Giving this further thought, I am actually in a valley that is topographically prone to significant wind advisories, and that includes a fair amount of sandblasting. While I can minimize vehicular exposure to these atmospheric events, I likely won't be able to completely avoid it. If I wasn't already stretching to afford the 3, I might more more seriously consider one of these options.
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A good old fashioned application of wax can help protect against sandblasting too, and all it costs is some elbow grease and a few dollars for a nice wax.
Funny, I was just looking at the foam lance on amazon the other day and was debating about it. Guess I am getting it now!!
I also had my 2013 Model S fully wrapped. I unfortunately had the pre-cut film applied. Didn't do my proper research on who could do it better. Still glad I got it. It has saved me on multiple occasions so already worth the money.
There are also foam cannons/lances on Amazon for about $20 that seem to be just as good (if not the same product) as the MTM. I recall seeing a YouTube video in which they were compared and found to perform the same. With my $20 cannon, $70 Ryobi electric pressure washer, and some soap, I'm good to go...
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
Well.... I looked into lower cost alternatives to the MTM. Here's why I chose the MTM;
1. The MTM includes documentation that lists all individual part numbers so that if a small $4 piece of plastic or brass fails you can order just that piece from MTM rather than throwing cheap foam lance in garbage and replacing it.
2. The MTM has a foam dispensing adjustment in the output head that works pretty well. Many of the cheap ones do not.
3. The MTM includes the adapter needed to use the foam lance with the type of pressure washer interface found on most gas pressure washers. This was a $15 part if I purchased this separately for use with my gas pressure washer... it might not matter for those who have an electric pressure washer.
CuriousG
Active Member
I'm more interested in how this happened:
Boom chicka wah wah
Boom chicka wah wah
Hello. I live a couple houses down from you. I tried sending you a direct message, but, it wont let me.
Ray
I got your message, I am guessing you needed to post first? Not sure. Anyway, I replied, so let me know if you don't see it.
I've been using the Honeydew snow foam for a long time... the first thing you'll notice is how good is smells. I look forward to washing the car just to huff some of the honeydew soap scent
For anyone else reading this thread, don't even bother with the "foam" dispensers that attach to a normal hose. The foam cannons make an exponentially better coating and require very little scrubbing to clean the car.
CuriousG
Active Member
And that's how kids get started eating Tide pods.I've been using the Honeydew snow foam for a long time... the first thing you'll notice is how good is smells. I look forward to washing the car just to huff some of the honeydew soap scent
LOL! I claim total innocence!!
Actually, you can see my proper frunk closure technique there, then when I saw how it left handprints showing how dirty the car was (which was a bit hard to capture since it was so coated) I decided to add an additional hand print for effect.
It was effective then!
CuriousG
Active Member
Hello. I live a couple houses down from you. I tried sending you a direct message, but, it wont let me.LOL! I claim total innocence!!
The plot thickens on the next episode of Teslamundo.
@voip-ninja OK, that was totally worth it! Had a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to connect the foam lance to my pressure washer, but I was totally stoked with the results!
Bonus: two missionaries from the LDS church were going door to door our street and they decided to pass me by when they saw I was busy foaming up my car.
Bonus: two missionaries from the LDS church were going door to door our street and they decided to pass me by when they saw I was busy foaming up my car.
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voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
@voip-ninja OK, that was totally worth it! Had a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to connect the foam lance to my pressure washer, but I was totally stoked with the results!
Bonus: two missionaries from the LDS church were going door to door our street and they decided to pass me by when they saw I was busy foaming up my car.
View attachment 295561
Or as I say, “foam lance, I love you”.
Did you intentionally overspray the Tacoma?
Going to do it tomorrow - it gets sprayed by my sprinklers daily and has terrible paint, so I wasn't really worried about overspray, LOL.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
What are you thinking of the water usage with the pressure washer, more/less/same?
Hard to say - maybe the same amount as my two bucket ONR method or a little more? Was surprised at how little water it used, actually. Way less than a hose wash would. Not much runoff at all (at least until I got to the foam part, LOL)
Now the only hard part is getting the car dried before the desert sun and wind make water spots. But I don't think I am ready to go fully down the rabbit hole to a de-ionizer or air dryer yet.
Hard to say - maybe the same amount as my two bucket ONR method or a little more? Was surprised at how little water it used, actually. Way less than a hose wash would. Not much runoff at all (at least until I got to the foam part, LOL)
Now the only hard part is getting the car dried before the desert sun and wind make water spots. But I don't think I am ready to go fully down the rabbit hole to a de-ionizer or air dryer yet.
If your car is properly waxed (and I hope it is!) then a leaf blower with a narrow outlet works great. My neighbors look at me like I'm insane but eh, they're probably right.
You've embarked on a slippery slope by the way... I also live in the desert with hard water and I installed a water softener to keep the spots down. I say it's for the rest of the house but the secret is I really got it for the cars...
Xminus6
Member
I'm quite sure that Pressure Washer washes use a lot let water than hose washes. You're getting much more pressure and effect than out of a regular hose nozzle. I've done a lot of regular hose washes and pressure washer washes and the amount of water collecting at the bottom of the driveway is much less with a pressure washer. It's somewhat counter-intuitive though.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
Yes I have a pressure washer setup but I was curious what her impression was in how it compared to her two bucket method.
