Car Washing Soap: Bucket & Foam Gun

[BimmerRookie]

M3Post Detailers and Enthusiasts, I've got a few random questions regarding car washing soaps and I was hoping to get some clarity. The questions are quite scattered and random, but they've been on my mind for awhile now.

A few days ago I saw a commercial for Meg's Ultimate Wash and Wax. It showed an all-in-one wash + wax (as the name indicates). I checked detailers domain and meg's online forums for reviews, but I couldn't get a comprehensive review or opinion on it's quality. So the questions are:

1. Has anyone used Meguire's Ultimate Wash and Wax yet and what do you think of it? How would you compare it to Meg's Gold Class? Or should I just skip Ult. W&W and just use Gold Class?


2. Are there any negatives to mixing two brands/ kinda of car soaps during the washing process? While washing paint, I usually do a presoak, then foam with GC Honeydew, then two bucket method with honeydew/ whatever car soap I have on the shelf. So, is there any disadvantage to using different brands? For example, if I presoak, then foam with GC, and then use Meg's ult. W&W?


3. Can any soap be used in a foam gun (no pressure washer)? Technically, I know any soap can be used, but what makes certain soaps more fit for foam applications (i.e. GC maxi-suds, honey dew, etc.)?

4. Would using a non-foam gun soap be counter productive? Would the extra-aeration alter the soaps ability/ claimed-ability?

These are just a few of the things that ran through my head when I saw the commercial for Ultimate W&W. I've been washing my car a certain way with the same products for so long, so I was just thinking that if I were to switch up the products, would they perform any differently?

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment or advise! I'm relatively new in terms of product knowledge so take it easy on me.

TIA

[Manda Mew]

I am by no means an expert, but here are some of my opinions:
1. I have not used UWW, but I've read reviews. I have used gold class, and there's nothing too special about it.
2. A lot of people give a lot of crap on chemical guys, especially on the detailing forum that I saw. But one of the products they make that is actually awesome is their soap line (in gallon sizes during sales), mainly due to foam. I like the idea of pre soak with honeydew, then use what I imagine is a more lubricating soap, Meguairs UWW, in your bucket to lube up your wash mit.
3. It's all about foam content. There's no point to waste low foam soap in a foam gun (like degreasers and stuff). So again high foam on foam guns (hose) or canons (pressure washers) and low foam high lube stuff in buckets.
4. No the aeration (is that a word? Lol) would not effect the soap. I actually shake up my foam canon or gun to increase the aeration coefficient in order to limit the drag ratio of the abrasive nano molecules that hinder the adsorption of soap into fibers.
Jk I really wouldn't worry about changing the chemicals molecular integrity or effectiveness by introducing air or fluffing it up. If anything it makes it more effective. I just think it would be wasteful since no foam soap would just slide right off of the car.

Another thing I've been doing is pre soaking, then when I use the two bucket method I also use a waterless wash right ahead of my mit on the paint to make sure it's maximum lubed up. Or use the foam gun and shoot right where your mit will go.

[rjd598]

1. both are fine, but just stick with gold class. i doubt with those two you will notice a crazy difference. if you want to move up in car wash soaps let me know and i can recommend a few.

2.no problem, but don't complicate things more than you have to. use a soap to foam and use a soap to wash. usually two are used by many you don't have to stick with just one, but if you really wanted to go ahead and use five different soaps.

3. you'll always get better (and cooler) looking foam with a foam cannon. however some foams are actually designed to be used in a foam gun/cannon. cg honeydew/maxi suds are a few favorites. auto finesse avalanche, optimum car wash, and duragloss 901 (i think) are favorites in the foam cannon as well. in the united states we don't get any of the foam dedicated soaps except for auto finesse avalanche and maybe one or two more so people experiment and see what works best.

4. you can use whatever you want. clearly some will work better than others. honeydew will work better than gold class for example.

if you want/need recommendations on products let me know. more than happy to help you out.

[BimmerRookie]

I ended up ordering Meg's Ult. W&W and a few other things. I'll just end up trying them out to see for myself. Luckily, the products aren't too expensive, so no regrets if I waste them or don't use them to their maximum potential.

Thanks for the responses and advice!

[BimmerRookie]

Oh another thing,

is there any value in a drying agent? I've seen some use a detailer spray or a waterless wash spray used in drying a wet car. Is that the recommended method? My car is clayed and sealed (within the past year), so my drying towels run smoothly over the paint, thus would I benefit from using a spray as a drying aid?

