question about foam washing

Hi, I am kind of new to the detailing profession. I currently own a mobile detailing business, well it is more of a mobile washing company. I am waiting until I am a little bit better at machining until I consider detailing.

I have a question about foam washing. I currently use an industrial wash gel in a bucket with a wash brush. However, I see everyone using a foam gun to wash the cars. I am interested in picking one up, IE the tornador.

Does the car need to be scrubbed once the foam is applied? Or depending on the wash used, does the foam lift the dirt to the point where I can just rinse? Also, I see all these impeccable detail jobs on here. What is a generalized price for a complete detail with the three step buffing process? I see so many that say 12-20 hours. I charge $150 for my top package that includes a wash, clay, and wax, and interior detail and engine detail and it takes 2-3hrs. just makes me really want to learn the detail process thoroughly so I can tackle some heavy details. Because I wash a ton of cars that are spidered really bad and sometimes people ask me how that can be removed and I would love to be able to do it. Some day. haha. Anyway. Thanks for having a kick a** forum!!

 

Welcome! First of all there are two ways to foam up your car - foam gun, and foam cannon (lance)...foam gun will just need a hose, where a foam cannon will require a pressure washer...I personally have both, but tend to use foam cannon much more often, due to it's ability to produce thick(think shaving cream) foam, that can cling to the paintwork, helping soak all the dirt and grime...10 minutes later I pressure rinse off...

YouTube - honda civic type r snow foam
YouTube - Snow Foam lance Mazda RX8
YouTube - Refined Details presents Snow Foam

 

The tornado uses just air I believe, if you're referring to the one on Autogeek. I'd go with the one that connects to the hose, better dirt runoff probably. Foam cannons have more dwell time than a foam gun, but the foam gun is quite useful too.