Foam, mitts, wheels
Washing a car with a pressure washer is mostly about not touching the paint until the grit is gone. A foam cannon does that, and the rest of the kit decides whether what follows adds scratches. We cover cannons and their fittings, wash mitts, wheel brushes and drying towels — and the order of operations that makes them work.
Foam that clings long enough to soften grit — which is what stops the wash mitt scratching.
Thick foam clings long enough to lift the dust; runny foam is gone before that. The lance's capacity and its dilution setting decide the result.
MJJC PRO V3.0 Foam Cannon
A kit with no grit guard or no drying towel gets completed piece by piece, dearer than a set. The stated contents list is what gets compared here.
MJJC PRO V3.0 Foam Cannon
Not at a reasonable distance and moderate pressure. What damages it is the rotary nozzle, a point-blank jet on an existing chip, and going over the seals.
One shampoo bucket, one clean-water bucket with a grit guard at the bottom. The mitt is rinsed in the second between each panel: the grit falls under the guard instead of going back onto the bodywork.
A pH-neutral shampoo if you want to keep a wax or a ceramic treatment. A generic degreaser cleans very well and takes the protection off with the dirt.
Dry with microfibre rather than letting it dry, especially in hard water and in sunshine. A car left to dry keeps the mark of every drop.
That is the best way to have the shampoo dry before you rinse, which leaves halos. Failing shade, work panel by panel.
For dust and rain, yes. For established road film or insects, no: contact will be needed, and therefore a clean mitt and plenty of rinsing.
As soon as the dirt is visible rather than on a fixed schedule. Road salt and bird droppings attack the clear coat in days, not weeks.
Three at least: one for washing, one for drying, one for glass and sills. Kits that hold only one get topped up at the first wash.
The result comes from the method, not the kit: two buckets, a mitt rinsed often, foam given time to work, and microfibre drying. The pressure washer is an excellent rinsing tool and a poor contact tool.