How to use a foam gun by Mike Phillips

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Amazingly thorough write-up Mike, as always. I actually never knew what those screws were for on the foam gun.

Thank you sir!

Q: In your opinion, is there any advantage for using a foam gun over a foam cannon/lance?

Answer: Yes. The foam cannon will dramatically create more more foam and thicker foam over a foam gun.

I personally prefer my foam cannon/lance over the foam gun because it uses less soap, less water, and produces thicker clinger foam.

In a contest between the performance of a foam cannon to a foam gun the foam cannon will win every time.

For all the forum members and lurkers that will read this into the future that might not know what we're talking about,

Foam CANNON = For use with a Pressure Washer

Foam GUN = For use with a Garden Hose​

So here's why I use and shared the foam gun over the foam cannon in this article,

1: Not everyone owns a Pressure Washer - the masses have or have access to a Garden Hose

2: Using a Pressure Washer includes using a very stiff, heavy duty water line that is cumbersome to handle and move around the car AS COMPARED TO a garden hose.


By nature... I'm lazy. It might not seem like it to people on the outside as I also tend to be a work-a-holic. That said, it's easier for me to drag out a garden hose to wash cars and trucks than it is to drag out the pressure washer to wash cars and trucks.

I use to show the pressure washer in my 3-Day Competition Ready Detailing Classes but when you combine the unit itself and the hose used to hook it up to a water spigot and then the stiff pressure line for the pressure washer gun/wand plus if it's an electric pressure washer, now factor in the electrical cord and you have what I call a TRIP HAZARD for the students in my classes.

Not only that, but on the car wash portion of the class, which is Saturday we wash on average 3-5 cars for the upcoming tool and technique classes so the extra hassle of using a pressure washer as compared to garden hoses is a real time killer and a trip hazard.

I also find it more effective to foam the paint when it's dry rather than starting with a rinse. That way the foam clings longer and has more of a chance to loosen dirt and grime, then I rinse the foam and dirt off and proceed with my two bucket wash. While the foam is dwelling it gives me a chance to prep my buckets and finish washing the wheels.

I totally agree. When I first started showing how I spray Iron X onto dry dirty cars it ruffled the feathers of a number of detailing experts. I say, use what works for you and I'll use and share what works for me. Kind of like the amount of soap to use in a foam gun or a foam cannon. My buddy Juan taught me to,

"Never spend another man's money"


I like lots of suds so I use the ample amount of soap. Key word being ample for my taste and for a foam gun.

- Thanks (John Rogers from Facebook)

Thank you for the great questions and you're take on using foam cannons.

 

[jeepngli]

I'll have to check out that hyper soap. On a dirtier car, I definitely don't rinse first. I do as you said so the foam clings better. But my baby never gets that dirty

I will take a picture next time I wash mine with the amount of soap I use and the resulting foam.

Definitely agree Mike: what works for some doesn't work for others. Me being curious I am always open to trying another's method. Thanks!!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I'll have to check out that hyper soap.

Been there, done that...


Meguiar's Big Rig Extreme Makeover - Pictures & Videos!

Definitely agree Mike: what works for some doesn't work for others.

I will take a picture next time I wash mine with the amount of soap I use and the resulting foam.

Me being curious I am always open to trying another's method.

Thanks!!

I'm already looking forward to the pictures...

 

[scuff]

Sweet! Do they sell replacement parts for the foam gun? I lost the brass screw on the top of the mixing head which you said is prone to being lost

Now that I have a foam gun in hand, I think there's a small, significant difference between the two screws. I also noticed a tool free number on the instruction sheet for ordering parts. I don't have time now, but I'll post a scan of that sheet later.

 

[PA DETAILER]

Very well written and informative article. When i first got mine I thought it might be a passing fad, but years later I use it every wash.

 

[scuff]

Multi Ratio Foam Cleaning Gun (low pressure) Instructions & Parts Diagram

For parts: 800-852-2723 (Autogeek doesn't sell replacement parts) - Model number can be found on the top of the mixing head. For example, my gun is Model #75QGF, the same as Mike's.


