substite for foam gun

[Crooz1n]

Ok we all know its kinda hard to find a foam gun right now and they are kind of expensive for what they are.

I decided to try an alternative and I think it works pretty well. I bought a Miracle Gro garden sprayer for about 10 bucks. I dont have a foam gun to compare it to but it put a pretty nice coating of suds on the car.

And as a bonus you get a container full of miracle grow to put on the flowers around the house as well.

I had a second cup from an older sprayer that I filled mostly with clean rocks so I didn't have to fill it all the way up with wash concentrate.

 

If anyone has both the Gilmore and a miracle grow sprayer Id like to hear about a comparison test.

[Junkman2008]

... foaming doesn't CLEAN any better...

 

It makes cleaning safer. And yes...

[Team Adam's]

Not really many choices... it the gilmour foam master or the hydro.

 

There aren't really any others.... currently.

[JunkmansHomeboy]

Dylan,

I respect u guys @ Adams. Can u tell

Me what foam gun I should buy?

Either here or pm. Looks like alot

Of choices out there. Help me pick one

[Team Adam's]

My experience, which is nowhere near as much as either of you two, is just that it's nice to have the soap already on the car so you don't have to go to the bucket as much. Also, if anything happens to dry on the paint, you have a layer of the safe shampoo on the car instead of getting water spots, so you don't have to work as fast. This is more what Dylan is saying.

 

 

Bingo!! Thats the jist of it... foaming makes washing easier... no debating that. Also a huge help when working in the sun to get that paint coated in foam rather than just having water sitting on it.

 

The cleaning aspect of things is simple - foaming doesn't CLEAN any better... if you knock the dirt off the finish thats not bonded with a blast of water the stuff thats left behind will behave no differently under foam gun'd soap than it will under wash mitt soap... it still takes agitation to release the contamination from the surface.

 

Once the dirt/debris is release then the soap keeps it in suspension reducing the chance of swirls as it holds it away from the finish. It will do that via a gun or via a bucket... its the same soap just introduced in different ways.

 

Again though... there is something to be said for the AMOUNT of soap you can introduce to the finish with a foam gun versus a wash mitt and how that impacts the suspension of debris... obviously you can spray more soap onto the paint than you can get there with your mitt... but at what point the benefits start and 'cool factor' begins is up for debate.

[Junkman2008]

I'm anticipating that my initial rinse, followed by foaming, followed by a second rinse will remove even MORE dirt. Overkill? Probably, but it only adds a couple of minutes to the process.

 

There's nothing wrong with overkill if you can afford it. As long as something makes logical sense to me, or someone can explain it logically, I'm there. However, I will never do anything unless it makes complete and logical sense to me. That explains every step of my wash process. No fluff, everything totally common sense and I can explain every part of it in a way that a 10 year old can understand..

[MacCool]

I'm not suggesting our soap isn't for use in a foam gun (in reality its among one of, if not the best, foaming soap on the market)....

 

I have certainly found that to me true in my foam cannon.

[MacCool]

That's what I use the initial rinse for. To remove the big dirt.

 

I'm anticipating that my initial rinse, followed by foaming, followed by a second rinse will remove even MORE dirt. Overkill? Probably, but it only adds a couple of minutes to the process.

[LDM]

I think there's some confusion when Junkman's saying, "The foam solution does in fact cause the grit and grime to be lifted off the finish and removed successfully" and you're saying, "It doesn't have the ability to 'lift' or 'dissolve' or do any active processes." My experience, which is nowhere near as much as either of you two, is just that it's nice to have the soap already on the car so you don't have to go to the bucket as much. Also, if anything happens to dry on the paint, you have a layer of the safe shampoo on the car instead of getting water spots, so you don't have to work as fast. This is more what Dylan is saying.

[Team Adam's]

Ok, so what soap should I use?

So, your saying it's better to get a foam type product to use with a foam gun? Not a car shampoo?

I'm at a loss now.

 

In a sense spraying a foam works to break up dirt and grime.

