The car wash and auto detailing products market has an abundance of amazing products and devices designed to maintain the appearance of your vehicle, protect the paintwork, and ultimately, preserve the value of your car. One of those products is a foam cannon used in the prewash process or, in other words, before contact washing.
There are a lot of different foam cannons out there and as you’re here reading our Buyer’s Guide, we assume that you don’t want to waste your money on a random product.
And you shouldn’t.
We created this list with the aim to help all our automotive-enthusiast friends and detailing pros to choose a product that best works for them.
Before we dig into the best foam cannon list, here are some reasons why you should get one.
Buying Guide For The Best Foam Cannon
What Are the Benefits of a Foam Cannon?
A foam cannon is used for a foam car wash, or prewash, to be more precise. Some might think that this is not necessary and tell you that all you need is a good car shampoo, a hose, and you’re good to go. However, a car detailing professional, or anyone seriously interested in preserving their coat of paint will tell you otherwise.
Why?
Glad you asked.
1. Pre-wash
The point of a car foam wash is to lubricate the surface of your vehicle which is essential for a detailed wash of your vehicle. This is particularly important for the delivery of impeccable cleaning and detailing results, and satisfied customers who will keep turning back for your services. Or, of course, for any car owner who is serious about keeping their car clean and tight.
2. Removal of contaminants that can harm the paintwork
When you apply car snow foam, it clings onto the surface of your car for a short while and when it starts dripping off the surface, it takes along any dirt, bird droppings, or other contaminants with it. In this way, the surface of your car gets a pre-clean and eliminates those contaminants that could scratch or mar your paintwork, which can happen if you immediately start with a contact wash with car shampoo and a sponge for instance.
Again, this is a particularly important car detailing prep step, and something that minimizes scratching.
Breaking Down the Foam Cannon Costs
You can find a foam cannon for car wash at different prices. Although they all work the same way, they have different features, are made out of different quality materials, and produce foam of different thickness and richness. The thicker and richer the foam, the better the pre-wash. A thick and rich foam stays on top of the vehicle for longer and hence, it loosens the contaminants better.
Therefore, we have three general price categories for foam cannons. Please note that you should check for the latest prices of each product as these are the ones we found at the time of writing the review.
Under $25
These are not foam cannons of the lowest quality necessarily as price doesn’t always match the quality of the product. Still, it’s fair to say that you can’t expect much durability of foam cannons from this modest price range.
$25 to $50
It can be said that foam blasters from this mid-price range are of better quality and durability. A lot of foam cannons in this range have come out of the workshops of well-known auto cleaning and detailing products manufacturers.
Above $50
The products from this price range are typically professional-grade or heavy-duty application foam cannons. Anything above $50 should create the best quality snow foam.
What Affects the Quality of the Foam?
We have to note that the quality of the foam cannon is not the only thing that affects the snow foam quality, or its richness and thickness. Other elements that come into play are:
- Soft water – the softer the water, the better the foam;
- Pressure washer – quality and performances of the pressure washer like the water pressure (PSI) or the pressure it creates and the water flow (GPM or gallons per minute); the higher these values are, the better the foam;
- Snow foam – the quality of the snow foam liquid;
- Snow foam solution-water ratio – typically it’s 1:8 but it needs to be adjusted depending on all the points mentioned above; TIP: feel free to try out different ratios to see what works best for you;
- Conditions – temperature, sunlight, wind, etc.
Top 10 Foam Cannons For 2020 Reviews
Explaining the Ranking System
To understand our choices, we thought it’d be a good idea to share which elements we calculated in our choices.
1. The quality of the product
Foam cannon quality encompasses the quality of the make and the materials used for the foam cannon, its features, and the richness and thickness of the foam it creates.
2. Customer reviews
Customer feedback is often the deciding factor when it comes to purchasing any type of product, especially online. That’s why we paid special attention to the reviews as they also contain other valuable information such as delivery times, customer services, and more.
