Automotive

MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0

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I previously made a video showcasing the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro. This cannon actually turned out to be my favorite foam cannon and I’ve been using it ever since getting it. Well, I was recently contacted by MJJC and they informed me that there is now a 2.0 version and wanted to see if I wanted to review it. I, of course, did and here we are.

So, what’s different with the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0?

According to what MJJC told me, there are four major differences.

V2.0:
1. black plastic part upgraded, looks better.

2. more brass parts inside, heavier and feels better.

3. thicker foam than V1.0.

4. rotates smoother than V1.0.

The first change is that the black plastic parts are supposed to be upgraded and look better. To be honest, I don’t see this. V1 and V2 look exactly identical to me. The black plastics do not look or feel any different and the color is seemingly the same.

Change number two is that there is more brass parts inside the head. It is heavier and supposed to feel better. I don’t have a scale that measures small weights so can’t tell you the weight difference but the 2.0 does feel a slight bit heavier in hand. In this case, I just have to take the manufacturer’s word that more brass is there and that’s better.

The third change is that Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 is supposed to produce more foam than 1.0. To test this, I added 3 ounces of Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam in one of the water reservoirs and filled it up to the 800ml indicator line. I’m going to show you what the foam looks like back to back. Switching from one cannon head to the other while using the same mixed soap solution. Watch the video above to see how this goes.

The differences may be hard to discern since we’re just looking at soap bubbles but from what I see, Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 does seem to produce thicker foam than 1.0. 1.0’s foam goes on thick but it flattens out quicker and starts to roll off faster. But I do have to note that this test is by no means definitive. There’s a lot of user errors that could’ve occurred. I know for sure I didn’t do the same number of spray passes and didn’t spray for the same amount of time so there isn’t an even amount of foam. There was just no realistic way of doing that. All I can say is that I did this a few times and the results seem to always show the same thing. Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 always produced slighter thicker foam.

The final change is to the head as version 2.0 is supposed to be smoother in operation than 1.0. With this, I saw no real differences. The knobs turned and did what they’re supposed to so no complaints and no points towards one or the other.

Ok, 4 supposed changes from 1.0 to 2.0. I didn’t really see that the changes to the plastic and feel of the head were worth nothing but the inclusion of more brass internals and thicker foam is a plus. Those are likely the things that most customers are going to want and the 2.0 delivers. I already thought that the Foam Cannon Pro 1.0 was the best foam cannon under $60 so the upgrades with the 2.0 just made it all the better. If you don’t have a foam cannon and are in this price range, the MJJC Foam Cannon Pro 2.0 is definitely worth a look at. If you already have the 1.0, I personally don’t think that you should go out and spend another $60 on the 2.0 but if you really want that extra bit in foam thickness, then sure. Go for it!

Now, considering that I have the Foam Cannon Pro 2.0, I want to do a giveaway for the 1.0. I will be giving this foam cannon away to a Pro Card level YouTube member. All you have to do is hit the Join button next to the subscribe button. Sign up for the Pro Card level and you’ll be entered. The winner drawing will be held when there is a minimum of 5 Pro Card members and all members at this level and above will be entered for monthly giveaways going forward. If you prefer Patreon, you can also support me there and it’s the same deal. Sign up for Pro Card level or above and you’ll be entered. These are just ways for me to give back to those who support me and help me be able to monetarily sustain this channel.

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If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

MJJC Website https://www.mjjc.com/collections/foam-cannon/foam-cannon-pro/?ref=187

MJJC Foam Cannon Pro https://amzn.to/32fjyHG

Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam https://amzn.to/3a5F18Y

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Blackfire Foam Soap

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To be honest, I never even knew that Blackfire Foam Soap even existed until I got it as a sample as seen here. According to the label, Foam Soap is supposed to be extremely high foaming and is pH balanced which means it’ll be safe for use on previously applied paint protection coatings and won’t diminish them. This shampoo is supposed to be good for use in both a foam cannon and a bucket but considering that I only have a 2 oz sample, I could only test one of those methods. I chose the bucket because that’s going to be the most accessible route for many people.