View attachment 50477

View attachment 50478

#10 - Screw (Locking) and #11 - Screw (Metering) are very similar, with a small difference. The metering screw has a tiny hole in the top; the locking screw does not. The locking screw fills a blind hole, and it appears to simply act as a stop so that #14 - Stem (Adj Metering) can't slide out of the rest of the mixing head. While a replacement for the locking screw might be easy to find locally, finding or making a metering screw might be difficult. Both screws can come loose easily, so take a moment to make sure they're tight, or add some light (green) or medium (blue) thread locker to them for added security. Mike's suggestion to use pliers to tighten them will work. Bear in mind that it may become necessary to remove the screws to clear debris from the mixing head, so don't go overboard and seat them in red thread locker.

Anyone wanting better copies of the attached photos can find them here. vBulletin's media management leaves much to be desired.

 

[rsa]

The recommended dilutions for McKee's 37 Xtreme Foam Formula car wash soap are,

2 ounces soap to 6-8 ounces of water

Because I like lots of suds the below mixing instructions are for mixing 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water.

32 divided by 6 = 5.3

If we just round the 5.3 to 5 that means 5 groups of 6 ounces will go into the one quart bottle but each group of 6 ounces will also get 2 ounces of soap. So that's 8 ounces. 8 will go into 32 3 times and now I'm done doing math. :laughing:

Instead of making this difficult I do what I call look at the BIG PICTURE. The big picture is I want lots of suds.

In order to completely fill the 1 quart bottle with a uniform mixture of soap and water solution at the 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water dilution level I fudged the math to make it EASY to mix a strong dilution of soap and suds. If you want a weaker solution then simply add more water than I show below and less soap. For example you could add 24 ounces of water and 8 ounces of soap. Or add 28 ounces of water and 6 ounces of soap. For these dilutions, to make it easy on yourself, simply measure out the water first and then MARK the side of the bottle with a permanent marker. Then in the future you can quickly fill the bottle with water to the mark and then fill the rest of the bottle with soap.


For maximum suds

I filled the bottle with 22 ounces of water then added 10 ounces of soap. This gave me a total volume of 32 ounces of soapy water solution.

Mike, thank you for the detailed tutorial! I've had a foam gun in my shed for years. I used it once and put it away because it didn't "work". Using your instructions and pictures, it worked great yesterday! View attachment 50668

One comment: 10 ounces of soap to 22 ounces of water = 2 ounce of soap to 4.4 ounces of water. To get 32 ounces of soapy water solution at a mix of 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water requires 8 ounces soap, not 10:

• 2 ounces of water + 6 ounces of soap = 8 ounces soapy water solution.
• 32 divided by 8 = 4.
• 6 ounces of water 4 times = 24 ounces water.
• 2 ounces of soap 4 times = 8 ounces soap.
• 24 ounce water + 8 ounces soap = 32 ounces of soapy water solution at a mix of 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water.​

I understand you may prefer to use a "richer" solution than 2 ounces of soap to 6 ounces of water

-Stewart

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Very well written and informative article.

Thank you. While Facebook might be easy to post a sentence or two, there's simply no way to share a REAL how-to article on Facebook. That's where a REAL discussion forum shines.

When i first got mine I thought it might be a passing fad, but years later I use it every wash.

Me too.

I wish someone would have shown me a foam gun a lot sooner...

 

[roguegeek]

Such a good write up. I enjoy reading these so much. I'm interested, but I have one concern. It seems like there is a cost to this process and that's product. Much more product. At least five times more product than a normal two-bucket system would use. That's not an insignificant amount, IMO.

Mike, do you feel there is a enough of an effective advantage from the foam gun over a two-bucket wash to warrant the additional cost or is it something where it just makes the washing process more fun (which is valuable in itself, but subjective)?

 

[briarpatch]

Just got one of these...an early Christmas present from me to me.....it was awesome.....actually made washing the cars fun.....

 

[rendezvous2004]

The dual bucket system is a great idea on its own, I always mess that step.

Thanks for the great post Mike!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Such a good write up. I enjoy reading these so much.

Thank you. It takes time to,

• Do the work
• Stop working and take the pictures
• Process the pictures and upload to the gallery
• Add words to the pictures to create an article that is easy to read, understand and then put what was shared into use in someone else's driveway or garage.

