A couple of car cleaning questions

[TheBALDpuma]

1. With a pressure washer do you.... snow foam, rinse, 2 bucket wash, rinse? Or have I missed a step out got it wrong?

2. To snow foam do you use any shampoo or do you need specific stuff?

3. Will either of the autoglym wheel cleaners work/be safe to use on an exhaust tip?

TIA!

[belleair302]

Pop ove to either the detailing area on PH or detailing world.com What you are doing is right but for exhaust tips there are specific metallic cleaners and polishes available that do a way better job than a shampoo or wheel cleaner.

[Green1man]

1. Yes this is fine, some may rinse, then snow foam then rinse again, but only really necessary if extreamly muddy.

2. You won't get the suds with just normal car soap, it probably would have some effect but you won't get the dwell of soap required that snowfoam provides.

3. Will be safe enough but probably not that effective. Wheelcleaner reacts with the metalic/ceramic particles from the car brakes. Exhaust will be primarily coated in carbon/soot. Metal cleaner (autosol or similar) is typically used, if bad you may need to get the power tools out with a buffing wheel or similar.

[brad ukcarscene]

Your routine sounds fine to me. Sometimes I'll snowfoam, rinse, 2BM, rinse, snowfoam again and rinse just to make sure I didn't miss a bit.

Ideally you'll need snowfoam rather than using shampoo. PH neutral will be best as it won't strip off any protection. I use Auto Finesse Avalanche which is my go to foam at the minute, Autobrite Direct Magifoam is decent too.

For exhaust, as mentioned above use autosol or a metal polish. I currently use Autobrite Direct metal polish as it was in their sale for about £5 and I get awesome results with it as you can just about see. Back to brand new near enough after being completely caked in soot

[TheBALDpuma]

Thanks all!

One other thing.... do you just leave snow foam to do it's thing or do you need to agitate or anything?

Edit... I got a pressure washer for Christmas

Edited by TheBALDpuma on Tuesday 31st January 19:57

[brad ukcarscene]

Put foam on and leave for 10 mins or so whilst it does it's thing then jet wash off

[lee_fr200]

see i charge for my services and i will tell you what i do

wash phase:

1. soak the car in a citrus liquid like auto finesse citrus power
2. snowfoam and let dwell for 5-10 mins,
3. rinse
4. 3bm ( soap, fresh water, wheel bucket)
5. snowfoam again
6.clay on the foam as its a perfect lube
7.rinse
8. tar remover
9.iron fallout remover
10.snowfoam again
11.rinse

polish bodywork
polish wheels
seal the wheels
wax (depending on what the customer wants, something like tough coat then followed by desire)
clean glass and protect with gtechniq
metal polish on exhaust

then move to interior and then underbonnet

hope that helps

[Feraz]

TheBALDpuma said:

Thanks all!

One other thing.... do you just leave snow foam to do it's thing or do you need to agitate or anything?

Edit... I got a pressure washer for Christmas

Edited by TheBALDpuma on Tuesday 31st January 19:57

Leave to agitate but go around the car with a detailing brush to get into all the hard to reach areas.

[steve-5snwi]

I tried snow foam and got bored with it, I don't think it does anything. 2 bucket never appeals either the dirt is going to be encapsulated in the water and is not going to sink to the bottom instantly

[Lopey]

lee_fr200 said:

see i charge for my services and i will tell you what i do

wash phase:

1. soak the car in a citrus liquid like auto finesse citrus power
2. snowfoam and let dwell for 5-10 mins,
3. rinse
4. 3bm ( soap, fresh water, wheel bucket)
5. snowfoam again
6.clay on the foam as its a perfect lube
7.rinse
8. tar remover
9.iron fallout remover
10.snowfoam again
11.rinse

polish bodywork
polish wheels
seal the wheels
wax (depending on what the customer wants, something like tough coat then followed by desire)
clean glass and protect with gtechniq
metal polish on exhaust

then move to interior and then underbonnet

hope that helps

Out of curiosity, how long would it normally take to do a focus sized car using your method?

[DHE]

lee_fr200 said:

see i charge for my services and i will tell you what i do

wash phase:

1. soak the car in a citrus liquid like auto finesse citrus power
2. snowfoam and let dwell for 5-10 mins,
3. rinse
4. 3bm ( soap, fresh water, wheel bucket)
5. snowfoam again
6.clay on the foam as its a perfect lube
7.rinse
8. tar remover
9.iron fallout remover
10.snowfoam again
11.rinse

polish bodywork
polish wheels
seal the wheels
wax (depending on what the customer wants, something like tough coat then followed by desire)
clean glass and protect with gtechniq
metal polish on exhaust

then move to interior and then underbonnet

hope that helps

Tar remover before iron remover. Iron fallout will be behind any tar spots.

[Cotty]

steve-5snwi said:

2 bucket never appeals either the dirt is going to be encapsulated in the water and is not going to sink to the bottom instantly

Depends what you are taking off the car. The grit guards are to trap grit and other non soluble items from being transferred back onto the paintwork.

[steve-5snwi]

Autosmart hazsafe takes most crap off, I've tried 2 bucket but think it's a waste of time.

[lee_fr200]

Lopey said:

lee_fr200 said:

see i charge for my services and i will tell you what i do

wash phase:

1. soak the car in a citrus liquid like auto finesse citrus power
2. snowfoam and let dwell for 5-10 mins,
3. rinse
4. 3bm ( soap, fresh water, wheel bucket)
5. snowfoam again
6.clay on the foam as its a perfect lube
7.rinse
8. tar remover
9.iron fallout remover
10.snowfoam again
11.rinse

polish bodywork
polish wheels
seal the wheels
wax (depending on what the customer wants, something like tough coat then followed by desire)
clean glass and protect with gtechniq
metal polish on exhaust

then move to interior and then underbonnet

hope that helps

Out of curiosity, how long would it normally take to do a focus sized car using your method?

Just for the wash stage a few hours as you use air blowers and luxury drying towels too
If adding in a machine polish then usually have a car for a few days to make it right

If just washing and waxing a day tops

[lee_fr200]

DHE said:

Tar remover before iron remover. Iron fallout will be behind any tar spots.

The iron fallout will be behind the tar yes so tar remover followed by iron fallout n then wash again as then you know the car is fully clear at that point it's ready for the polishing phase or if a customer just wants wax it's prepped for that

[smudgerebt]

Of course you can use a shampoo as snowfoam.

People always seem confused what a snowfoam is.

If you have the cash Bilt-Hamber, otherwise have a chat with Tim Envy Valeting for his snowfoam.

I will say, dont forget to clean the foamer so it dosnt get clogged up so quick.

As always, research and just because one person keeps banging on about a product/brand dosnt mean its the latest greatest, just that they post alot!

[scratcher_]

lee_fr200 said:

6.clay on the foam as its a perfect lube
7.rinse
8. tar remover
9.iron fallout remover

You should swap these around.

Remove the tar.
Rinse.
Remove fallout.
Rinse.
Clay.

This way the larger contaminants will be removed chemically and won't get dragged around the paint work by the clay.
You'll find the clay doesn't have as much work to do and will give you a better result.

[lee_fr200]

You're completely right and that's what's normally done we also do the same with wheels and then clay them too before sealing them

[scratcher_]

It's good to see you're using a bit of Auto Finesse in your routine. I'm an authorised detailer for them and it's always good to see the brand getting good feedback.

[lee_fr200]

I like the autofinesse stuff I don't think citrus power is as strong as it could be though and when using undiluted it doesn't last long