We’re going to first start with the hand lubricity test where I essentially just run my hand through the mixed solution to see how slick it is. The directions say to add 2-3 oz of Foam Soap for every 5 gallons of water. I first stopped at 2 gallons of water and checked for lubricity. At one ounce per gallon of water, Foam Soap is ok. It’s pretty slick and would be perfectly acceptable for a contact wash. Next, filling up to 4 gallons of water, meaning 1 oz of Foam Soap per 2 gallons of water. Here, I would say that the water is still slick but I can definitely start to feel some friction. This is where I’d probably stop with the water.

After getting a chance to use Foam Soap for a contact wash, what do I think? Well, I would say that this product is kind of weird. From what I felt, I could tell that as I used the solution it got less and less slick. Again, it was weird. After a while, I kind of got nervous that it wasn’t slick enough for the state of dirtiness that the model car was in and thought that it could contribute to some contact wash scratches. If I had more of the stuff, I would’ve added more to make the solution slicker but obviously, that wasn’t an option. For me, 1 oz of Foam Soap per 2 gallons of water isn’t enough even though it is within the recommended parameters. At this point, I can’t give any advice on what an acceptable mixing ratio for this product would be because I don’t have any more to do further testings.

So the question is, would I recommend this product and the answer would be no. I can’t see myself actually spending money on this product for personal use so I can’t recommend it to anyone else. Of course, it may perform better less diluted but this product isn’t all that economical to start with. From what I’m seeing, the current pricing for Foam Soap is $24.99 for 32 oz and $45 for a gallon. That’s a lot of money for something that doesn’t perform all that well. I’d rather spend half the money on previously reviewed products from companies like Meguiar’s and Chemical Guys and still get better performance. But at the end of the day, it’s your money and you can do whatever you’d like with it.

If you’re interested in what I believe to be better quality car shampoos, check out the link below which will lead you to a list of all the auto detailing products that I use.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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Lexol All Leather Cleaner & Conditioner

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In this post, we are going to address a point of auto detailing that I consider to be very important and that is leather cleaning and condition. If you think about it, leather interiors take quite a beating. If you have leather seats or a leather steering wheel, they get used every time the car is driven. Then you have dashes and other panels that constantly take hits from UV rays. These are obviously things that all interiors deal with but leather is much more susceptible to damage than synthetic materials. Because of this, we have to really take the time to treat the leather if we want it to last a long time.

Over the last few years, I’ve been using leather-focused products from Lexol. This is a brand commonly associated with leather and is known to produce good products.

To get started, let’s first take a look at the products that I’ll be using. Lexol has numbered their products to make it easy to understand the order that they should be used in. First is the All Leather Cleaner. As you can probably tell by the name, this product is used to first clean the leather. Then it is followed up by the All Leather Conditioner. This product will treat the leather and leave behind a trace layer of protectant.

Starting off with the All Leather Cleaner. I personally apply some of it into a microfiber towel and massage it into the leather. I generally do not go too long or let my leather get too soiled so they never need a deep cleaning. Some minor wipes with the cleaner and a towel generally suffice. If you have really dirty leather, you may have to buy a leather brush or use something a little more abrasive. I would advise buying a leather-specific brush as you can definitely cause some damage if you use something too stiff. Also, as with all never before used products, you should test it out in an inconspicuous area to make sure that the materials are compatible. Once the cleaner has been thoroughly used, we take a second towel and wipe away the excess. The instructions say to use a damp towel and follow up with a dry towel but I’ve personally always just used a single dry towel for this step. Not saying that you should do that as I’m just some guy on the internet. You probably should follow the directions.

