Pressure Washers & Foam Cannon's

[blueline]

A lot of dealers now have small versions of the drive-through type car washes with rotating brushes. If maintained properly they may be mostly ok but I would never recommend running a nice car run through them.

I was not aware of any dealers using foam-type cleaning but I'm sure there are those that do so. That would be safe, as well as old-fashioned hand washing by dealership personnel, if done properly using clean supplies - towels, mitts, wash water, Absorber type shammys, etc. But there's the big bugaboo - you can bet that the gear is NOT clean and well maintained, so that gets us back to Tom's wise rule of not letting dealers wash his cars.

On the other hand, commercial facility wand washing or home pressure washing by car owners is fine as long as done properly, with clean supplies and with a modicum of care. Modern paint is quite durable.

[ClemsonBill]

I never let my black car get that dirty, washing it basically every week. I spend a little more time on the front end, softening up the bugs with the hose. I use old dryer sheets and car wash soap on the bugs guts that remain. I use the two bucket method with a soft car wash mit, rinse well and as someone else mentioned I use a leaf bower to dry. Lots of areas that hold water so the cordless EGO leaf blower to me is essential if I want to drive right after washing. The mirrors and brackets, third brake light, headlights and taillights and bottoms of the doors hold a lot of water, that drip drip drips long after a washing, but blowing it down ends all that. I finish the windows and door jams with beeswax spray which is the bomb.com for a lot of things including touching up paint that just needs a wet wipe for minor dirt here and there.

[Stormy_Monday]

I've been collecting the gear necessary to do this during my garage transition. I'll know more in a couple of weeks when I can actually touch things that I need instead of boxes......

I found a YouTube channel that has helped with gear selection. Pan The Organizer.

[blueline]

I've been collecting the gear necessary to do this during my garage transition. I'll know more in a couple of weeks when I can actually touch things that I need instead of boxes......

I found a YouTube channel that has helped with gear selection. Pan The Organizer.

Just gave the Pan site a quick look - it appears there are some good guides and proper how-to's. Probably a good resource to have on hand.

[dr bob]

I've been using a gas pressure washer (~8HP Honda) and a foam cannon for years to keep the cars clean. For cleaning bugs and the like off the car and mud/crud from the lowers it's perfect with the green nozzles. It also gets a serious workout during the winter on the DD's when outside temps are above low 40's, and again after winter deicer slime is off the roads for some serious "spring" undercarriage cleaning on those cars. For sure the blast then foam is a lot easier on the paint than sponge-grinding when dirt is heaviest.

I've been seriously considering an electric pressure washer pump for the less-serious parts of this duty. Especially for winter washing that can be done inside the garage. An electric would also let me do more spring cleaning on the lift inside, certainly more convenient than having a car up on tall stands, wheels off, and swimming underneath in the driveway.

I loosely plan to mount just the electric pump part on the wall over the water mix valve, and soft-pipe the feed water to the pump directly. I have 50+25 high-pressure hoses and all the guns/nozzles/tools already, so finding a smaller just-a-pump would be ideal for me. Most of those plastic drag-around cart units are OK for keeping track of stuff, but otherwise consume a lot of space when not in use.

[Stormy_Monday]

this guy does good gear reviews. Cheap and up.

https://www.youtube.com/@imjoshv

[blueline]

this guy does good gear reviews. Cheap and up.

https://www.youtube.com/@imjoshv

More good tips.

Now I just need someone to take that good advice to heart and go out and fully detail all my vehicles for me while I do something else.

[Stormy_Monday]

I finally tried out my collection of wash gear this morning. I don't think I will be coming out of retirement to start a detailing business, but the results were very exceptable.

[FlipE]

I use a cheap plastic foam gun from Menards. I want it light and short because I wash cars by hand.

The no-bucket method. First foam wash the car. Then, foam gun in one hand, nothing in the other, rub lightly. If I feel something, I blast the spot and my hand. If then feel something stuck to the car, I scrape it off with a fingernail and continue.

[BrianVA911]

+1 for the electric pressure washer (Sunjoe from HD)
+1 for the foam cannon
+10 for quality soap
+100 for doing some quick research online and enjoying the process

I treated myself awhile back and went to chemicalguys.com and got their foam cannon as well as some good soap (Hyrdo Suds) and a few other detail related items. Watch a few youtubes from detailers (Ammo NYC is a good one) but my general process is power wash first, foam cannon, use the two bucket method with a mit, power wash off, dry, then do the tire shine. I don't do this for all my vehicles due to the time (takes about an hr for the 911 or two beers time), but its a great Sunday ritual when the weather is nice. I have started seeing more of these products at local auto stores as well. I def now have "good soap" for the 911, and regular stuff for everything else.