Foam Canon Worth It?

72MachOne99GT

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Got mine at Home Depot. As mentioned above I still use two buckets and a mitt. If nothing else I like the rinse function of the pressure washer.


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Decent quality? Home depot is closer than the Amazon, so I could use it tomorrow after work.

Any particular soap you guys recommend?
 

Pribilof

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2 bucket method here. See zero utility in having soap drying on the 2/3rds of the car I'm not actively washing. You'll still have to put mitt to paint to get off pollen, etc.
 

01yellercobra

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2 bucket method here. See zero utility in having soap drying on the 2/3rds of the car I'm not actively washing. You'll still have to put mitt to paint to get off pollen, etc.

That's the main reason I don't use the one I have. I was trying to come up with a quick way to wash and dry my truck. I keep it pretty clean so I was hoping the foam canon would get the dirt off and then I could dry most of it with my leaf blower. Not so much.
 

jdcobra

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I’ve never had an issue with the foam drying as I began the hand wash process and I just see the foam as an extra protective barrier when washing. But of course I always do a initial rinse down first before adding the foam
 

Sinister04L

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I use one, along with the 2 bucket method. I like it because mine puts out really thick foam so I can cover my whole truck and I can wash the entire truck with a microfiber mitt without it drying on me, then use the pressure washer to rinse the whole thing off.
 

CLN 6R

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I have the cheap MATCC one from amazon and it works perfect.

Like others have spray the car off first. Then foam it, and I already have my 2 buckets ready to go and do the 2 bucket method from there.

94F1DECC-01C3-4773-AD72-F7653D5080C8.jpeg 797E6680-4559-40C4-B852-FCDF3116DBCB.jpeg
 

Blown 89

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Automotive detailers are second only to golfers for buying into expensive gimmicks.
 

*Jay*

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I tried to like it but its actually way more work than using a rinsless wash like Optimum No Rinse or Duragloss with Aquawax. Never had any issues with scratches or swirling using only one bucket, I just always use CLEAN quality MF mits and towels.
 

Coiled03

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I bought one around Christmas time with a gift card i received. I just tried it for the first time tonight.

I've wasted money on plenty of automotive products during my years in this hobby. But that thing is easily inside the top 10 biggest wastes of money on my list. ****ing useless POS.
 

offroadkarter

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I picked up a cheap one on amazon after the 50 dollar one i got on autogeek a few years back clogged up and I can't get it working right again. New one is working great.

I always pre rinse, then foam to break up / loosen the dirt on the car, rinse, then I foam just the panels I'm going after with a sponge so I don't lose soap on one side of the car while I'm doing the other.

I usually use cheaper soap in the foam cannon, been happy with Griots garage for the foam cannon and dodo juice for the bucket. I also finish everything off with a CR spotless rinse.


I bought one around Christmas time with a gift card i received. I just tried it for the first time tonight.

I've wasted money on plenty of automotive products during my years in this hobby. But that thing is easily inside the top 10 biggest wastes of money on my list. ****ing useless POS.

Can you clarify exactly what the problem is?
 

72MachOne99GT

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We’ll see what happens.

Went ahead and ordered the well-reviewing MaatLocElchopo off amazon.

I don’t need our Traverse or F150 to be pristine, but maybe a good snow/foam/rave/lathering will motivate my 7 and 3 year old to help clean the cars.

The Gt500 is ceramic coated, so maybe a good pre-rinse, foam, and rinse will show results.

([{Totally tread-jacking myself, but any luck on wheels and brake dust with drill-mounted polishing balls?}])
 

jdcobra

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We’ll see what happens.

Went ahead and ordered the well-reviewing MaatLocElchopo off amazon.

I don’t need our Traverse or F150 to be pristine, but maybe a good snow/foam/rave/lathering will motivate my 7 and 3 year old to help clean the cars.

The Gt500 is ceramic coated, so maybe a good pre-rinse, foam, and rinse will show results.

([{Totally tread-jacking myself, but any luck on wheels and brake dust with drill-mounted polishing balls?}])

The balls for exhaust tips, but the drill pads work decently for the headlights/smaller areas.
 

offroadkarter

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I don’t need our Traverse or F150 to be pristine, but maybe a good snow/foam/rave/lathering will motivate my 7 and 3 year old to help clean the cars.

You could also use it on your 7 and 3 year old if they get muddy outside and you don't want to have them crap out the house. The foam cannon restricts water pressure so it won't come out at power washer force.

My only solution for brake dust right now is iron-x and a good dedicated wheel mit. I don't have any fancy wheel tools aside from a brush I use on some wheels. I'd love to find something that works well for the lug nut holes!

If you don't have iron-x, add it to your arsenal. It's safe on paint + wheels. I would suggest the lemon scented stuff in the yellow bottle as the original iron-x smells like regurgitated dog vomit when its activated.
 

jdcobra

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You could also use it on your 7 and 3 year old if they get muddy outside and you don't want to have them crap out the house. The foam cannon restricts water pressure so it won't come out at power washer force.