3. Price
Price is another factor that impacts our choices so it’s another essential element we looked at when reviewing all the foam cannons.
4. Online presence
All good brands recognize the importance of a well-established online presence and engagement with their customers and community. That’s why we checked out each of the producer’s websites and social media to find out more about their brand and values.
And finally, here are the seven best foam cannon or foam lance wash accessory attachments.
Description of 10 products
Adam’s Foam Cannon
Adam’s Foam Cannon by the famous company Adam’s Polishes is our top pick. The foam lance accessory comes has all the standard foam cannon features such as the front nozzle for adjusting the fan spread, the aerator knob on top for water-air ratio adjustment, a solid brass body, a 1/4” quick disconnect for connecting the accessory to a pressure washer, and a 33 oz / 1 l bottle where you put the snow foam solution and water. It delivers on each point and it’s very easy to use and adjust. Adam’s Foam Cannon belongs to the middle price range and is in our opinion the best value for money product on the market.
Why It's Our Top Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: The foam lance is made of quality materials, the base is made of brass which makes it resistant to rust and the quick disconnect is made of stainless steel. The vendor recommends using a minimum of 1.3 GPM flow and 870 PSI for the best foam.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: Customer reviews are more than positive with an overall 4.4-star review on Amazon. There are of course people who didn’t quite like the product, however, those who did were amazed by its performance.
PRICE: The current price of Adam’s Foam Cannon is $48.58 which is an OK price for this high-quality product.
ONLINE PRESENCE: As an established company, Adam’s Polishes clearly invests in their online presence with over 156k Facebook and 398k Instagram followers and over 8.2m views of their YouTube content.
Here Are The Facts
Free shipping for purchases over $100 made through their website.
MTM Hydro PF22.2 Foam Cannon
The famous Italian company has created version 2 of their powerful foam cannon. This is easily one of the best and highest-quality car wash accessories, however, due to its higher price, we had to make it No.2. This foam blaster creates thick and rich foam which cleans down dirt from the tiniest car paint pores and crevices. It’s probably the first choice of all car detailing professionals who pay meticulous attention to all stages of the cleaning and detailing process. The MTM Hydro PF22.2 has an improved bottle shape which prevents it from tipping over when empty, which was something that the users didn’t like with the original MTM Hydro PF22.
Why It's Our Second Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: Excellent and high-quality materials make the product highly durable. It has an additional feature of the front nozzle so you can change it to either vertical or horizontal spray-on direction. The MTM Hydro PF22 has a core/base made of different alloys than brass which makes it ideal for heavy-duty applications as it resists higher temperatures from hot water better.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: A high 4.7-star review on Amazon is another proof of the product’s quality and customer satisfaction with MTM Hydro PF22.2.
PRICE: The foam cannon belongs to the higher price range and can be bought at $89.99.
ONLINE PRESENCE: MTM Hydro is a world-famous brand and we were shocked to find that the company has only 3k Facebook and 617 Instagram followers! Talking about a disconnect between the name and the follower base. Nevertheless, their products are amazing.
MaxShine Foam Cannon
MaxShine Foam Cannon is our No.3 by MaxShine for several good reasons. It’s a quality product that creates a nice foam blanket for a solid pre-wash. It can be coupled with 95% of the pressure washers and has a 1/4” quick disconnect and an adjustable spray nozzle. The base is made of brass and the 32 oz container is of light color so you can easily see how much solution you have in the tank. The latest version of MaxShine Foam Cannon has a redesigned 32 oz bottle and it's a great buy for enthusiasts or professionals alike.
Why It's Our Third Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: Good quality product made from quality materials which creates a nice layer of foam on the vehicle’s surface.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: The product has a solid 4.2-star review on Amazon. It gets the job done.
PRICE: At $29.06, it’s one of the most budget-friendly options in the market.
