New to foam cannon washing, what am i doing wrong

[blankman]

So after I purchased the car I had the outside reconed to take of some swirl marks and CC scratches buffed out on the black roof, spoiler and general CC taken care of. Looked like glass when I picked it up. So after a 1600 mile drive home it seems to be keeping up at least with the beading. I decided to get into the whole foam cannon washing paradigm and I seem to be having some issues. Previous mustangs in my life were always wash and dry with a micro fiber motor and a drying towel.

So being new to the cannon game I have been having a guy at work sort of guiding me through the new techniques. Pressure washer, foam cannon, 3 buckets, 1 for wheels with a micro fiber just for wheels with a bucket. I picked up a chemical guys kit with foam wash. The diablo wheel cleaner sucks, but ive managed with a barrel brush and the 5 finger wash it for wheels. Aside from that product, I seem to be having issues either with my wash method, water, settings on the foam cannon or just my method in general.

My typical route is foam the whole car, wheels and tires included. I give the foam.about a 5 minute dwell time, hit the wheels and tires, spray the car off with either the pressure washer or an easy rain stream from the normal hose. Foam the car again, foam the wash bucket a little then grt to work on the body. Normal straight wash moves in lines. Everything seems to go ok, but before I goto dry it off , whether it be a blower or towel deal, there seems to be cloudy haze or film on the car. If I hit it again with water and use the wash mit it sort of takes care of it, but It looks like there is still a haze on the vehicle that I can remove with a light pressure with a new micro Fibre towel.

I'm not sure what is going on or what I'm doing wrong. I'm going to wash again tomorrow I've tried cranking down the soap use of the cannon, have tried using less soap for the cannon, as sometimes it seems like nits drying onto the car. Again I prefer to wash either before the sun really hits anything or when the sun has moved far enough where the car is cool to the touch. I'm using coler water from the tap that is softened.

I'm open to any suggestions or testing as I am just trying to figure out whats going on. Maybe a water issue, or a product issue , or washing issue?

I appreciate all the help.

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[skinnyb]

Sounds to me like the soap has some kind of additive that is sticking around after the rinse. A lot of soaps (CG soaps in particular) have additional gloss enhancers and stuff in them that are really hard to rinse clean. I ditched CG products a long time ago. I do agree, the Diablo wheel cleaner is terrible as are most CG products. I would get yourself a good PH neutral wash soap that is free of all the enhancers and will rinse cleanly. Lots of good products on the market, my favorite is CARPRO Reset. One that is maybe more commercially available is Adams Car Shampoo (the regular blue stuff). Oh, and too much soap is a thing, My general rule of thumb for most soaps is 10:1 in a foam cannon, some require more, some less..

 

[GrayS550]

I too get that haze film after a foam cannon wash. After the car is fully dry, I leave it for a little bit, then come back and take a microfiber towel and just wipe down the car again after. The paint looks better and my gloss black wheels pop when this film is wiped off.
I’m definitely going to try out PH neutral soap and see if it’s any better.

 

[Skye]

A lot of CG products contain gloss enhancers, silicones and other additives, so I'd steer clear of their line.

I've been using Gyeon Bath as a maintenance soap with great results.

https://www.autogeek.net/gyeon-bathe-liter.html

Whatever you decide, I'd compliment the purchase with a measuring cup, something that will confirm the amount of product in oz or ml you're using.

 

[skinnyb]

A lot of CG products contain gloss enhancers, silicones and other additives, so I'd steer clear of their line.

I've been using Gyeon Bath as a maintenance soap with great results.

https://www.autogeek.net/gyeon-bathe-liter.html

Whatever you decide, I'd compliment the purchase with a measuring cup, something that will confirm the amount of product in oz or ml you're using.

Thats another I have in my arsenal. Bathe is a great soap, I used it on my daily driver over the weekend then followed with a quick once over of Bathe+ (ceramic infused Bathe) for the icing on the cake

 

[Joshinator99]

The Griots Garage foaming surface wash has been great for me, no issues at all. pH neutral of course.
https://www.griotsgarage.com/foaming-surface-wash/

 

[kilobravo]

No doubt there is an assortment of quality soaps to use but pH neutral with no "enhancement additives," is the key. I like CP stuff and use Reset, Lift, and DeScale.

