[fiveightandten]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

I'm not really convinced that foam cannons aren't mostly hype, and I use one. The whole "pulling stuff from the paint" thing seems a little nonsensical to me, and my guess is that you're really not doing all that much at the end of the day. But it's kind of fun, so what the hell. It's certainly not hurting anything.

Yeah, It comes down to what kind of contamination is on the car, what products you’re using to try rinse it away, and what the car is protected with.

There are soaps designed to just “make foam”, and there are legit prewash products that actually break down more stuff on the paint than water alone. You can see this by rinsing the car first before foaming. Heck, rinse it twice if you want. Then foam. if you see the foam turning brownish or see streaks in it, it’s working as you’re seeing contamination dislodging from the paint and suspended in the foam. If the foam remains perfectly white, it’s probably not doing much of anything to get things cleaner.

It’s more likely to be effective on a coated car. And different products dissolve different things. Personally, I don’t often use something that’s strong enough for this. Those products are usually harsh or expensive. I’m mostly using the foam to maximize lubrication. But you have to be careful as it blinds you from seeing if you’re dragging something around on the paint.

At the end of the day, some aspects of detailing are chasing diminishing returns. It’s all down to whether you think something is worth the time and cost. Foaming is kind of fun though, regardless! I’ve washed cars for friends and people always love it.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

Yeah, It comes down to what kind of contamination is on the car, what products you’re using to try rinse it away, and what the car is protected with.

There are soaps designed to just “make foam”, and there are legit prewash products that actually break down more stuff on the paint than water alone. You can see this by rinsing the car first before foaming. Heck, rinse it twice if you want. Then foam. if you see the foam turning brownish or see streaks in it, it’s working as you’re seeing contamination dislodging from the paint and suspended in the foam. If the foam remains perfectly white, it’s probably not doing much of anything to get things cleaner.

It’s more likely to be effective on a coated car. And different products dissolve different things. Personally, I don’t often use something that’s strong enough for this. Those products are usually harsh or expensive. I’m mostly using the foam to maximize lubrication. But you have to be careful as it blinds you from seeing if you’re dragging something around on the paint.

At the end of the day, some aspects of detailing are chasing diminishing returns. It’s all down to whether you think something is worth the time and cost. Foaming is kind of fun though, regardless! I’ve washed cars for friends and people always love it.

A foam cannon is kind of like playing with shit-ton of shaving cream or whipped cream, and what kind of monster wouldn't love to do that? Plus you could always...