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

Oh another thing,

is there any value in a drying agent? I've seen some use a detailer spray or a waterless wash spray used in drying a wet car. Is that the recommended method? My car is clayed and sealed (within the past year), so my drying towels run smoothly over the paint, thus would I benefit from using a spray as a drying aid?

quick detailers and spray waxes do actually help in the drying process. the worst case is you'll get added protection or more gloss/shine at minimum.

[BimmerRookie]

UPDATE: I ended up using Ult. W&W and it sucks in a foam gun. However, it's water sheeting ability and cleaning ability was pretty good. As y'all said, it's nothing special, and I agree. I'll still use it, but CG Honeydew will be the only thing in my foam gun from now on.

I also ordered Meg's Ultimate liquid wax and I absolutely love it. It was easy to apply and thus far it's held up fairly well in the South Texas heat. It still holds a shine and attracts minimum dust. It's been a week now and still looks decent.

On a side note, since I was buying meg's products anyways, I thought I would give their leather cleaner (ultimate leather cleaner) a shot. BIG MISTAKE. On first pass, it appeared that the cleaner did a good job removing dirt, but it left a sheen on the leather. I thought that it was a conditioner-like substance that would soak into the leather to soften it up. To my surprise, the next day...the sheen was still there and made the seat really slick (i was slipping and sliding in my seat...not good). I followed up with Sonax leather foam and my novillo was restored. Taking a look at the microfiber that I used with the Sonax, it looked like there was a ton of dirt that it pulled from the seats treated with meguire's leather cleaner (I thought this was odd...). So I guess I'll just stick with swissvax and Sonax for now.

TL;DR - Meguire's Ultimate Wash and Wax = good water sheeting and cleaning, bad foam gun soap
Meguire's Ultimate Liquid Wax = best liquid wax I've used, easy to apply, long lasting results in South Texas heat.
Meguire's Ultimate Leather Cleaner = left bad residue and didn't clean well, required another pass over from Sonax leather foam

[335m]

Looks like you figured it all out but I'll toss in my opinions:
I use the honeydew with my foam cannon as a prewash.
Then use 2 bucket method with UWW.
Then rinse with the power washer.

This gives me the best results for weekly washes, still recommend a 1 stage paint correction once a year with a good ceramic coating like CQuartz or similar.

I would still consider myself an amateur when it comes to detailing but the car is looking great and the coating/sealant really does seem to bead water a year later if you protect it.

[8k4]

How do you prevent water spots when drying. I'm thinking of moving to ONR but not sold on it. Foam canon in my mind seem like the way to prevent scratching but I always end up with water spots

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

UPDATE: I ended up using Ult. W&W and it sucks in a foam gun. However, it's water sheeting ability and cleaning ability was pretty good. As y'all said, it's nothing special, and I agree. I'll still use it, but CG Honeydew will be the only thing in my foam gun from now on.

I also ordered Meg's Ultimate liquid wax and I absolutely love it. It was easy to apply and thus far it's held up fairly well in the South Texas heat. It still holds a shine and attracts minimum dust. It's been a week now and still looks decent.

On a side note, since I was buying meg's products anyways, I thought I would give their leather cleaner (ultimate leather cleaner) a shot. BIG MISTAKE. On first pass, it appeared that the cleaner did a good job removing dirt, but it left a sheen on the leather. I thought that it was a conditioner-like substance that would soak into the leather to soften it up. To my surprise, the next day...the sheen was still there and made the seat really slick (i was slipping and sliding in my seat...not good). I followed up with Sonax leather foam and my novillo was restored. Taking a look at the microfiber that I used with the Sonax, it looked like there was a ton of dirt that it pulled from the seats treated with meguire's leather cleaner (I thought this was odd...). So I guess I'll just stick with swissvax and Sonax for now.

TL;DR - Meguire's Ultimate Wash and Wax = good water sheeting and cleaning, bad foam gun soap
Meguire's Ultimate Liquid Wax = best liquid wax I've used, easy to apply, long lasting results in South Texas heat.
Meguire's Ultimate Leather Cleaner = left bad residue and didn't clean well, required another pass over from Sonax leather foam

I've been using CG citrus wash and gloss and maxi suds II, and when I use the foam gun with a decent amount of soap the water doesn't sheet off when I rinse the soap off (it sheets off like crazy during my pre rinse). Even though the Meg's WW wasn't that foamy, it still sheeted water off during the post rinse? What about the Honeydew? I'm getting really frustrated and I find when I don't use the foam gun and only use 2 bucket method sheeting is still there since less soap was used. But I want to use a lot of soap! Any suggestions anyone?