My only solution for brake dust right now is iron-x and a good dedicated wheel mit. I don't have any fancy wheel tools aside from a brush I use on some wheels. I'd love to find something that works well for the lug nut holes!

If you don't have iron-x, add it to your arsenal. It's safe on paint + wheels. I would suggest the lemon scented stuff in the yellow bottle as the original iron-x smells like regurgitated dog vomit when its activated.

I knew it smelled like something! Lol
 

CV355

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I fell for the Foam Cannon meme in 2016. To be honest, for all of the extra setup work, I don't think there's a benefit. Two buckets with grit guards takes less time and has worked for years.

A lot of people get duped into buying one because they think it'll be like their own personal automatic car wash. Nope. All it does is get soap everywhere, but it doesn't really take any dirt off without a sponge and elbow grease. Plus you spend more time blasting soap out from crevices like behind mirrors, door jams, etc than it is worth. You're still filling two buckets, plus swapping water lines, starting/stopping a pressure washer.

Is it fun to use? Sure. Do I think the extra effort is worth it for the extra 2% it gives you over just the two-bucket wash? No. If my car is disgustingly filthy or I'm doing a 100% detail, I'll consider breaking out the foam cannon.

And, if you live in the South, using it from 8am to 7pm is a death sentence. That big angry ball of rage in the sky will bake that foam onto your poor car's paint faster than your neighbor can run through an entire tin of Skoal.
 

blue 07

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It all depends how anal you are about washing and eliminating scratches, or just want to wash your car and have it look nice. Foam cannons act just like your local car wash, rinse the car/ foam the car with soap/ wash with high pressure soap or the god awful brushes/rinse the car /dry the car /done. The key here is the order of applying soap (foam) . The idea here is to put lubrication in-between your wash mitt and you paint. The more lubrication you have, the less chance of scratching your paint. Pretty simple really. My stangs never really get "dirty" other than road dust and dirt but never driven in rain, mud, etc, so I rarely "hand wash" my car, they usually get rinsed down very good, foam cannon comes out to apply foam to entire car, rinse, dry off with an high powered blower(Metro Vac Master Blaster) and they come out perfect every time ! Insane clean while never touching my paint, eliminating the chances of scratching paint. There are times that it does need a wash by hand, but the foam cannon is always used. If you don't want to use a 1600 psi electric power washer, you can also use a Foam Gun which uses the same concept but eliminates the need for a power washer but still adds lubrication between your mitt and your paint.
 

Coiled03

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Can you clarify exactly what the problem is?

I should clarify it was a foam gun, for starters.

The foam stays on for what seems like 30 seconds before it either dissipates, drips off, or drys out. At that point, there's no point in putting the foam on to begin with, so I wasted my time setting it up.

I don't have hours and hours to dedicate to washing vehicles. I have no interest in having to re-do any steps of the process, like re-foaming.
 

72MachOne99GT

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I’m definitely all about not scratching up the paint on the GT500, it’s only been hand washed a couple times. So more foam and more slippery foam lubrication isn’t a bad thing.

If nothing else, I’ll have spent 60 dollars on something the kids will enjoy, maybe be an excuse for them to help wash the other vehicles.
 

ssj4sadie

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I should clarify it was a foam gun, for starters.

The foam stays on for what seems like 30 seconds before it either dissipates, drips off, or drys out. At that point, there's no point in putting the foam on to begin with, so I wasted my time setting it up.

I don't have hours and hours to dedicate to washing vehicles. I have no interest in having to re-do any steps of the process, like re-foaming.
Yeah foam guns suck.
 

My94GT

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I fell for the Foam Cannon meme in 2016. To be honest, for all of the extra setup work, I don't think there's a benefit. Two buckets with grit guards takes less time and has worked for years.

A lot of people get duped into buying one because they think it'll be like their own personal automatic car wash. Nope. All it does is get soap everywhere, but it doesn't really take any dirt off without a sponge and elbow grease. Plus you spend more time blasting soap out from crevices like behind mirrors, door jams, etc than it is worth. You're still filling two buckets, plus swapping water lines, starting/stopping a pressure washer.

Is it fun to use? Sure. Do I think the extra effort is worth it for the extra 2% it gives you over just the two-bucket wash? No. If my car is disgustingly filthy or I'm doing a 100% detail, I'll consider breaking out the foam cannon.

And, if you live in the South, using it from 8am to 7pm is a death sentence. That big angry ball of rage in the sky will bake that foam onto your poor car's paint faster than your neighbor can run through an entire tin of Skoal.

I use it on my tractor, coat it heavily and let soak in the shade for a few min then spray off and I think it really does help penetrate some of the stuck on dirt/grass more so then just water.
 

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