Pressure Washers & Foam Cannon's

[Stigs cousin]

Hi fellow Carpokens,

Dose anyone on here have experience with electric pressure washers & foam cannons?I have been watching numerous YouTube video's on pressure washers & foam cannon's.I am hoping there is someone on here that has had a good experience with both these items.It seems like a good idea to use the pressure washer as a touchless way to get the big dirt items off the car before using a washing mit or what ever your prefered wash rag is.It makes sense to me the less your rubbing or touching the paint the better.

One question I have had and haven't seen anything mentioned in the YouTube video's is any possible risk of lifting PPF that might be applied to the car.I get that a good distance from the surface your spaying makes sense.

I have alway's followed my washings up with the leaf blower method to get the majority of the water off & out of crevices keeping wiping to minimum.

Any input is greatly appreciated, Stig

[blueline]

No risk lifting PPF unless you use crazy high pressure and point the wand vertically at an exposed film edge or point the wand at a spot where the film is already lifting. Staying mostly perpendicular to surfaces with a wide, lower pressure nozzle meant for car washing ensures no issues. That's been my experience anyway.

Foam works pretty well although you'll still usually need a bit of hand washing unless the vehicle is already mostly clean. (IE: all you have to clean is heavy dust.)

It does tend to dry nicely with little to no spotting if well rinsed, but maybe that depends somewhat on the foam product you're using.

As far as using a pressure washer for cleaning regardless of foam, I think they're great - they can really help as you said for initially removing big dirt. Of course, a pressure washer won't get the car clean on its own - gotta go back to good old elbow grease if you want it really clean.

Time for me is tight and winter washing of any type at home is out too, so my cleaning is usually of the simple maintenance kind of an already basically clean car using Griot's Speed Shine (excellent for that with its high lubricity). For a really dirty car I am fortunate to have an outstanding detailer and PPF installer. Too little time and other priorities dictate that in my case, especially since the cars get driven as often as possible.

Foam is fun however and interesting to look at! (Pics from June 2019.)

[Stigs cousin]

Thanks for the info. Tim,
What pressure washer & foam cannon are you using?I been looking at pressure washers at Home Depot, Harbor Freight ect. ect.I been looking at 1700 psi with about 1.5 gallons per minute delivery.

I use Griots Garage products and am pretty satisfied.

Stig

[Tom]

I have a pressure washer from Harbor Freight. It's since been discontinued it seems, but was there lowest end/weakest one at the time. I'd just say to be careful with it. It can dig a hole in our asphalt driveway if I'm not careful. In the wrong hands, I'm sure you could damage stuff on the car...

[Stigs cousin]

Hi Tom,

Do you use a foam cannon?My GT-4 never sees much heavy dirt but my brother inlaw had driven down from WA, state last week in his Cayman and it was really filthy.He had a battery put in at the dealership and it looked like a 4 year old had washed the car which would of been better off if they hadn't touched it, he didn't request a wash by the way.I couldn't bring myself to look to close at the paint in fear of seeing something I couldn't un see!

It is something I could see using more on my other cars.
Stig

[audi4t]

It’s pollen season here in Ga but regardless my preferred method of car washing / cleaning is a commercial high pressure car wash.

NOT the drive through but the high pressure wand.

I’ve been washing my cars this way for at least 20 years.

Never a problem - painted, clear coat, ppf or vinyl wrapped. Typically I wash my daily driver this way at least twice a week.

I’m fortunate here in Ga we seem to have more of this type of car wash per capita than makes any financial sense. This makes the price to use these facilities very cheap.

I start with the high pressure foam wash, then clear rinse and finish with towel dry.

When I get home I apply Mcguires detail spray.

[blueline]

Sun Joe for the cars! SPX3000, 2030 psi, 1.76 gpm - perfect for cars and other lighter pw jobs. It's electric and easy to maintain.

This is what I purchased from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CPGMUXW/

Price was $149 + tax when I bought mine in 2019 but only up $20 to $169 now, so not too much of a price increase.

I also got this foam cannon kit (Twinkle Star) from Amazon. A great kit for only $19.99. (Griots probably has a foam cannon too but I don't know anything about what they sell.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0798NQTQS/

Interesting - I didn't realize that Amazon had turned embedded product links into image links.

[blueline]

I have a pressure washer from Harbor Freight. It's since been discontinued it seems, but was there lowest end/weakest one at the time. I'd just say to be careful with it. It can dig a hole in our asphalt driveway if I'm not careful. In the wrong hands, I'm sure you could damage stuff on the car...

It's imperative that you use the wide low-pressure nozzle. Most companies will stipulate that those are the only ones safe for washing cars and the like (CYA). Usually the green and/or white nozzles.

[blueline]

Talk about cutting through things, I have a never-used-anymore Pressure Wave monster powered by a 13hp Honda that will literally cut concrete if using the needle nozzle. It could be used as a close-range weapon!

[Tom]

Hi Tom,

Do you use a foam cannon?My GT-4 never sees much heavy dirt but my brother inlaw had driven down from WA, state last week in his Cayman and it was really filthy.He had a battery put in at the dealership and it looked like a 4 year old had washed the car which would of been better off if they hadn't touched it, he didn't request a wash by the way.I couldn't bring myself to look to close at the paint in fear of seeing something I couldn't un see!

It is something I could see using more on my other cars.
Stig

I've never used a foam cannon. I never been convinced it's worth the storage bulk, even though I admit it looks super cool. I always tell the dealer not to wash my car for exactly that reason.