Autobrite snowfoam - me likey :)
Discussion
awesome result! 
Started off with Valet Pro foam, switched to Bilt Hamber on detailing world suggestions when i couldn't get VP to shift anything more than a pressure lance does. Only difference is BH dwells longer, absolutely no cleaning action on it's own that's not done by the pressure washer.
Tried various dilutions from watery to uber foam and various settings on the lance over the course of a year, using it at least 1 wash per week but often more and several cars. Tried mixing with shampoo in various dilutions, hot, lukewarm and cold water.
The only mix that i found that removes dirt better than just a pressure wash lance was mixing snow foam with APC in a medium strength. That's no use for anything other than stripping back wax etc. a couple of times a year, plus it's probably not the best way to strip wax given it causes the washmit to drag and squeak even with a really slippy shampoo afterwards.
Firmly in the waste of money camp :-) White cars really show up how useless it is. Dark cars you can believe it's working until either the car dries or you drag a cloth over the paint to check!
Tried various dilutions from watery to uber foam and various settings on the lance over the course of a year, using it at least 1 wash per week but often more and several cars. Tried mixing with shampoo in various dilutions, hot, lukewarm and cold water.
The only mix that i found that removes dirt better than just a pressure wash lance was mixing snow foam with APC in a medium strength. That's no use for anything other than stripping back wax etc. a couple of times a year, plus it's probably not the best way to strip wax given it causes the washmit to drag and squeak even with a really slippy shampoo afterwards.
Firmly in the waste of money camp :-) White cars really show up how useless it is. Dark cars you can believe it's working until either the car dries or you drag a cloth over the paint to check!
The thing there is, you're mistaking snow foam as a pre-wash regime to remove all but the sticky traffic film, for a foaming TFR.
It'll depend on your sealant/wax too, as some can be a bit more grippy for the dirt to cling to, whereas others give it up much more easily.
I hate to sound like a BH salesperson, but they are a great small company, whose main income is not detailing products, but serious corrosion protection and removal for oil refineries and big industry like that.
As a result, they don't add superfluous ingredients to make it smell nice or give a false representation of the results (optical enhancers for example) - since adding those leaves less room for active ingredients.
As they have their own lab and testing set-up, Auto-balm was shown to do as designed under ASTM B-117 conditions, just like they have to show when the refineries ask for proof their non-kumquat-scented corrosion inhibitor 4300 works for the 2000+ hours whilst sprayed with a 25% salt-solution at 40ºC (or the parameters the contract defines).
The same applies to Auto-foam, using an industry standard white box test.
That said, preserving the protection on the car is what you want, and what the foam does, is encapsulate the dirt so that it is held and rinsed off the surface.
If you can use warm water during the rinse phase, you gain extra cleaning power from the foam being at or above its Cloud Point (most active state).
So, you've been under an illusion that snow-foam should make for a touchless wash - which it can in the right circumstances, but the majority of the time, it's just to remove the grittier dirt, and soften the finer traffic film, which your shampoo solution and wash mitt takes care of, without adding any new scratches to the paint.
Anything that strips the TF, will have also stripped your LSP, in all likelihood.
Until someone manages to find a way to produce an LSP that is perfectly flat (remember glass is full of peaks and troughs too), and has water beading at a very high contact angle (Lotus effect) then you're always going to find traffic film removal needing done by mechanical action, if you don't want to reapply your LSP each time you wash.
And that's presuming the LSP has even remained on the car to start with!
It'll depend on your sealant/wax too, as some can be a bit more grippy for the dirt to cling to, whereas others give it up much more easily.
I hate to sound like a BH salesperson, but they are a great small company, whose main income is not detailing products, but serious corrosion protection and removal for oil refineries and big industry like that.
As a result, they don't add superfluous ingredients to make it smell nice or give a false representation of the results (optical enhancers for example) - since adding those leaves less room for active ingredients.
As they have their own lab and testing set-up, Auto-balm was shown to do as designed under ASTM B-117 conditions, just like they have to show when the refineries ask for proof their non-kumquat-scented corrosion inhibitor 4300 works for the 2000+ hours whilst sprayed with a 25% salt-solution at 40ºC (or the parameters the contract defines).
The same applies to Auto-foam, using an industry standard white box test.