 

Not saying that at all... the purpose of our soap is to provide lubrication and clean the surface without degrading the wax. It doesn't have the ability to 'lift' or 'dissolve' or do any active processes. It puts non-bonded contamination into suspension (among the bubbles) but outside of that its not removing anything more than a blast of water would unless you agitate (thus the need for a mitt or wash pad)

 

If our soap was an active cleaner with the ability to do anything without agitation then in theory you could just continually foam and rinse your car over and over and at some point it would be clean, no need for taking a wash pad/mit to paint. I think we can all understand thats not what happens.

 

A cleaner that would do those kinds of things is not going to be pH neutral, and thus it will strip or degrade wax to some degree. Not a side effect you want or need in a regular car soap.

 

I'm not suggesting you use something different, I'm not suggesting our soap isn't for use in a foam gun (in reality its among one of, if not the best, foaming soap on the market)... I'm simply pointing out the fact that people seem to have invented these things that foam guns do that simply aren't true.

 

Pumping our soap thru a foam gun doesn't magically give it different cleaning abilities... its a tool of convenience and added ease of use.

 

Versus going back and forth to a bucket for soap, and having to soap up one panel at a time you can deliver the soap to the paint in higher concentration. Theres some debate to be had about the amount of soap being on the car helping to prevent swirls, but our soap in a bucket doesn't do anything that our soap in a foam gun does or the other way around.

[Junkman2008]

...As to liquifying dirt, it's why I deviate a little and after letting the foam sit a few minutes, rinse it off with the pressure washer. That does flush a lot of the bigger clods and bird poop off that the detergent has liquified rather than keeping the stuff in suspension on my car waiting to be dragged across the finish

 

That's what I use the initial rinse for. To remove the big dirt.

[MacCool]

Mixing soapy water with matted dirt results in the matted dirt becoming lucid again. You don't need any special soap for that. It's just like adding liquid to dried bird poop. What happens? The bird poop becomes liquid again. You don't need Bill Nye the Science Guy for that one.

 

Yes. I don't use any special soap - I worry that the stuff like DP is engineered to make impressive foam rather than for detergent action. I've been using M***** car shampoo and just yesterday as an experiment used 4:1 Adam's shampoo. And I've even used Dawn 6:1 on the lawn tractor and some kind of blue stuff from Autozone, that I've had sitting around for years, on my wife's Murano...all worked great and foamed up like crazy. I have concluded that the foam cannon, if one already has a pressure washer, is a great way to lay down all kinds of detergent. I'm trying to determine if I can use it to deliver a bug killer to the eaves of my house and keep the spider webs at bay (we live on a lake).

 

As to liquifying dirt, it's why I deviate a little and after letting the foam sit a few minutes, rinse it off with the pressure washer. That does flush a lot of the bigger clods and bird poop off that the detergent has liquified rather than keeping the stuff in suspension on my car waiting to be dragged across the finish. Then, a quick-change back to the foam cannon, 30-second re-frosting, then two-bucket wash and we're back on the Junkman protocol.

[Junkman2008]

So you spray on the foam and start washing from that point?

You don't rinse the foam off before you wash?

 

You need to go back and review my videos. I explain this in detail.

 

You spray the foam onto the car and give it a few minutes to loosen the dirt that is matted to the finish. The foam acts as a lubricant to the dirt that is on the car so you don't rinse it off, you wash the car with the foam on it. That's added protection against the grit and grime that is sitting on your paint. As you move the wash pad back and forth, there is less of a chance of you grinding that dirt into your paint. The foam solution does in fact cause the grit and grime to be lifted off the finish and removed successfully.

[RedexInLA]

I have a Adams Foam Gun and use it every weekend and it is great. Makes washing my Black car in the hot TEXAS sun so easy. If the Adams Car Shampoo dries no big deal, take your time to wash your car and then rinse it off even if it is dry. The Car Shampoo is PH neutral so it is ok if it dries while you are washing. The proof shows in the picture of my car.

 

So you spray on the foam and start washing from that point?

You don't rinse the foam off before you wash?

[texn884]

I have a Adams Foam Gun and use it every weekend and it is great. Makes washing my Black car in the hot TEXAS sun so easy. If the Adams Car Shampoo dries no big deal, take your time to wash your car and then rinse it off even if it is dry. The Car Shampoo is PH neutral so it is ok if it dries while you are washing. The proof shows in the picture of my car.

