Why use a foam gun?

[saturn2]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

What is a best soap to use with the gun? 62 is the that I am using now but is cheaper better when it comes to the foam gun. One last thing, I usually have 4 cars that I wash weekly when the conditions allow.Do I have to reload the gun for each car?

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Hey saturn2 something has literally just come up..........APC through the foam gun is said to work better than almost anything else.........add 40ml then top up with warm water and away you go, and it doesn't strip wax

I'm trying it tomorrow (weather permitting) so I'll post up the results with pictures

Bryan

[Murr1525]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

APC wont strip wax? I find that hard to believe?

As far as how often to refill, I use about a one quart bottle per car, sometimes a little more if it is extra dirty.

I havent had a problem with any soap, Gold Class, Nxt, Shampoo Plus, #62 all seem to work well. The Gold Class might not have been quite as foamy, but still quite useable. #62 might be my new favorite though.

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Remember Murr it's only 40ml........it isn't me who is saying that it won't strip wax but I'll sure find out tomorrow eh

Bryan

[Murr1525]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Yeah... is the idea only kind of a pre-wash? I mean, I have no idea how good of a lubricant APC would be either?

[xebola]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

APC? Really? That does sound strange.

Here is my cheapo foamer.



I got this Ortho Dial n Spray for $10.97 at Lowes. I used some half-inch tubing and a straw from a WD-40 can cut at an angle. I haven't tried it with soap yet because it's just too much volume for my little shower enclosure and it's already pretty messy with plain tap. However it froths tap water really well and I can see a difference in appearance when I cut off the air with my finger. It is definitely pulling in air.



What I have done here is introduced air into the mix by placing the straw opening where the restriction in flow opens back up. The air will be pulled in because a vacuum has been created in the larger half-inch tubing.

Make sure the straw is really sharp. Make the hole with a thumbtack and force the straw in. It's hard but you can do it! This needs to seal airtight.

Make sure that the opening in the straw is facing the nozzle opening see below





I suspect that the one straw alone is not pulling in enough air though. I can easily add a few more straws but I want to try it with soap first. I also know that the screen method will work for sure. It's crude though, and gives you no control.

Ultimately I would like to make something, possibly out of PVC or even copper that could be attached to a number of different cheap dispensers.

Do any of the foam guns on the market allow you to control the amount of air that the gun uses? That is just as important as being able to control the solution concentration.

BTW what type of foam are we trying to create? Do we have a foam spec? LOL

I think it would be cool to be able to have 2 different types. One that would just dwell like crazy (and that is hard to make happen on our cars), and one that is a little faster moving, like in my video. I want more dwell time. But I also really like having those legions of NXT bubbles marching down my finish.

I don't have an aquarium but I learned about this stuff from aquarium sites. Those guys are really meticulous. They use the Venturi principle for making pond bubblers and protein skimmers. They are crazy about tweaking that stuff and are working with much tighter tolerances with respect to foam. They are trying to get a pretty dry foam out of sea water. It is pretty interesting stuff.

BTW It looks really cool if you leave the WD-40 straw at it's full length, but it would be highly impractical.

[ZoranC]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

What I have done here is introduced air into the mix ...

Hey, this sounds interesting, I need to try that

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Yeah... is the idea only kind of a pre-wash? I mean, I have no idea how good of a lubricant APC would be either?

Remember where there is foam there is lubricant........just off to try it now

Bryan

[xebola]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Has anyone tried Hyperwash?

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Rite been held up so I'm off to try it rite now and xebola I'll have a go with Hyper Wash aswell and let you know how it goes.

Bryan

[Murr1525]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Thats a pretty cool set up for only a few bucks.

I was deciding between HyperWash and #62.... I was thinking it would be easier to keep a high soap concentration with HyperWash, but I went #62.

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

OK guys just finished giving the car a going over........1st off I went straight in with APC in the Karcher foam gun with 40ml added to 260ml of warm water and here is the result: -



Sorry wrong one :lol: here you go: -



then it was the Hyper wash with just 20ml with 280ml of warm water: -



To be honest I have seen better but it was OK I thought it would dwell longer and there wasn't much between them and it did NOT effect the wax as you can see from the following pic: -



Then it was just a quick application of Megs spray wax and here you go: -





Bryan

[xebola]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

OK guys just finished giving the car a going over........1st off I went straight in with APC in the Karcher foam gun with 40ml added to 260ml of warm water and here is the result: -

What is the ratio of the mix when it ultimately comes out of the gun? I am not familiar with the karcher. I like that rich white looking stuff. That has got to be doing some good.

BTW can you control the amount of air that the Karcher gun uses? Does it have a valve?

[Blr123]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

The mix would probably be about 40 to 1 but that depends on the type of Karcher you have.

And on the Karcher foam gun you do not have any control, although you can control the one seen in the following pics: -



And here is what this one does: -





And here is the amount used which is then topped up with warm water: -



Bryan

[xebola]

Re: Why use a foam gun?

Wow that looks like white latex paint on there. Thanks for the info. That is surprising I would have thought that APC would take that wax right off.