That said, preserving the protection on the car is what you want, and what the foam does, is encapsulate the dirt so that it is held and rinsed off the surface.
If you can use warm water during the rinse phase, you gain extra cleaning power from the foam being at or above its Cloud Point (most active state).
So, you've been under an illusion that snow-foam should make for a touchless wash - which it can in the right circumstances, but the majority of the time, it's just to remove the grittier dirt, and soften the finer traffic film, which your shampoo solution and wash mitt takes care of, without adding any new scratches to the paint.
Anything that strips the TF, will have also stripped your LSP, in all likelihood.
Until someone manages to find a way to produce an LSP that is perfectly flat (remember glass is full of peaks and troughs too), and has water beading at a very high contact angle (Lotus effect) then you're always going to find traffic film removal needing done by mechanical action, if you don't want to reapply your LSP each time you wash.
And that's presuming the LSP has even remained on the car to start with!
PJ S said:
The thing there is, you're mistaking snow foam as a pre-wash regime to remove all but the sticky traffic film, for a foaming TFR.
Well, i was lead to believe it would remove loose dirt, although i appreciate it's not to remove ingrained stuff. Ideally it'd be good if it would penetrate the tough stuff and loosen it at bit for gentle hand washing after. But it just doesn't do any better than a pressure lance that i can detect. I've tried putting it on a dry car or putting it on a pre-rinsed car. In the latter case, there's no difference at all, and in the former case you can see the dust / light dirt only coming off when you pressure rinse but the real dirt is left behind.It's not even that the dirt floats in the bubbles, i.e. suspended in the foam away from the paint. The bubbles are pristine white when rinsed onto the ground. They're not suspending anything - well, other than the light dust that comes off with pressure rinsing. They're not any colour other than pristine white.
PJ S said:
I hate to sound like a BH salesperson
You don't, you've put forward really clear points. I don't want to sound anti BH, i'm not. Just to back that up, their clay bar is the best i've tried and i haven't tried any others since getting theirs, there's no need, it's as good a clay as i want or need. PJ S said:
If you can use warm water during the rinse phase, you gain extra cleaning power from the foam being at or above its Cloud Point (most active state).
I doubt it'd be any more effective than a warm pressure rinse though.PJ S said:
So, you've been under an illusion that snow-foam should make for a touchless wash - which it can in the right circumstances
Hmmm, it can if you've only got dust, i.e. your LSP has carnuba in it and it's a summers day after a wash the previous day. But that's where i'd use QD, not snow foam. Again, assuming you want to wet the car for that, pressure rinse will be just as effective, in less time, with less cost.PJ S said:
Anything that strips the TF, will have also stripped your LSP, in all likelihood.
I think you underestimate modern LSPs! Tackle it from the other direction, try removing it all :-) Pretty resilient stuff, but i agree if you're using TFR then you're doing your LSP no favours. That's where snow foam was supposed to deliver, but didn't :-(Well all I can say Octy, is that my experience with Auto-foam is at odds with yours and the other brands.
If your usual method of measurement was 1" in the lance bottle, you may've been under-dosing.
As you're on DW, then I assume you've read the how to by bassologist from a couple of years back.
In it, I've written how to do the same without a large container marked in 1litre increments, by using a measuring jug and watch.
Either way, both will make sure your lance setting, with your pressure washer's flow rate, will give you the recommended 5% PIR (panel impact ratio).
For me, with my Makita HW131, it works out at around 300ml, which is a good bit more than 1"
Regarding the water temp - doesn't matter how it's dispensed, the Cloud Point is exceeded, so the foam picks up as it is rinsed off.
Temp of water used in the bottle is immaterial if you've got the PW connected to a cold water feed.
If your usual method of measurement was 1" in the lance bottle, you may've been under-dosing.
As you're on DW, then I assume you've read the how to by bassologist from a couple of years back.
In it, I've written how to do the same without a large container marked in 1litre increments, by using a measuring jug and watch.
Either way, both will make sure your lance setting, with your pressure washer's flow rate, will give you the recommended 5% PIR (panel impact ratio).
For me, with my Makita HW131, it works out at around 300ml, which is a good bit more than 1"
Regarding the water temp - doesn't matter how it's dispensed, the Cloud Point is exceeded, so the foam picks up as it is rinsed off.
Temp of water used in the bottle is immaterial if you've got the PW connected to a cold water feed.
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