996Outpost.com

Makes a SHITLOAD of foam, which acts to lubricate and encapsulate particulates.

It also gives the entire car time to soak under a layer of foam. My car is always covered with little yellow specks (dead bee guts, hummingbird shit, I don't know) that are a bitch to get off. The foam gun made it possible to let the whole car "soak" for several minutes; by the time I hit it with the mitt, everything came off really easily.

If you cheat like I do and use a wash that has "paint conditioners" to make the car look like you actually try, being able to coat the whole car evenly, for as long as you want, also makes sense to me.

Finally, it's a cool gadget, and I have a serious problem when it comes to resisting cool gadgets.

After buying the Porsche the youngest kid(40) made me do it this way:

Rinse car with water
Foam entire car
Allow for dwell time
Soap a natural sea sponge
Clean with the sponge while continuing to apply soap/water with foamer(straight line movement not circular you big dummy!)
Rinse panels as needed not allowing to dry
Do wheels last with a wheel brush
Rinse overall car
Use micro-fiber cloths to dry(I added blow dry before wiping)

He learned from reading stuff and it has worked well ever since.

I've got the Wolfgang hose foamer which works well and soap % is adjustable with Meguiars Gold. Not sure if it saves any water though. My driveway is pretty wet/soapy when done...stupid bricks.

Which foam cannon are you using? Currently using the new style MTM Hydro with Adam's Car Shampoo. I think the Adam's is my favorite foam wash, mainly because if it does dry on your paint, it will not leave residue. I've had mixed results with the Meg's gold class. The gallon size, while a bit pricey, has lasted me a year.

gnat, think of the foam cannon as an exfoliate and soap in your bucket as a lubricant. The end goal is to minimize the amount of sand, dirt, iron, etc that ends up between your wash mit and clear coat. The foam will lift that junk off your paint and can be washed off before you proceed to wash by hand. When you've either spent 6-12 hours doing a paint correction, or paid someone else $500+, you will do whatever it takes to minimize introducing swirls. Once you see swirl marks...you can never unsee them.

32wildbilly wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 2:56 pm After buying the Porsche the youngest kid(40) made me do it this way:

Rinse car with water
Foam entire car
Allow for dwell time
Soap a natural sea sponge
Clean with the sponge while continuing to apply soap/water with foamer(straight line movement not circular you big dummy!)
Rinse panels as needed not allowing to dry
Do wheels last with a wheel brush
Rinse overall car
Use micro-fiber cloths to dry(I added blow dry before wiping)

He learned from reading stuff and it has worked well ever since.

I've got the Wolfgang hose foamer which works well and soap % is adjustable with Meguires Gold. Not sure if it saves any water though. My driveway is pretty wet/soapy when done...stupid bricks.

Switch to doing the wheels first, and use the same bucket to wash exhaust tips. That way you're not scrambling to wash the wheels before water dries on the paint. Ditch the sponge and switch to a microfiber madness incredipad.

https://www.carpro-us.com/wash-mitts/mi ... ncredipad/

sweet victory wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 3:01 pm

Switch to doing the wheels first, and use the same bucket to wash exhaust tips. That way you're not scrambling to wash the wheels before water dries on the paint. Ditch the sponge and switch to a microfiber madness incredipad.

https://www.carpro-us.com/wash-mitts/mi ... ncredipad/
[/quote]

Bucket? What bucket?

Ehhhh. I prefer wheel bucket and two bucket system with grit guards. After seeing how dirty the bottom of the bucket is, don't think I could do it any other way.

The thing that I was most surprised by: the lack of dirt on the towels when I dried the car. Usually there is some - which always pisses me off. This time, it was really clean.

Of course, it was the first time using the new toy, so I probably paid more attention to it than I would normally.

The one I bought is called "GDHXW X-882 Foam Wash Gun." Amazon sold it to me for $24.68, which was why I was willing to give it a try.

5chn3ll wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:46 pm The one I bought is called "GDHXW X-882 Foam Wash Gun." Amazon sold it to me for $24.68, which was why I was willing to give it a try.

I bought one of those cheap knockoff foam guns from Amazon, so cheap and so knocked-off, in fact, it's called a Snow Cannon

Before I decided to pick one up I watched a review on Youtube where the guy tried the $120, $70, and $20 models and basically determined that the quality of foam comes down to which soap you're using, not which gun.

Dr_Strangelove (whew!) wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:13 pm

5chn3ll wrote: ↑Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:46 pm The one I bought is called "GDHXW X-882 Foam Wash Gun." Amazon sold it to me for $24.68, which was why I was willing to give it a try.

I bought one of those cheap knockoff foam guns from Amazon, so cheap and so knocked-off, in fact, it's called a Snow Cannon

Before I decided to pick one up I watched a review on Youtube where the guy tried the $120, $70, and $20 models and basically determined that the quality of foam comes down to which soap you're using, not which gun.

Doc... love your new avatar. That's one SHARP car my friend! I think I really warming up to the dark green color.

I’ve got a foam gun that I don’t use that often. IIRC it’s an MTM. For the 996 I can usually get through a standard bucket wash in about the same amount of time as it takes to set up the pressure washer and foam gun. I have a cab, so I’m usually using a different cleaner and preservative on the top anyway.

The key to the old-school bucket wash is a new-school bucket. Every so often, Griot’s will knock about half off the price of their wash bucket. It’s rectangular and comes with a cover, grit screen, and wheels. At 50% off it’s still overpriced, but not ridiculously so. I’ve been using mine for a few years, and I’ve got to admit, it beats the hell out of my old five-gallon pails.

If I’m washing multiple cars, or even if it’s just the Cargo Vessel — where the top is harder to reach — the foam gun is the way to go. Like Schnell says, just crank out foam until the car is indistinguishable under the suds, give it a little time, and it’s really pretty amazing how much crud just soaks off. I’ve foamed thousand-mile-road-trip collections of insect carcasses off the MDX with minimal effort.