Using a Foam Cannon is not working for me

[Chevy_Salon]

I know I previously posted about my foam cannon experiences here, but this is the fourth time I used it since I bought it. I am having a hard time with trying to finish washing my truck with the wash mitt before the soap is gone and almost dry. Yesterday it was mostly cloudy and in the low 50`s. I was in full shade before the sun got high enough to get over my garage. By the time I got to the other side of my truck, there was hardly any soap left on it from the cannon. It was almost dried and streaked. I can`t go any faster washing with the mitt or I`ll just be missing spots, which I did.

I`m kind of disappointed and thinking of just going back to just washing with the mitt. Anyone with full size trucks have some tips on how you use the foam cannon and not having the soap gone and almost dry when you get to the other side?

[chops1sc]

The idea behind the foam cannon soap is that you want it to be running off to carry away any lifted dirt. I foam my truck down and let it sit a few minutes then go after it with my wash pads from the 2 buckets. My soap bucket starts out with 2 gallons of water and my rinse bucket is full. It is OK for the soap from the foam cannon to dry. If you feel uncomfortable with this you can always foam the truck, let it sit, then rinse, then wash from the buckets.

 

If you really want to just use the foam from the cannon you can foam a section and wash it, foam an other section and wash it, etc.

[mc2hill]

On 4/17/2021 at 9:29 AM, Chevy_Salon said:

I know I previously posted about my foam cannon experiences here, but this is the fourth time I used it since I bought it. I am having a hard time with trying to finish washing my truck with the wash mitt before the soap is gone and almost dry. Yesterday it was mostly cloudy and in the low 50`s. I was in full shade before the sun got high enough to get over my garage. By the time I got to the other side of my truck, there was hardly any soap left on it from the cannon. It was almost dried and streaked. I can`t go any faster washing with the mitt or I`ll just be missing spots, which I did.

I`m kind of disappointed and thinking of just going back to just washing with the mitt. Anyone with full size trucks have some tips on how you use the foam cannon and not having the soap gone and almost dry when you get to the other side?

You can always 'reactivate' the soap.  When I wash with soap (vs. Rinseless wash) I wash the entire vehicle using the 2 bucket method, then reload the mitt, and go over the about 1/2 the car with the soapy mitt, then reload it and do the remaining parts.  Then do a pool (or flood) rinse that removes most of the water.  Finally I spritz each section with DS and dry.

[TheWolf]

The method that I use on a large truck:

 

Start with good pre-rinse to get the loose dirt off, preferably with pressure washer.

 

Foam the whole truck so that the foam can start to loosen the remaining grime.

 

Using the wash mitt, starting with the top sections.

 

Rinse the wash mitt in the Rinse Bucket, then move to the next area on the vehicle, foam it up, wash with mitt, rinse the media, and so forth.

 

Work from top to bottom with the mitt, as the lower sections will have the most dirt and grit, so you do not want to bring that scratch-inducing material up onto the more visible portions of the truck.