The Best Foam Cannons (Review & Buying Guide) in 2018

That is our pick of the best foam cannons on the market – and I think you’ll agree that is a pretty good selection.

But how to choose the best model for you – and once you have got your very own cannon, how to use it to its best advantage?

Foam Gun vs Foam Cannon – What’s the Difference?

You may have heard some people talking Foam Guns, and of course, we’re here talking about Foam Cannons – so you may well be asking yourself just what is the difference?

Well, for one thing, the biggest clue is in the name – we’re talking about a gun versus a Cannon!

The essential difference is that a Foam Gun plugs into your hose. So it’s a simpler machine to use, no doubt about that. However, it also means that:

1. Its effectiveness is limited by the water pressure coming out of your hose, which can often be poor, to say the least.
2. It actually uses more water than a cannon, because more low-pressure water is required to do the same job as less water that has a higher pressure.
3. It just doesn’t work that well in all honesty. The foam that the gun makes is usually a pretty weak sheet that runs off quickly without doing much cleaning at all.

On the other hand, a Foam Cannon has to work in conjunction with a pressure washer. This naturally makes it that much more complicated than the simple gun. You need a pressure washer for one thing, and you also need the kind of high-quality brass connectors that can attach it to the pressure washer properly (don’t worry, all the models we selected above have high-quality connectors at standard).

This extra effort does, however, bring some serious benefits, such as:

1. High-Pressure water combines with foam to provide an outstanding clean. Seriously, if you want your car to look like it has been professionally cleaned and detailed, then a foam cannon is key to getting that premium finish – and getting it faster than by hand.
2. It uses less water by being more efficient with what it is using. This could be an important consideration if you live in an area (or a building like an apartment complex) that has water use restrictions.
3. It’s a very efficient way to clean your car. Look, we love our cars, and sometimes it’s great to be out in the sunshine with a bucket of suds and cool beer and take your time cleaning out every grill and carefully wiping down the windshield and getting everything looking great. Other times it’s cold, the game starts in an hour, you’re tired and the car is filthy. In those instances, a foam cannon and a good quality pressure washer can really be your best friends!

Tips When Using a Foam Cannon

This is a good start because for once we’ll be beginning with something you don’t have to do! That’s a nice change of pace, right?

The first thing you can do is forget about bothering with a pre-wash – which flies in the face of a lot of car washing guides.

The thing is though you have a secret weapon that they don’t – a foam cannon. The point of a prewash is to remove any hard specks of dirt and debris. These little bits can get caught in your sponge or cloth whilst hand washing and can scratch or whirl the paintwork.

The beauty of a cannon, however, is that you are essentially washing “hands off.” So you don’t have to worry about a pre-wash, just get on with cleaning. This is really one of the main reasons why these products can be such time savers.

What else do you need to do to get the most of these products? Well, you should.

Wait for sunshine – You wouldn’t wash your car with buckets in the rain, so don’t bother with your cannon either. This may seem straightforward, but we’ve seen enough people out there in the rain it’s worth pointing out!

It’s all about the foam – You have bought this product to take advantage of the best way to spray foam – so make sure you are doing just that! All these tools come with adjustable nozzles to help you regulate the amount of water that is mixing with the foam product. You want a nice stream that produces a thick foam that easily clings to the outside of the vehicle. Watch the Statue of Liberty scene from Ghostbusters 2 to get a good idea of what we’re talking about here.

Clean off – what goes on, must come off! Either disconnect the cannon from your pressure washer or move the adjuster nozzle so that no foam mixture is going into the water stream. Work the water jet from the top of the car and work toward the bottom. Don’t do it the other way round, or you’ll just blast dirt up onto the car from the ground.

Finish off – You should now have a nice clean car. Leave it as it is, or dry it off and apply your usual wax (highly recommended).

Things to Consider Before Choosing your Foam Cannon

So what factors should you bear in mind when picking out your cannon? Well, to our mind these are some of the most important ones:

Connectors – This is actually one of the most important considerations. A poor connector will both a) let water pressure escape, rendering the tool-less efficient, and b) break easily. All the models we selected come with brass connectors that are the best on the market – run a mile from any tool that comes with a plastic connector!

Versatility – it’s handy if it can be used for other purposes like cleaning concrete driveways or patios. But at the end of the day, these tools are not very expensive (around $20 is the average) and they are designed for cars.

Transparent Bottle – A pet peeve of mine (you may have noticed in the product guide!) but transparent bottles are a little easier to use. You can just easily see how much foam mix is left, instead of trying to guess.

Solid Build – It’s worth noting that these items are going to have a relatively tough life. For example, the water pressure they have to handle is pretty exacting, so you want a tool that is well made and built to last. The connector is one of the weak points on these tools so again by selecting models that come with brass connectors, you know that if you choose one from this list it is a durable model built to last.

Capacity – You don’t want to be stopping to refill the foam mix bottle every 5 minutes! With some models you are, because the bottle they come equipped with is simply too small to function properly. We’ve stopped you having to worry about that by only choosing tools with nice, big 30 Ounce or bigger bottles. That should give you plenty of foam mix to easily clean a large car or truck in one go.

Good luck with whatever model you go for and remember to have fun in the foam!

Sources:

1. How to Clean your Car,  Autoexpress