Next, we move on to the All Leather Conditioner. Application of this product is essentially the same as with the All Leather Cleaner,. We rub it into the leather and wipe off any excess. To apply the conditioner, I like to use an applicator pad. The particular one I use is from Chemical Guys and I like these pads because they do the job and are pretty cheap. You can get them for around a dollar each. I like to use the applicator pad because it gives me more control and I want that for this step. Once the conditioner has been applied, the instruction says to let it sit for a few minutes then wipe off any excess. This wait time is to allow the conditioner to soak into the leather. However, I find that the wait time is largely dependent on weather. If you’re doing this on a hot day, the leather is going to soak the conditioner up a lot faster than on a cold day. Just keep that in mind. You can’t really go wrong with this process. When there’s excess, it’s pretty obvious. If everything looks dry but there’s a few spots that look wet and shiny, just hit those spots with a clean towel and you’re good. Also, pay attention to the seems and stitching as product tend to pool in those areas.

And that’s it. The process to clean and condition leather is fairly straightforward and easy. At least it is with this line of Lexol products. The only thing that I want to note is for you to do some research and find out what part of your interior is actually leather. With modern cars, there’s a lot of materials that are used that may look like leather but are actually some sort of synthetic material. Even in my Supra, there’s a lot of surfaces that look and feel like leather but it was confirmed that only the seats and steering wheel are actually leather. Applying leather products to non-leather surfaces may or may not damage them. There’s no telling without testing but this isn’t necessarily something that I want to test in case the worse were to occur. Again, do a little research about the interior of your vehicle.

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Lexol Conditioner Cleaner Kit https://amzn.to/2NKZlp6

Lexol Leather Conditioner https://amzn.to/2ZYoVJO

Lexol Leather Cleaner https://amzn.to/3r3DFmr

Chemical Guys Microfiber Applicator Pads https://amzn.to/3r8rpkU

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Most Underrated Paint Protection Coating - Nanoskin Super-Charger

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I previously made a video showcasing Nanoskin Super-Charger. At the time, I said that for the price of about $5-$6 a bottle, if this coating lasts a month I’d completely be happy with it and would be willing to buy more. Well, I made an update video one month after applying the coating and it still looked good so that was a pass.

I used up the original bottle that I purchased pretty quickly and I wanted more. However, instead of buying the 16 oz bottle again, I decided to pick up the 1-gallon concentrate. The great thing about the concentrate is that Nanoskin recommends mixing it at 100:1. This means that for the $50 to $60 that the gallon concentrate costs, you can mix up to 129 gallons of usable solution, which in turn saves a tremendous amount of money over the 16 oz bottle and provides me with a seemingly limitless amount of product. I mean if the chemicals don’t go bad, I realistically have a lifetime supply of this stuff. And if you do go through a ridiculous amount of the stuff, Nanoskin also offers Supercharger in a 5-gallon jug and a 55-gallon drum. The savings per ounce goes up with every larger size but you have to detail at a ridiculous rate to be able to use up all the product.

Again, I’ve already made a few videos dedicated to this product so you can go ahead and watch those videos if you want to see how it performs in my initial testings. Here, I just want to add on and tell you the values that I see in a product like this.

First off, Nanoskin SuperCharger is a touchless sealant. To use this product, all we have to do is spray it onto a vehicle’s wet surface and then rinse it off. That’s it! Touchless sealants are the easiest to apply paint protection coatings and are my absolute favorite. I personally like to auto detail but I don’t like to do it for the pure act of auto detailing. I do it for the results and benefits of the products used. If I don’t have to waste a bunch of time applying a paint protection coating, I’m not going to do it. Supercharger is so quick to apply that I can literally apply it to an entire car in minutes. Whether it’s a Smart car or an F450, the entire vehicle can be coated in minutes, not hours.

That being said, this is not the type of coating that you should be looking towards for the best of durability. From my experience, this coating will provide a few months of protection but the length of time really depends on what you consider adequate. I personally left the first application on the Corolla that I applied it to for 6 months and I was ok with it. But now that I have the concentrate and so much usable product, I can use it after every wash because the application process is so quick. If I happen to see the coating slow down just a bit, the car’s getting another application. For me, this is a monthly coating at least but again that’s not necessarily because of performance, but because I have a lot to go through.