I'm interested, but I have one concern. It seems like there is a cost to this process and that's product.

Much more product. At least five times more product than a normal two-bucket system would use. That's not an insignificant amount, IMO.

Mike, do you feel there is a enough of an effective advantage from the foam gun over a two-bucket wash to warrant the additional cost or is it something where it just makes the washing process more fun (which is valuable in itself, but subjective)?

I would agree with the later for most people. Using a foam gun "for me" makes the job more fun and this means more enjoyable. It would be a lot easier to go to the pool and float around with a cold one but my cars get dirty so I have to wash them. The word have does not equal fun and enjoyable.

I also like and prefer how the foam gun SLATHERS the body panel I'm washing with foam. So that's personal preference.

There must be something to it because I have the ability to wash my wife's car and my truck about a dozen different ways and I ALWAYS use a foam gun.

Just got one of these...an early Christmas present from me to me.....it was awesome.....actually made washing the cars fun.....

And for some people, that's important because it's no fun to do something that's not fun.

The dual bucket system is a great idea on its own, I always mess that step.

There's two techniques to using the 2-Bucket System

1: Scrubbing the wash mitt against the grit guard insert upon returning the wash mitt to the Rinse Bucket

2: Wringing out some of the Rinse Water before dipping the wash mitt into the Wash Water bucket. The reason being is if the wash mitt is full of rinse water it cannot absorb the soapy wash water which is what you want in the mitt when you move it over a body panel.


Make sense?

Thanks for the great post Mike!

Thank you sir...

The power of a forum is the ability to share information. That's the weakness of Facebook, you're limited to sharing information in a tiny little box with no way to format text or place pictures and text in a logical and linear order.

 

[sbrambo]

Mike,

I bought one of the foam guns recently (3 weeks ago). What do you do with the soap mixture between washes? Is there any concern about soap drying & clogging the orifices? I wash my car every other week.

I just store it in the bottle attached to the foam head, and haven't run plain water through the unit to clean it.

FWIW, I rinse the car with water, do the foam gun and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse the car again. I am hoping this gets rid of a lot of the loose dirt on the car. My water is surprisingly clean when I am done washing the car. Better than the old days.

I like the foam gun, recommend it to anyone thinking about buying one.

JD

I've got the cheap plastic top version, but I cleaned out a large mouth juice jug and pour my leftover solution in it. Not a lot of soap in it, but there's still some color in it. I rinse everything and run water through at all the settings to make sure it's flushed before storing it. When it's time to use again, I put the solution back in, add soap and top up with more water.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I've got the cheap plastic top version, but I cleaned out a large mouth juice jug and pour my leftover solution in it. Not a lot of soap in it, but there's still some color in it.

I rinse everything and run water through at all the settings to make sure it's flushed before storing it.

When it's time to use again, I put the solution back in, add soap and top up with more water.

Nice answer and perfect routine.


Thanks for chiming in and helping to answer HondaMan's question.


:dblthumb2:

 

[jps832]

Hi Mike. Just broke out the newly acquired foam gun today, and your instructions were perfect to a T. It definitely makes washing the car much more fun, and the dirt does come off a lot easier.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and for all the other articles you do for us, it's greatly appreciated!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi Mike. Just broke out the newly acquired foam gun today, and your instructions were perfect to a T. It definitely makes washing the car much more fun, and the dirt does come off a lot easier.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and for all the other articles you do for us, it's greatly appreciated!

Good to hear you like your new foam gun...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

***Bump***


Easily one of the most in-depth articles I've ever written including lots of pictures that tell the story...


Working on a script for My Classic Car where we're going to be showing a foam gun so I'm using my own how-to article for the info....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Darn!!!!!


All the pictures are missing!!!!!!!!!!!



Fingers are crossed that our vB Mechanic can figure out how to make the THOUSANDS of pictures I've posted over the last 9 years show up again!

 

[PaulMys]

Darn!!!!!


All the pictures are missing!!!!!!!!!!!



Fingers are crossed that our vB Mechanic can figure out how to make the THOUSANDS of pictures I've posted over the last 9 years show up again!

Me too.

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is never truer than in how-to info.