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A basic guide to foaming.

Messages
12,019
Foaming - A pre wash. Can be used to do a number of things:-

- Pre wash the car
- Strip the car of any LSP
- Allow a touch less wash (sometimes)
- Look good :D

Tools required

- Pressure washer
- Foam lance
- Shampoo / foam
- A hose with a hose lock connection
- Tap !
- Knowledge

Pressure Washer (PW)

As with most things, you buy cheap, you buy twice. :(

Saying that though, the cheaper ones are good enough for personal use, and can last years. A cheap PW will produce good foam.

I find the following place a very good site to buy them from, re manufactured, but top quality with good service.

Discount den

I find this one pretty perfect for budget, at £57.99, with free delivery, it produces good foam, at a great price.



There are loads about. A Karcher will give you an easier life in getting replacement parts, and a lance fitting.

Foam Lance

A number of traders available, don't bother with the Karcher ones, they're w@nk, but here's a few to choose from (All basicly the same) :-
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/foam-lance-various-fittings/prod_371.html
Cleanyourcar
Elite
Autobright

I went for the cleanyourcar one.

Make sure you order the right lance for your PW, ie, Karcher fitment for Karcher, Bosch for Bosch, etc

Shampoo / Foam

Basicly, most shampoos will foam up nicely. A lot of them offer different jobs.

Here's a quick run down:-

Duragloss 901 - Very slick, lots of foam, not too much cleaning.
Valet Pro PH neutral - Medium cleaning, high foam
Bilt Hmaber surfex, or auto foam - preclaimed as the highest cleaner available, high foam.
Meguiars Hyperwash - High foam, average cleaning, great VFM.

You can also mix Citrus degreaser, All purpose cleaners, etc to aid cleaning / strip LSP.

My personal favourite is Duragloss 901.

Remember, the better protected the car is, the better cleaning will be via the foam.

Knowledge

It may sound daft, but the set up is as follows:-

Plug in the PW, use an extention if required.
Click the hose onto the PW
Make sure the gun is attatched nice and tight
Turn on water and plug.

Lance:-

You will need to refer to the instructions. But basicly, a 'drop or two' or product (1 cm ish) will normally be adquate. Then fill almost full with warm water

Attatch Lance to the gun, push in, twist, and it's on.

Turn everything on and fire it up. You won't need to turn the foam nozzle up high at all, in fact, it effects the foam in a poor way!

Keep playing until you get it right.

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Enjoy yourselves!


Also, if you're on a very tight budget, you can use a superspray bottle. Does work well, requires no PW, and is cheap.
Simply put a cm in the bottom, with shampoo, and top up with warm water. Attatch to hose, and spray.

CLICK


Hope that helps.
Joe
 
Excuse my ignorance, but by foaming you don't actually have to touch the car?

I use the two bucket method with a mit, but it's a pain in the ass TBH, so a touchless wash would be good.

Good guide pal ;) .
 
Excuse my ignorance, but by foaming you don't actually have to touch the car?

I use the two bucket method with a mit, but it's a pain in the ass TBH, so a touchless wash would be good.

Good guide pal ;) .

You'd foam the car before the two bucket method wash mate ;)
 
You'd foam the car before the two bucket method wash mate ;)

Oh right, so you foam it, then wash it, say with a mit, as opposed to just using the pressure washer to wash off the foam.

Cool. I always thought foaming was a way of washing the car without having to get up to you elbows in sudds :oops: .
 
No worries.

If your car is very well protected. Then you can get away with a touchless wash, however, you won't be able to dry it. So a bit of a pain if it's sunny.

During the winter, i usually foam up, rinse and let it rain on it. So it's clean, but effortless.

If I'm TBM'ing, I'd still foam up as I'm sad.!!!
 
Oh right, so you foam it, then wash it, say with a mit, as opposed to just using the pressure washer to wash off the foam.

Cool. I always thought foaming was a way of washing the car without having to get up to you elbows in sudds :oops: .

either:-


foam > rinse > beer


or


foam > rinse > wash TBM > rinse > dry > beer(x2)
 
I've used my HD foam lance with snow foam over the weekend for the first time and i believe i havent got the balance of product and water yet as teh foam wasnt that thick :(

Can anyone suggest how much product to put in and what settings i need the lance to go on??

I'm using a 1litre foam lance bottle and putting in 100ml of snow foam, and then filling the rest of the bottle with warm water and shake, then screw on the foam lance.

Is it just a case of trial and error??

Gary
 
I've used my HD foam lance with snow foam over the weekend for the first time and i believe i havent got the balance of product and water yet as teh foam wasnt that thick :(

Can anyone suggest how much product to put in and what settings i need the lance to go on??

I'm using a 1litre foam lance bottle and putting in 100ml of snow foam, and then filling the rest of the bottle with warm water and shake, then screw on the foam lance.

Is it just a case of trial and error??

Gary

That sounds right to be hoenst. What PW have you got?

Try setting the top knob in the middle of + / - , then twisting it up, and down slowly to see which results are better.

The end of the lance (black thing) should be set so it sprays wide open.

Joe
 
I suspect it might just be my crappy PW- its a RAC jobbie i got from my in-laws as a bday present last year and only just got the HD lance and connector to try it out.

I've tried messing around with the +/- setting knob and that didnt do much, but the other thing i tried was the nozzle of the foam lance- if i actually closed it more, it would foam a lot better, but the spray is all over the shop and hard to direct the foam :confused:

Just frustrating trying to work this out
 
It probably is the PW Then, does it produce much pressure?

I'd try someone elses PW on your tap etc, to see if it's not the pressure from the tap producing poor results (Which is doubtful)
 
Maxi Suds is good and does produce good foam through a Gilly or Lance. Personally I would go for the Megs Hyperwash in a lance just for value for money. Currently using Duragloss 901.

If you want a really shampoo, look no further than Duragloss 901 or Dodo BTBM
 
Sorry about the ignorance, but these PW, do they feed from a tap/do you feel it up?

I'm using 2 bucket method and TBH it's great... If you've got half a day to spare.
 
ValetPro PH neutral snowfoam is good stuff.

The latest I have is Autobrite Magifoam which clings and lasts for longer than anything I've tried before!! Mixed approx 1:10 with warm water.
 
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