some reading on the UK forums and you will see that products for use in a foam cannon/lance are rarely the same as those used for a hand wash. Most will use elevated alkalinity which makes a big difference when cutting through traffic films. In so doing, the products become irritant and would not be safe for a lot of skin contact (as in a bucket wash). Some products will go to an extreme and use lots of caustic soda to make a seriously alkaline product - these will make another big difference and there will be a night and day difference when comparing the results with a foam like this compared to a mild pH, shampoo, type product.

All the best
Click to expand...

I enjoyed reading your posts. Very understandable for an average joe and yet I feel like I learned a ton

Sent from my SCH-I605 using AG Online
 
A good high pressure washer will do as much as any hand wash product put through a foam cannon will.

I agree that in Europe where foaming is so popular ... They don't use hand wash products for pre wash foaming because they are not strong enough to make any difference. If its mild enough to not hurt your wax... it surely isn't strong enough to breakdown oil and other bonded road and airborn contaminants with any level of effectiveness.

You could learn a lot about foaming from their forums. Europeans usually are ahead of the car maintenance curve and they absolutely are on this topic for sure.
 
Foaming makes the most sense when you mix the soap with an APC to strip the paint.

For maintenance washes, I am sure there is minimal benefit but given how cheap soap really is (only takes 1 to 2 ounces) it is nice entertainment.

However, if one pre-rinses with water, then foams but does not remove, does this make the initial wash mitt contact safer? Or, go to the extra step to rinse, foam, rinse, re-foam, not rinse, and then proceed with your favorite wash method (1,2,3 3 buckets). Of course, if you have issues with soap drying on paint, this is a problem.

For me with a foam cannon, you could use 3 ounces soap in the foam cannon and another 1.5 ounces in the bucket so 4.5 ounces or about $1.50 in soap.
 
TroyM said:
I've been coming across many posts and pictures in the forum about foaming in the washing process. I can't logically understand the benefit of it?
Click to expand...

The Golden Rule: The less you physically touch a car during washing, the less chance you have of scratching it. The foam lifts everything it can off the surface. When you rinse it with a power washer all that comes off. All that is left is "film" which comes off in the two bucket method. Try foaming your car with P21S Total Auto Wash and let it sit for 10 minutes. Rinse it and watch what comes off!
 
Bunky said:
Foaming makes the most sense when you mix the soap with an APC to strip the paint.

For maintenance washes, I am sure there is minimal benefit but given how cheap soap really is (only takes 1 to 2 ounces) it is nice entertainment.

However, if one pre-rinses with water, then foams but does not remove, does this make the initial wash mitt contact safer? Or, go to the extra step to rinse, foam, rinse, re-foam, not rinse, and then proceed with your favorite wash method (1,2,3 3 buckets). Of course, if you have issues with soap drying on paint, this is a problem.

For me with a foam cannon, you could use 3 ounces soap in the foam cannon and another 1.5 ounces in the bucket so 4.5 ounces or about $1.50 in soap.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this works well but seem to do well for me. I foam a dry car, let dwell, rinse with a 40 degree nozzle and then go into my two bucket method.
 
Curious, does anyone use their foam gun to wash also?

After presoak and rinse, foam 1 panel at a time and wash with MF mitt then rinse? I use this method to wash sometimes instead of two bucket.
 
When foaming then rinse and then do the 2 bucket wash, is the life of the wax or sealant shortened faster? I am assuming this, since the wax/sealant was exposed 2 times to the shampoo.
 
I use foam . I pw the car first then foam and use the two bucket method to wash the vehicle while the foam is still on it . If I'm doing a paint correction or wax . Foam let it dwell then rinse and the foam again and wash with two bucket method while foam the s on the car . Washing while the foam is on the car seems safer to me the lubercant in the soap I'm using are great and the wash mitt just glides across the car .

Sent from my SPH-L710 using AG Online
 
jgibson2980 said:
I use foam . I pw the car first then foam and use the two bucket method to wash the vehicle while the foam is still on it . If I'm doing a paint correction or wax . Foam let it dwell then rinse and the foam again and wash with two bucket method while foam the s on the car . Washing while the foam is on the car seems safer to me the lubercant in the soap I'm using are great and the wash mitt just glides across the car .

Sent from my SPH-L710 using AG Online
Click to expand...

Not so you will actually have more chance of marring cause the loos dirt is still on car. Your missing the whole point of foaming is to get the loose dirt of so you don't mar the paint. If your washing the car with foam on it all your doing is rubbing loose dirt all over the car.
Foam
Rinse
2bucket wash
Rinse
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top