Now, Nanoskin Supercharger can be used as a standalone coating or as a maintenance topper for a more durable base coating. I personally use it both ways. If I’m coating a daily driver or a beater that I don’t necessarily care about, Supercharger is used as a standalone base coating. This is because I don’t care to waste the time to coat these cars with say a ceramic coating that’ll take a few hours to apply. I’d rather just use my touchless sealant and get the coating process over with. It’ll do an adequate job with UV protection and that’s all I care about. When the coating diminishes, I’ll just apply more.

Moving to a car that I care about that already has a more durable base coating, I’m going to use Supercharger as a topper to maintain my base coating and to make it last as long as possible. With this Supra, I’ve applied Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. This coating has an advertised 7 years of durability. Whether that’s true is another story but I’m going to maintain it to get the most out of my investment.

Overall, I think Nanoskin Supercharger is a fantastic product. For the price and ease of use, I really think that this is the most underrated paint protection coating out there. Supercharger is such a huge part of my auto detailing regimen and I’m so glad to have found it. This product easily gets a recommendation from me. Pick up the smaller bottle. See how you feel about it and maybe invest in the concentrate later. With all the positives that Super-Charger provides, it’s definitely worth checking out.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Nanoskin Ultra Line Super-Charger 16oz https://amzn.to/2NnCQpO

Nanoskin SuperCharger 1 Gallon Concentrate https://amzn.to/2ZdZjZ6

Nanoskin SuperCharger 5 Gallon Concentrate https://amzn.to/3d8181H

Nanoskin SuperCharger 30 Gallon Concentrate https://amzn.to/3tO0uwp

Nanoskin SuperCharger 55 Gallon Concentrate https://amzn.to/3d89tSZ

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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XPEL Ultimate Plus Paint Protection Film Aftercare

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If you’ve been with the channel for a while, you’d know that I had XPEL Ultimate Plus paint protection film or PPF installed on my Supra. Well today, I want to share with you the general aftercare regimen for this product because if you’ve invested in PPF, you’ll want to make sure to treat it right to get the most out of that investment. Caring for PPF is a little different from normal paint but nothing too crazy.

First off, let’s start with the time directly after installation. You do not want to wash the PPF. From what I was told by my installer, some soaps react with the film and its adhesive and make things not bond properly. So, again, no traditional car washes.

That being said, you do want to keep the film relatively clean. Say you get the film installed and you drive home with the car on the same day or the following. The car may get a little dirty. In my case, I caught some dead bugs on the bumper. In this case, there are some products that you can use to spot clean. I personally used a Meguiar’s Last Touch Spray Detailer. As the name implies, this is a quick detailer. For those unfamiliar with this type of product, it’s essentially a slick liquid that allows you to spray on and pick up light surface contaminants without scratching the surface and without the need of soap and water. I personally use Last Touch but any spray detailer from a reputable company should suffice. I’ll leave links to the products that I use and some other options below.

Moving out of the first 48 hours, you will be able to wash your car but this is kind of dependent on your situation. If you had the PPF installed in the summer, the adhesive is going to bond quicker than if you had it installed in the winter. If you store your car in a climate-controlled environment, then it doesn’t really matter so the 48-hour recommendation should be fine. Although I had my PPF installed in the summer, I just played it safe and waited a week before doing any washing.

When you do decide to wash your car, I would personally recommend a traditional hand washing. I never recommend automatic washes as they can do some real damage to your finish and in this case, could do damage to your PPF. Again, play it safe and just hand wash.

For those who haven’t been down the rabbit hole of car shampoos, let me just tell you that there’s a lot to choose from. To keep things as simple as possible, choose a pH balanced shampoo. This means that the shampoo is neutral in the sense that it won’t degrade any protective coatings that you have on the PPF.