 

[MAGS1]

I use this to measure out all of my soaps. Screws right on to the 16oz bottles. Works with Carpro and Adams and Ethos bottles (those are the soaps I use). Screw it onto the bottle and squeeze to fill.

https://a.co/d/09n46eK

edit: agree with Alex, 10:1 is a good ratio. Can go a little heavier with the soap if you have hard water. I have done 8:1 (I have really hard water) and it also works fine

 

[Blu22HPP]

Alot of good advice already mentioned above, but this what I use. A PH balanced soap should help. I also use a detailer as a wet dry or final dry as well.

 

[StangTime]

Your rinse water is likely too hard (mineral wise). Use a rinse agent or do what I do. Wash and rinse off the car, then hit each panel with a few sprays of Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic Wax starting on the roof. Apply all the way around to where you started even do the windows. Then final rinse around the car (start at the roof) and follow up with a leaf blower or a good microfiber drying towel. A light buff after that with a fresh towel to even out the ceramic wax. No residue and you get a brilliant shine. I get people asking me all the time what how do I get my car so shiny. I don't worry about wheels until the car body is done because they take longer to detail but I use the same process on them too.

 

[skinnyb]

I use this to measure out all of my soaps. Screws right on to the 16oz bottles. Works with Carpro and Adams and Ethos bottles (those are the soaps I use). Screw it onto the bottle and squeeze to fill.

https://a.co/d/09n46eK

edit: agree with Alex, 10:1 is a good ratio. Can go a little heavier with the soap if you have hard water. I have done 8:1 (I have really hard water) and it also works fine

It works for me pretty well. Mine is only about 75PPM TDS so not too bad. There are some soaps that can be done much thinner than 10:1, I use DIY Detail Incredible Suds at 15:1 and it makes mad foam ... Also a great option for soap that rinses really nice

 

[Evolvd]

So after I purchased the car I had the outside reconed to take of some swirl marks and CC scratches buffed out on the black roof, spoiler and general CC taken care of. Looked like glass when I picked it up. So after a 1600 mile drive home it seems to be keeping up at least with the beading. I decided to get into the whole foam cannon washing paradigm and I seem to be having some issues. Previous mustangs in my life were always wash and dry with a micro fiber motor and a drying towel.

So being new to the cannon game I have been having a guy at work sort of guiding me through the new techniques. Pressure washer, foam cannon, 3 buckets, 1 for wheels with a micro fiber just for wheels with a bucket. I picked up a chemical guys kit with foam wash. The diablo wheel cleaner sucks, but ive managed with a barrel brush and the 5 finger wash it for wheels. Aside from that product, I seem to be having issues either with my wash method, water, settings on the foam cannon or just my method in general.

My typical route is foam the whole car, wheels and tires included. I give the foam.about a 5 minute dwell time, hit the wheels and tires, spray the car off with either the pressure washer or an easy rain stream from the normal hose. Foam the car again, foam the wash bucket a little then grt to work on the body. Normal straight wash moves in lines. Everything seems to go ok, but before I goto dry it off , whether it be a blower or towel deal, there seems to be cloudy haze or film on the car. If I hit it again with water and use the wash mit it sort of takes care of it, but It looks like there is still a haze on the vehicle that I can remove with a light pressure with a new micro Fibre towel.

I'm not sure what is going on or what I'm doing wrong. I'm going to wash again tomorrow I've tried cranking down the soap use of the cannon, have tried using less soap for the cannon, as sometimes it seems like nits drying onto the car. Again I prefer to wash either before the sun really hits anything or when the sun has moved far enough where the car is cool to the touch. I'm using coler water from the tap that is softened.

I'm open to any suggestions or testing as I am just trying to figure out whats going on. Maybe a water issue, or a product issue , or washing issue?

I appreciate all the help.

Have you tested your water? Hard water can drastically effect the chemical properties of the soap and cause it to fail.

 

[Banjoeyes76]

This the Snow Foam I use, stuff is thick, works great.

 

[skinnyb]

This the Snow Foam I use, stuff is thick, works great.

Another one of my favorites. Very concentrated, a little goes a long way

 

[blankman]

Well I gave it another go today. About half the amount of soap I normally use in the cannon and a little less in the bucket. Unfortunately the foam production was very minimal, even with the cannon cranked to max foam. I'm going to try again this weekend . I think part of the foam production issue might be my inlet jet. I'm going to step down to the 1.1 and see if that produces better.

Part of that maybe an issue with leaving leftover residue on the vehicle as well. It seems like the lower foam produced today had me running into a drying issue while using the mit during the brand wash. I'll have to experiment some more this weekend.

As far as the water goes, I don't remember what the test showed years ago other than I have very hard water. But I installed my water softener a out 8 years ago, so im notnsure if that would be an issue.

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