The double foam wash method, and a detailed look at our washing process

Most detailers out there wash a car using the 2 Bucket Method, which has been the industry standard for decades. This method uses two buckets; one filled with soapy water (the clean bucket) and another filled with water only (the dirty bucket). The process goes like this:

1. Soak the wash mitt in the clean, soapy bucket

2. Wash one panel of the car…now the contaminants have gone from the car to the mitt

3. Wring out the mitt in the dirty water bucket to remove the contaminants

4. Dunk the mitt back into the clean bucket and repeat

The problem is that it doesn’t really do what it’s supposed to do. It’s a nice idea, but you still end up with dirt trapped in the clean bucket, which means it’s getting rubbed across the paint and will cause micro scratching. It’s also an incredible waste of water…you use 10 gallons of water just between the two buckets, and you still need to rinse the car off after the wash. It’s inefficient and, honestly, a waste of time.

SM Auto Detailing uses the Double Foam Method

The double foam method uses a foam cannon, which is a pressure washer attachment that layers a thick, shaving-cream-like foam onto the car. The purpose of the foam is to act as a pre-soak and to provide lubrication for a scratch free wash. The first layer of foam is allowed to dwell on the vehicle, working to capture loose dirt, bugs, and other surface grime that could potentially cause scratches if caught under the wash mitt. Now that the first layer has done its job and has been rinsed off, we can do a safe, scratch free contact wash using another layer of foam as lubricant, and a single bucket filled with just 3 gallons of soapy water.

With that in mind, here’s our full exterior wash process, in great detail, using the double foam method:

Wheels, tires, and wheel arches detailed

1. Wheels are soaked with Gyeon wheel cleaner, agitated with a brush, and wheel barrels are scrubbed

2. Wheel arches are rinsed, sprayed with Koch Chemie Greenstar APC (all purpose cleaner), scrubbed, and rinsed again

3. Tires are scrubbed using Gyeon tire cleaner or APC

4. Wheels, tires, and arches are all rinsed clean

Washing

1. Assess the vehicle for dirt buildup, bugs, tar, brake dust, traffic film, or any other contaminants

2. Each contaminant is treated with its respective cleaner and allowed to dwell

3. The first layer of foam is sprayed on, either Gyeon or Koch Chemie foam, and is allowed to dwell along with any other pre treatments from the last step

4. All emblems, letters, numbers, crevices, and panel gaps are detailed using a moderately stiff (but very soft) brush

5. The entire vehicle is thoroughly rinsed, removing the first layer of dirt, traffic film, mud, tar, bugs, or whatever else is plaguing the vehicle

6. Foam layer 2 is applied to the whole vehicle

7. The contact wash ensues. Using either a Gyeon or Rag Company wash mitt, the vehicle is hand washed from top to bottom

8. Entire vehicle is rinsed clean

9. Essential level details will skip to step 14 from here

10. The vehicle is given a quick dry with either a Gyeon or Rag Company towel

11. Gyeon Iron is applied to the whole vehicle. This iron remover will dissolve heavy metal contaminants from the paint like rail dust, brake dust, exhaust particles, and other metallic grime that can be found on the road. The contaminants “bleed out” in a bright purple color and it’s very visually satisfying

12. Entire vehicle is rinsed clean

13. Using Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) as a lubricant, the painted surfaces (and glass, in some cases) are clay barred. If we are doing a polish then we will use traditional clay. If there’s no polishing to be done we will use a synthetic clay towel. The reason for this is traditional clay will mar the paint, which is fine if we are polishing because the marring will come out anyways. The synthetic clay towel still gets the job done but it’s scratch free. It doesn’t clean as deeply as traditional clay, but the trade off is worth it

14. The entire vehicle is blow dried with a Metro Vac’n blow, and water is blown from all cracks, crevices, grill, vents, mirrors, etc. to prevent dripping and water spots

15. Wheels and tires are blow dried to provide a longer lasting bond with the tire shine

16. The vehicle is towel dried using either a Gyeon or Rag Company drying towel

17. Windows are cleaned to a streak free finish

18. Gyeon Express tire shine is applied, allowed to dry, and then buffed off to a clean satin finish. If you like a higher shine, we will apply another coat and let it air dry, or dry it with the blower to prevent sling

From here, we can apply paint protection or go on to polishing, depending on what package you’ve selected.

Not all customers will find value in reading about this whole process, but hopefully you can see how every second of the detail has been diligently thought through. We leave no stone unturned when detailing your vehicle. Ask yourself, is it still sufficient to just run to the car wash every week? We have another article on the disadvantages of going to the carwash that you can read here.

We recommend a service like the one described above every year, preferably twice a year. In Kansas City it’s best to do this before and after winter, given how rough the weather gets and the chemical treatments on the road during the snowy season.

If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading and I hope to get you on the schedule soon!