ONLINE PRESENCE: MaxShine has a humble online following of over 14.6k Instagram and a bit more than 2.1k followers.
MTM Hydro PF22
The original version of the MTM Hydro’s PF22 foam cannon or professional-grade foam lance. As its follow-up version 2, the PF22 is made of a more heat-resistant alloy than brass which makes it more durable and great for professional and HD use. It has an adjustable nozzle and adjustable spray-on mode, and it creates a thick, rich, cream-like foam that guarantees a perfect pre-wash. This first version of the MTM Hydro PF22 foam cannon has an ergonomic bottle which was designed for a better grip. However, this turned out to be a tiny disadvantage of the product as it falls over if the container is empty. Nevertheless, this foam cannon creates unbeatable foam.
Why It's Our Fourth Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: As we pointed out, the product is more durable than its competitors as its base or core is made out of higher-quality alloys. The quality of all the elements is evident which also makes it one of the first picks among detailing professionals.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: A high 4.6-star review on Amazon did not come as a surprise.
PRICE: Once again, PF22 comes from a higher price range at $84.99.
ONLINE PRESENCE: As we mentioned before, MTM Hydro is a world-famous brand. Still, it has a shockingly low follower base with 3k Facebook and 617 Instagram followers!
MJJC Snow Foam Lance
The foam cannon by MJJC is another quality foam sprayer that made it on our list of the best snow foam lance wash accessories. The product is compatible with any pressure washer and makes fluffy and rich foam. For best results, the company suggests using warm water and a 20% shampoo+80% water ratio. It’s made of quality materials and has all the standard foam cannon features.
Why It's Our Fifth Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: This foam cannon is also made of quality materials and makes a thick and dense foam for high-quality pre-wash.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: It doesn’t have that many ratings on Amazon, but it does have a high average 4.8-star rating.
PRICE: At $43.50, it belongs to the mid-range product category.
ONLINE PRESENCE: The company has a great website, however, it has a poor Facebook page/following and no Instagram. Another shocker. We did find many influencers in the detailing community who gladly recommend MJJC’s foam cannon because of its qualities. Just check out #mjjc and you’ll see what we mean. So, they’re obviously doing something that works.
TriNova Foam Cannon
Another great and budget-friendly foam cannon for car wash by TriNova. This wash accessory is designed to be used with pressure washers and not a garden hose. All the parts are made of great quality materials and the bottle is slightly different from the ones of previous foam cannons. It has a wide neck which makes pouring the solution and water much easier and very precise, without any spills. Also, it minimizes the possibility of neck cracks which is something that can happen with any of the foam cannon bottles as the plastic wears off with frequent use.
Why It's Our Sixth Pick
PRODUCT QUALITY: A foam cannon which delivers rich foam to get the job done with
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: Great reviews on Amazon and a 4.6 out of 5 stars rating make it an option you have to consider.
PRICE: The TriNova car wash foamer is $20.74 which makes it one of the highly affordable foam cannons on our list.
ONLINE PRESENCE: The company has an Amazon store page which is a usual choice considering their product range which includes automotive, home, and pet care products. Also, they have over 26k Facebook followers and less than 1k followers on Instagram.
DUSICHIN SFL-001 Foam Cannon
Last but not least, we have the DUSICHIN SFL-001 Foam Cannon by Dusichin. We decided to include this highly affordable snow foam lance because it’s one of the best sellers on Amazon, and customers seem to like it. It’s made of brass and has standard foam cannon features like the adjustable nozzle, 1/4
Final Thoughts
It’s important to know that all of the foam cannons work the same way and that you can get the job done no matter which one you choose. What you should pay attention to is the quality of the product and the quality of the foam it’s able to produce, and see how that matches your budget. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a seasoned detailing professional, you want to get the best bang for your money. One thing is for sure – buying one of the best foam cannons for a detailed prewash of your vehicle is certainly a valuable investment. Hope our Buyer’s Guide helped you out with making the final choice!