Yesterday, I finally succumbed and bought a K4 Karcher pressure washer. Seemed like a big purchase but I calculated that was equivalent to the cost of 6-8 months washes by going to my local DIY wash station (that's how I sold it to SWMBO anyway) so it should make sense I think. Now a whole lot of questions came with it:
Half of the appeal of the pressure washer was the ability to use a foam cannon, I have been envying this for a while... But then I found out so much debate online on foam lances, and some of the most popular ones like Chemical Guys or Adam's cost around 1/3 of the actual washer's price
for what seems to be effectively a plastic bottle with a washer gun attachment (not referring to the actual guns that you attach to a hose when you don't have a p.w.). It seems crazy but maybe I miss something? I was thinking of sticking to OEM parts and getting the Karcher FJ-6 foam nozzle, i feel the "foaminess" is more a matter of the mix ratio and the shampoo than an actual ability of the lance/nozzle you use?
Also, is it possible, on not very dirty cars with sticking dirt, to just snow foam and rinse off without touching the car? I guess you would risk swirls when drying it (if there was still dirt that hadn't been removed) but isn't that the same as if you opted for hand-washing after?
And last one, do I need special snow foam shampoo in order to make sufficient foam or I can dilute my own normal hand wash shampoo? I currently use Meguiars Wash n Wax.