Speaking of which, use some kind of paint protection coating on your PPF. This can be a wax, sealant, or ceramic coating. When you get the PPF installed, it is very likely that the shop offered you some kind of coating for the film. This is a good idea as the coating will likely come with some sort of warranty so it just makes life simpler for you. However, I can completely understand that you don’t want to get the coating because these shops usually charge a lot for the service. Because I’m experienced in auto detailing, I decided to do the ceramic coating myself. For this, I went with Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. I decided on this one because it has a claimed lifespan of 7 years and at the time, this was the most durable coating that I could find. This coating is also compatible with PPF and that’s obviously what we want. If you’re interested in the application process of this coating or want to see how it performs, I’ve made a whole series of videos dedicated to it and you can find those on my channel. If want to go with something else, that’s fine. Just make sure that your coating is compatible with PPF.

Now, if you are going to attempt to apply a coating to the PPF yourself, I do want to elaborate on the process because it is a bit different from normal paint. Typically, to prep for a coating, we would need to wash the car, decontaminate the surface, do paint correction if necessary, then apply the coating. I’ve already covered washing so let’s move on to decontaminating the surface.

Decontamination is usually a two-step process, chemical decontamination and mechanical decontamination. Chemical decontamination involves using an iron remover chemical to remove any ferrous metals that may be embedded in the surface. Then you move on to mechanical decontamination and use a clay media and pick up anything leftover. This process should leave the surface smooth and contaminant free. However, with PPF, we are advised to not use any harsh chemicals as it could damage the film. XPEL doesn’t say anything about using an iron remover so I would personally play it safe and skip chemical decontamination as iron removers can be quite harsh chemicals. They can damage paint if used improperly so I have a feeling that they can have some negative effects on the film. With mechanical decontamination, XPEL does explicitly state that the film can be clay barred so we’re good there. Just use some of the quick detailer mentioned earlier as a clay lube and go at it.

From decontamination, we would typically move on to paint correction and this involves using a polisher to remove any defects and to allow for the best possible adhesion of the coating to the surface. Now, I have seen people polish PPF. However, I personally do not recommend this. Paint correction is essentially abrading the defects away. On PPF, this means that that you’re abrading a microscopic portion of the film away. Now remember, XPEL films have a self-healing top layer. It’s unlikely that you’ll polish through the entire film but it may be possible for you to polish through the self-healing top layer. To repeat myself, play it safe. Don’t do anything that can negatively impact the film. It’s a one-way road. Once the damage is done, there’s no going back. So, I would personally advise skipping paint correction altogether.

So from here, we move on to the last step before the actual coating process and that is to give the surface a wipe with some isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol strips the surface of any remaining oils and residues and leaves the surface as bare as possible. The official XPEL website mentions that you can use 99% isopropyl alcohol on the film.

At this point, the film is ready for coating and I would personally say that this is absolutely necessary. If you want to maximize the life of your PPF, you should protect the film with some sort of coating. Think of it this way, the film protects your car but the film itself needs something to protect it. To be fair, you don’t have to do this. The XPEL film comes with a 10-year warranty but in my opinion, applying a coating just makes the owner’s life easier. Again it protects the film and reduces the chance of a warranty claim. But beyond that, having a good paint protection coating makes it easier to clean the film. Water, dirt, and debris do not stick as easily so the time spent cleaning the car is reduced. I like to keep my car clean so this alone makes it worth it for me.

After you get the PPF coating, it’s just a matter of periodic maintenance. Wash the car and periodically maintain the coating. The process is not all that different from paint. Just remember not to use harsh chemicals and don’t do anything that may force the edges of the film to lift. Following this guide should help you to keep your XPEL PPF in a good state for years to come.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Adam's Graphene Ceramic Coating https://amzn.to/3ragmab

Meguiar's Last Touch Spray Detailer https://amzn.to/3aqFKBI

Nanoskin AUTOSCRUB Fine Grade Clay Mitt https://amzn.to/3tenl3O

Other Quick Detailers https://amzn.to/36u32FM

Car Shampoos https://amzn.to/3cvXleb

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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