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by 8k4

How do you prevent water spots when drying. I'm thinking of moving to ONR but not sold on it. Foam canon in my mind seem like the way to prevent scratching but I always end up with water spots

If you use a foam gun and only spray before wiping down a panel (gun in one hand mitt in the other) and don't do a soak stage in the shade, you shouldn't get spots. If water and soap is drying too fast routinely sprits down the previous panels. Hope that helps!

[8k4]

Originally Posted by Manda Mew

If you use a foam gun and only spray before wiping down a panel (gun in one hand mitt in the other) and don't do a soak stage in the shade, you shouldn't get spots. If water and soap is drying too fast routinely sprits down the previous panels. Hope that helps!

Pretty much how I do it. The drying phase is most difficult, you have to quickly wash the entire car and get the drying done incredibly fast. I wash in the shade

[radiofrequency]

Originally Posted by rjd598

1. both are fine, but just stick with gold class. i doubt with those two you will notice a crazy difference. if you want to move up in car wash soaps let me know and i can recommend a few.

2.no problem, but don't complicate things more than you have to. use a soap to foam and use a soap to wash. usually two are used by many you don't have to stick with just one, but if you really wanted to go ahead and use five different soaps.

3. you'll always get better (and cooler) looking foam with a foam cannon. however some foams are actually designed to be used in a foam gun/cannon. cg honeydew/maxi suds are a few favorites. auto finesse avalanche, optimum car wash, and duragloss 901 (i think) are favorites in the foam cannon as well. in the united states we don't get any of the foam dedicated soaps except for auto finesse avalanche and maybe one or two more so people experiment and see what works best.

4. you can use whatever you want. clearly some will work better than others. honeydew will work better than gold class for example.

if you want/need recommendations on products let me know. more than happy to help you out.

This....move away from the bucket and use a foam cannon exclusively. I have used a lot of soaps and really like the CG Honeydew. I pressure wash the entire car after I have cleaned the wheels with Wheel Woolies and P21S. Then I foam the car and wash it down with a microfiber mitt and pressure wash again and then dry using the Metroblaster. Results, IMHO, are spectacular, and I will never use a bucket again. Just my .02c.

[BimmerRookie]

Originally Posted by radiofrequency

This....move away from the bucket and use a foam cannon exclusively. I have used a lot of soaps and really like the CG Honeydew. I pressure wash the entire car after I have cleaned the wheels with Wheel Woolies and P21S. Then I foam the car and wash it down with a microfiber mitt and pressure wash again and then dry using the Metroblaster. Results, IMHO, are spectacular, and I will never use a bucket again. Just my .02c.

Thanks for that! Unfortunately, I live in an apartment complex thus having access to a water point and electrical outlet is impossible. Without the combination I am unable to use a pressure washer and a blower/vac to wash and dry, respectively. I do understand that in a perfect scenario, that's the way to go, but I've got to live with what I've got.

[FType22]

I just use ONR (optimum no rinse). I live in an apartment complex as well. I just fill up a bucket with maybe 1-2 gallons of water, drop in a capful or 2 of ONR, and wash, dry, boom done.

Hardest part about cleaning at home is the wheels because of no access to a hose/water point, so I can't use my sonax wheel cleaner unless I have an access point of want to heave water at my car like an ape with a bucket. So instead I clean my rims by hand with a rag, which is awful.

[BimmerRookie]

Originally Posted by DJP86

I just use ONR (optimum no rinse). I live in an apartment complex as well. I just fill up a bucket with maybe 1-2 gallons of water, drop in a capful or 2 of ONR, and wash, dry, boom done.

Hardest part about cleaning at home is the wheels because of no access to a hose/water point, so I can't use my sonax wheel cleaner unless I have an access point of want to heave water at my car like an ape with a bucket. So instead I clean my rims by hand with a rag, which is awful.

In my complex, I have access to water (I supply my own hose) so washing isnt an issue. I used to use the ONR method, but I found out that took way too long and didn't work very well when there was actual dirt on my car.

[FType22]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

In my complex, I have access to water (I supply my own hose) so washing isnt an issue. I used to use the ONR method, but I found out that took way too long and didn't work very well when there was actual dirt on my car.

you have to pre-rinse with ONR if you're car is actually pretty dirty. I must admit I don't ever find my car gets that dirty because I am usually washing weekly so there is seldom much build up.

Lucky you for having access to a water source!