[Team Adam's]

That PA plant was the one that was closed... there are some of the guns made there still floating around, but all the Gilmour guns use the same trigger sprayer so anything produced after that plant closed is chinese. Thats not to say there isn't old inventory of USA made ones out there... just hard to tell where it is.

 

Annoys me to no end they cover that MADE IN CHINA spot on the newer ones with a MADE IN THE USA plastic... I wonder what the technical loophole is that allows for that?

[RedexInLA]

That PA plant was the one that was closed... there are some of the guns made there still floating around, but all the Gilmour guns use the same trigger sprayer so anything produced after that plant closed is chinese. Thats not to say there isn't old inventory of USA made ones out there... just hard to tell where it is.

 

Annoys me to no end they cover that MADE IN CHINA spot on the newer ones with a MADE IN THE USA plastic... I wonder what the technical loophole is that allows for that?

 

 

Just due to the lower cost in making them in China.

They make much more profit on it.

I know, it's sad.

[RedexInLA]

I have a garden sprayer as of the Miracle Grow type, just a little better.

The idea is to break up the dirt before you touch the paint.

I soak it with car shampoo twice, rinse well, blast off the dirt and grime then begin the wash.

Works all the same IMO, just not having the thick foam.

Foam looks nice though, makes it look as if it would work better but IMO pre-soak with the right product is key.

After I wash my car the water in both buckets looks very clean so it's doing the job.

Mine puts out a lot of suds which runs off of the car which is what I'm after.

I do however use 4 mitts for one wash, this gives me even more protection in producing swirls or scratches.

I don't think the foam gun works any better to spend the moeny for it.

But again, my car is always clean, not very dirty being I touch it up daily.

Bought mine at Lowe's for 15 bucks.

It's made by Chameleon, it's called a "cleaner sprayer", it has several settings on it.

I installed a quick connect for faster change out.

You might want to check into this brand.

Here's what I do.

First use my Cal. duster to remove most of the dust safely.

Second, pre-spray with the sprayer twice.

Next, use my electric pressure washer which removes more of the dirt, really all that is left is a film which I then use two buckets to finish the wash to remove it.

My white MF towel is still white after drying so it's working for me.

Again, bought at Lowe's and made by Chameleon.

Don't get me wrong, if the price was much lower I'd try the foam gun.

[seals]

curious also would like to see some pic....

[BrianT]

Annoys me to no end they cover that MADE IN CHINA spot on the newer ones with a MADE IN THE USA plastic... I wonder what the technical loophole is that allows for that?

 

That plastic piece is made in the USA, it just so "happens" to cover the made in china part! Stupid Gilmore!!!!

[Bill-V8V]

My guess would be that they just made the plastic cover in the US

[musclejunkie]

I never saw that, have you tried searching for that post ?

 

It was recently, I thought. It was in a response to someone from Adam himself. Am I hallucinating? Too much DS inhalation? Or do I want one so bad, I'm daydreaming? Maybe I should talk to someone?

[Bill-V8V]

Foam schmoam! Do we have an Adam's foam gun in the works or don't we? I could have sworn I read in one of Adam's posts that one is coming? It's not nice to tease us with a product introduction.

 

I never saw that, have you tried searching for that post ?

[694doorbird]

Depends on when you got yours. If you pull the orange cover off the handle you'll know the truth. As disgusting as it is the gun is clearly made in China, but then they stick a plastic cover over it that says Made in the USA... so misleading and an insult to people who care about domestically made products.

 

Mine is about 3 years old -

[ATTACH]6571[/ATTACH]

 

 

This one is the same model, just made more recently -

[ATTACH]6569[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]6570[/ATTACH]

 

Here's the difference between the on Dylan took apart and mine. The nozzle is the same, so no need to repost that picture. The orange handle is stamped Made in USA.

 

Top of gun:

 

One side on handle:

 

Other side of handle:

 

No where can I find that 5 letter word --- china.

[Bill-V8V]

Bought mine at Lowe's for 15 bucks.

It's made by Chameleon, it's called a "cleaner sprayer",

 

 

And it's Made in China

[1anonly]

Here's the difference between the on Dylan took apart and mine. The nozzle is the same, so no need to repost that picture. The orange handle is stamped Made in USA.

 

No where can I find that 5 letter word --- china.

 

Mine looks the same. I got mine about two years ago though.