Foam Lance Soap???

[the_invisible]

Today I notice that I have induced some very light and faint swirls on my G35 bumper. The bumper was polished no more than a month ago, and I am already having some swirls!!! I have been very diligent with my washes... 5 Meguiar's wash mitts (one mitt for two panels, and each scrubbed and soaked in liquid detergent after usage for 24hrs before next use) and two grit guard bucket washes. I also use Deep Crystal car wash. Maybe the lack of lubrication in DC wash is my problem???

One thing I notice is that I RARELY have any grits in my grit guard buckets. Rather, my wash and soap water are always tained after use.

This is ridiculous. I figure that I need a foam lance to reduce swirls. What I want to know is... if I use some NXT or DC Wash in the foam lance, will these soap actually penetrate and lift the dirt and grime from the paint? Or do these soap have no cleaning power, but just lubrication for gliding the mitt?

What soap would be best for use in Foam lance?
Please suggest only Meguiar's products. Suggesting non-Meguiar's brands on MOL, I am afraid, may put the MOL staff in an awkward position.

Thanks.

[Murr1525]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

I would definately give Gold Class a shot if you can get it.

What do you mean by foam lance? Like a pressure washer?

[the_invisible]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Yup, Gold Class is basically my main car wash soap, but I want to finish off my Deep Crystal first... maybe that's a mistake... no matter how much DC Soap I pour into my 5 gallon bucket, lubrication feels lacking (compared to GC)!!!

Foam lance... sweet device... can't wait for it to arrive:

[Murr1525]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Ok, yeah, a pressure washer attatchement. I just have a regular hose-end type, and any of the soaps work fine with it.

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

When I wash the 1st thing I do is to remove the nozzle from the end of the hose and flood the vehicle with water to flush away all the dirt that has not bonded to the surface. This is also my last step of the wash process to reduce dry time and spotting.

The foam wash and a rinse prior to hand washing would make a lot of sense in your quest to eliminate micro marring or spider webbing from the wash.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Since none of our consumer washes are specifically designed for use in a foam gun, if someone wants to suggest another wash they've had success with you won't get an argument from us.

We do know several MOL members who have had, and are having, great success using Gold Class in a typical Gilmour foam gun, yours truly included. While the foaming action is not as dramatic as the Snow Foam our friends in the UK have popularized, as already stated it wasn't specifically designed with that application in mind. A popular washing method seems to be the initial rinse of the vehicle as SHYNEMAN123 has stated, then foaming the entire vehicle. Starting from the top and working down you can even shoot more foam directly onto the wash mitt as needed, and use a single grit guard equipped bucket for rinsing of the mitt. To prevent any drying of the soap on the surface, an occasional rinsing from the top is a good idea, so a quick disconnect coupler on the foam gun comes in handy. In fact, the Gilmour gun features a quick disconnect coupler between the nozzle and reservoir - handy indeed.

A final recommendation on a Meguiar's soap that's perhaps a bit out of the ordinary though - D112 Super Soap. While available only in limited distribution (ADS does carry it by the gallon and 5 gallon and usually sells 12oz samples though that size is currently not in stock) it works great in a foam gun. More "foam" than most of our other washes, lots of lubrication, and it rinses very easily.

As for the swirls in general - you are never going to 100% eliminate them. Even though a paint may be "hard" in the sense that it's difficult to polish or level, that doesn't mean it's scratch resistant. The two actions are very different, as one can imagine. The current C6 Corvette is notorious for rock hard paint, as is the Chrysler Crossfire, but they'll swirl like mad.

[the_invisible]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Thank you fellas!

I will try the Gold Class soap for sure, Michael. In fact, I will try all the Meguiar's soap I have with the foam gun. I see that ADS bundles its Gilmour foam gun with the D112 Super Soap. Perhaps the D112 is the most suitable Meguiar's soap for this type of application. I guess I will give D112 a shot... we can never have enough lubrication!

I remember you mention that paint hardness and its resistence to chipping are like the tensile and shear strength of a bolt. I totally understand what you mean!

Anyway, I wonder if car washes actually lift dirt out like the detergent does... or are car washes simply a form of lubrication to assist cleaning?

[Zuke]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Hey Invisble, check these sites out, before I made my ADS order I wanted to go witha foam lance but not having the pressure washer I didn't go for it, but I did some research on different soaps, here are a few cool reviews

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/110986-foam-lance.html

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/65329-foam-gun-test-various-shampoos.html

[the_invisible]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

awesomem, dude!

I did a search but didn't come across those threads.

While I am sure the competitors make extremely good soaps, they are simply too expensive... good thing the Shampoo Plus isn't too pricey. hehe

Hyper Wash:


Shampoo Plus:

[carloszacu]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Hey invisible, I'm new to the car detailing, and also think that it

[carloszacu]

Re: Foam Lance Soap???

Hey invisible, I'm new to the car detailing, and also think that it