Foam Cannon and Iron X Snow Soap Review

I finally jumped the ship from foam gun to foam cannon from CarPro.  Here's a stock picture of what you can expect if you order one.

It attaches to a pressure washer replacing the lance portion.  You must know the correct connection or fitting to your specific pressure washer.  I have a Simpson Pressure Washer and used the Bosch fitting. It is nearly a perfect fit but the tabs are slightly too large but it works just not a perfect fit.

Here's a quick overall picture.  Those samples to the right may or may not be an upcoming sampler giveaway pack...

It's just a standard bottle and a sample of Iron X Snow Soap.  I figured it couldn't hurt to use that first.

Here's the foam that came out of just under 2 oz of soap diluted into the water bottle.

And another picture of the foam.

The foam cannon offers quite a bit more cling to the foam.  This helps because allowing the soap to dwell on the paint surface helps loosen surfactants, dirt and grime sitting on the surface.  It also assists in removing the light pieces of dirt which can be removed by spraying water.  This all helps in reducing swirls and scratches by helping you touch the paint less.

As for Iron X Snow Soap, 2 oz diluted just isn't enough for a foam cannon/gun I believe.  3-5oz is much more effective.  I didn't see anywhere near the iron deposits as compared to when using Iron X straight or the color change.  Iron X Snow soap is ph-balanced at a level of 7 and is safe for coatings and sealants.  It is much more cost effective than Iron X straight which can consume quite a bit of product per vehicle even when the method of spraying and spreading with a wet sponge is used.

Pros

• Price
• More efficient
• Easier to Use
• Smell is much, much more tolerable compared to Iron X
• Will not strip Wax/Sealants

Cons

• Effectiveness
• Still has a sulfuric smell that may irritate some

Overall using this in combination with Iron X straight would remove the most fallout and iron deposits on vehicles.  But for a maintenance upkeep shampoo it does work effectively.  As a dedicated iron deposit remover I standby traditional Iron X.  If you are someone who can't stand the smell of Iron X this is a viable alternative, it works, it's cost effective as well.

As for the foam cannon it's great, the higher pressure assists in knocking off dirt and grime much better than the foam gun.  While the foam gun is good for those without a pressure washer or wanting soap that moves quickly I believe clinging foam that breaks down dirt is more effective.  It is a premium type option, but it looks awesome and does assist in avoiding swirls.  In addition, detailing should be a fun hobby not work, and a foam cannon is just plain fun.

Finally, a couple shots of the finished product.

Thanks for reading!

BRZ Opti-Coat

I decided recently to Opti-Coat the BRZ and took yesterday and today to go ahead and get that done.  I went with the usual foam wash with Chemical Guys Maxi Sud and All Purpose Cleaner added in for some extra stripping power.  Followed by a Nanoskin clay, polish with HD Adapt, wipedown with CarPro Eraser and GTechniq Panel Wipe, then Opti-Coat.

Then after the solid foam bath and deep wheel and wheel well cleaning.

Time to let the brushes soak in some APC to clean them out while I pressed on.

Following the standard rinseless wash, I went with a Microfiber Madness Duo wipedown.  Dry Me Crazy followed by the Crazy Pile to knock out any towel marks or stray water left behind.  Not that its possible the Dry Me Crazy soaks up a ridiculous amount of water.
 

Nanoskin clay was next, I used Ultima Waterless Wash as the lube and just a simple waffle weave to wipedown residue leftover.  Waffle weaves are great for claying since the surface is already clean you don't need to worry about the short nap and they are lightweight, easy to use, can be folded numerous times, and soak up multiple times their weight in liquid.

D'oh!  Bottle of V07 fell and broke the sprayer, good thing I keep a few extras around and used up a bottle of CarPro Eraser on this detail.

Following with the duo wipedown, I've began to really use this technique in most aspects, two towels is better than one especially on softer paints.

RID down below, didn't try chasing this one too far, may have to use some Dr. Colorchip later on to see if it can be filled in slightly.  I don't think I'm ready for wetsanding just set but that may change.

For the polish I went with HD Adapt and a Blue Uber Pad.  Worked pretty good overall, just a light polish for most but there were a few areas where I needed to go over it again or use varying amounts of pressure.  Found a few spots after I had opti-coated where I missed some, oh well just a project for another weekend.

So, I finally decided to pass this along, I see it quite a few times about draping the cord of an orbital polisher over the shoulder.  But personally I don't think it's good enough, I've had it fall off on more than one occasion. What I've moved on to doing is wrapping the cord around my opposite leg as well, this prevents slack from building up which keeps pressure tighter on the line.  Technique only but I like it and will continue to use it.

Wipedown post polish was done with CarPro Eraser until it ran out then followed by GTechniq Panel Wipe.  Both work great, Eraser by far has a better scent but ease of use is just about equal.

Again I went with a crazy pile to ensure nothing was transferred to the surface.

Opti-Coat time!  Dual Pro Applicator as used and a Gold Plush disposable towel.  I'm not a huge fan of trusting these towels to remove all the residue and be used on the paint again.  Also, interesting issue, since I don't use Opti-Coat too often the blue applicator tip must have had some stuck in it because it refused to work, I ended up going without a tip and using it that way.  The black locking tip still works perfectly.

And the final product, followed by more than one walk-around to check for high spots and missed spots.  Found just a couple, but for a daily driver 85-90% is acceptable but I'll be sure to go back and knock out those couple missed areas and re-apply Opti-Coat.  Ensure if you do this to tape around the area to reduce the area you are removing Opti-Coat from since it needs to be re-applied after polishing.

Thanks for reading!

Review: Chemical Guys Glossworkz Car Shampoo

Lately I've been trying new soaps out to see which I prefer ever since I got the foam gun.  Well after using Adam's Car Shampoo, I decided to pick up a couple pretty highly reviewed options.  Both from Chemical Guys, Honeydew and Glossworkz, this is my take on Glossworkz.

Product Link

Initial Reactions:

Smell is great, extremely diluted at 1:640 or 1 oz per 5 gallons of water!  Now I only used this as an initial foam to get rid of any dirt I could that was barely sitting on top, by reducing this by not touching the car before moving on to my rinseless wash.

Here it is coming out of the foam gun.

Overall after using it I did like the foam, unfortunately I didn't get the cling I was hoping for, I may adjust the dilution ratio to see if this will help.  As for noticeable gloss difference, I will keep this updated, it got dark after I was done but I will check in the morning.

Thanks for reading!