Poor mans "not so foamy" soap gun

dontsleeponit

dontsleeponit

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Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone here has taken the cheap aproach to the foam gun, and just used a garden type sprayer like this one.
MiracleGro-GardenFeeder.jpg

Now I am very aware that this doesnt even come close to a foam gun, but I bought mine (not that exact one) for 5 bucks at sears hardware, and I love it. I fill it with my soap and some water, shake it up, and it sprays nice sudsy water. I can cover the whole car easily. I usualy soak the whole car, then using my washmit, resoak section by section and clean. This alows me to only use one bucket, to rinse the mit, and always have a fresh layer of sudsy water on the section im washing. Its also nice to be able to soak the wheels/wells and hard to get to areas in soapy water.

The one I bought has mixture % settings, but I usually use it at the highest setting which is meant for granual fertilizer. It also has a fresh water setting, which is nice, and of course on and off switch.

Id love to own a foam gun, but for now this 5$ answer works well for me, anyone else here using something like it? Im sure im not nearly the first to do this.
 
Haha I saw one at my house in the backyard while I was suntanning and I got the same idea, went and got some cheap stuff from the garage (Eagle One...parent's stuff) put 5 oz in and sprayed it at the fence and there was no foam at all...

The thing is 10 years old though so I'd imagine there are better ones out there... might have to try that one you used...

I'm in the same boat, I want a foam gun but its not at the top of my list yet, I just spent $1000 on products over the weekend.
 
If you want a cheap foam gun, run down to Lowe's and pick up theirs for $10.
 
P1et said:
If you want a cheap foam gun, run down to Lowe's and pick up theirs for $10.
Click to expand...

Which one is the Lowes one? Is it in the garden section or something? I know if I go there I am going to spend like a hour trying to find anything and I am sure if I ask one of the people walking around about a "foam gun" they won't know what I am talking about and end up walking around with me doing the same thing I could do on my own.
 
hey that looks pretty nice, how much? let us know how you like it when you use it
 
dontsleeponit said:
hey that looks pretty nice, how much? let us know how you like it when you use it
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It was $9.97, but I also purchased a quick release attachement for my hose and the end of this gun for an additional $5. So $15 with the quick release attachment which is attached to it in that pic. I will be using it this weekend and I will let you know. Something I notice right off the bat is the soap container is pretty small, 3.5 oz. to be exact. I am not sure how this thing works, we will see. Maybe I will bust it out tomorrow actually, IM PRETTY AMPED!~
 
Yes I have one. A weed and feed sprayer thats refillable (most have locked on caps)
Nothing compared to a gilmour but cost me nothing and suds up ok
 
Mr Dream Machines said:
Yes I have one. A weed and feed sprayer thats refillable (most have locked on caps)
Nothing compared to a gilmour but cost me nothing and suds up ok
Click to expand...

exactly, its no "foam gun" but it covers the car in "sudsy" water quick and easy, and it cuts down on one bucket. Im gonna take some pics maybe a crappy digital camera vid and post em to show the results from this cheap kind of sprayer.
 
dontsleeponit said:
Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone here has taken the cheap aproach to the foam gun
Click to expand...
I'm glad you'd asked! :cheers:
I'm going to be getting one from the Geek for sure :righton:
Yesterday, I finally put the same idea you had into work after pondering the idea for few weeks
This is a copy and paste of a post from another board by me...

Well, in order to enhance my detailing tools supply, and to improve on the quality of my work, I needed a foam gun. But like they say, necessity is the mother of invention! :D
With that said...this is what I came up with...
I took the head unit off a bottle of a grass fertilizer, cleaned it real good, and screwed it on a spray bottle I have; the results, my own homemade foam gun! :righton:
This is what it looks like: (just washed the car with the soap, rinsed, and dried -nothing more-) Just had to test it on my own car...
Notice it has its own shut-off dial valve (in blue) :lol:
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The results were ok. I was pleased that it worked like I thought it would. However, the suds action could've been better. I have poured about an ounce of a diluted 50/50 Duragloss Car Shampoo with water to experiment, probably an inch of the total diluted solution into the bottle
Next time, I'm going to use the carwash soap in its concentrated form, now that I know it will work
Here's some pics of its work...
000_0601.jpg

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And here are some afters...
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Today, I put more concentrated carwash soap and the results were terrifiv. I forgot my camera earlier when I was detailing a mustang...may be next time I'll post some pics
 
Hehehe.... Z6 Goose.... The head unit looks like this. Hehehe... :)
245308_front200.jpg
 
Gnarboots11 said:
Hey is this the Lowes version?

Picture033.jpg
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this looks almost exactly like the one i have....it works pretty good i think....not as sudsy as the foam gun...but it def does work

and i too use the spray completely and then use one mit
 
P1et said:
If you want a cheap foam gun, run down to Lowe's and pick up theirs for $10.
Click to expand...
Yah my son got one cheap somewhere local but I have not been there when he has used it, and I have not seen it out with the products in use lately.....
 
P1et - Im using the same Megs wash with my sprayer... I was hoping to try something better and get some better performance out of it, how do you like the gold class with yours?

Also I REALLY wanna try the P21S gel wheel cleaner, I hear its the best

My resluts are similar to Z06 Goose, and btw awesome Z06 man:righton:
 
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O cool, so I have the same Lowes sprayer. Hey do you load up the full 3.5oz. container with the concentrated car wash non-diluted? Then the sprayer does the mix for you? Also, I noticed the sprayer like like 8 settings or something from like stream, cone, flat, mist, etc. Have you figured out which one works best? I will be experimenting with it later. Also, you run the thing on as high a concentration as you can? I know there's a couple knobs on it, the one on top and the one on the back.
 
Gnarboots11 said:
O cool, so I have the same Lowes sprayer. Hey do you load up the full 3.5oz. container with the concentrated car wash non-diluted? Then the sprayer does the mix for you? Also, I noticed the sprayer like like 8 settings or something from like stream, cone, flat, mist, etc. Have you figured out which one works best? I will be experimenting with it later. Also, you run the thing on as high a concentration as you can? I know there's a couple knobs on it, the one on top and the one on the back.
Click to expand...

i fill mine up with the nxt car wash, and theres a dial of how "soapy" you want that i put at the second to the most sudsy...

the sprayer that i use i dont remember the name on the dial but its like a strong showerhead....
 
I use the Lowes gun with success. There is no need to fill the sprayer all the way. I add about 1 oz of 901 add a little 4n1 for water softening and fill the rest with water. Works well for me. This way it will reduce wasting any of the soap.
 
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