Nilfisk foam lance + Product?

[Davie_GLA]

Evening all,

I got a nilfisk pressure washer as part of the Amazon black friday deal and was wondering about foam lances and what chemicals to use.

THe washer came with a foam bottle, is this good enough for a weekly / bi-weekly wash or should i buy a better one?

Also, would like to buy some snow foam or similar to use with it and would appreciate a steer on that too?

Thanks,

David.

[trashbat]

Is it the C120? I just bought one, but not off Amazon - mind me asking how much?

I wondered the same thing. A few posts about the internet said that the bottle that comes with it is OK. I tried it with some diluted ordinary shampoo and it seemed like it'd be alright if you reduce the pressure a bit. Empties quite quickly but not disastrously so, and better to try it than spend £45 on the heavy duty attachment for no benefit.

Snow foam: http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/snow-foam/ultim...

If it helps, Ultimate Finish have a cashback deal on Quidco.

[Davie_GLA]

Thanks,

It's not the one you got, the box says 110.3-5 and i paid a shade under £90.

And yes, you're right i should try this one before buying anything else..

[MitchellandKing]

The product I would reccomend is chemical guys no touch, its superb.

[trashbat]

I've tried this now and found the stock bottle gubbins to be alright, but a bit wet - i.e. there's too much water in the foam mix and it drips off. Adjusting the pressure would probably help, but you can't. I don't think it's £50 worth of problem though, so I'm going to stick with it.

[trashbat]

I can answer this now: don't bother with the stock bottle; buy a lance instead.

The stock bottle is too wet and when you wash the foam off, the car's cleaner but still dirty.

The lance can be dialled down to produce almost a paste and when the foam comes off, it's clean - you just have to dry it.

[RussZS]

I agree - HD Lance from any good supplier (CleanYourCar etc) and a decent snow foam, such as Megs Hyper Wash, or CG No Touch.

[iwanna]

I prefer non-caustic snow foams (tfr), so stick with Bilt-Hamber (not the cheapest), Espuma or use a shampoo.

Ask the people who are supplying (or make) the snow foam if it is caustic and will it damage exterior alloy/rubber trim. Some do, which just makes for another job.

Dont forget to refil the bottle with just water and run that thru the lance, helps keep the gauze inside clean.

[cheddar]

I'm buying a Nilfisk C125.3-8 today and it comes with the foam sprayer. This model had adjustable pressure and on low I think it'll do the job.

Found this Youtube comparison of Nilfisk lance vs the real thing - big difference but notice the Nilfisk is on very high pressure.

Start at 2 minutes to avoid tedium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrhb-UQ3Jtw

[Davie_GLA]

I tried the foam gun at the weekend and although it was only with standard shampoo type stuff it wasn't great. The dilution is too great to get anything decent.

[Spitfire2]

The difference with a proper foam lance is amazing - even with regular detergents.

[Another Fluffer]

I am looking at buying a proper foam lance due to the problems in the video 2 posts up, I have a question, will the snow foam not be as good if I live in a hard water area?

[Davie_GLA]

It's the cost of them i'm struggling with. c£50 for it seems to me to be high but realise that it's the fittings.

[cheddar]

Another Fluffer said:

I am looking at buying a proper foam lance due to the problems in the video 2 posts up, I have a question, will the snow foam not be as good if I live in a hard water area?

I bought the Nilfisk - it didn't have adjustable foam lance after all and it didn't foam up like the super foam lance but it's much better than the one in the video and good enough that I can foam/leave/rinse/dry, which, after all, is the whole idea.

[Another Fluffer]

cheddar said:

Another Fluffer said:

I am looking at buying a proper foam lance due to the problems in the video 2 posts up, I have a question, will the snow foam not be as good if I live in a hard water area?

I bought the Nilfisk - it didn't have adjustable foam lance after all and it didn't foam up like the super foam lance but it's much better than the one in the video and good enough that I can foam/leave/rinse/dry, which, after all, is the whole idea.

I got the non-adjustable foam lance with my Nilfisk aswell, looks pretty much the same in that video, not really sure what to do

[Davie_GLA]

Just watched that video and am quite surprised. Looks like i'll be forking out for a foamlance

[cheddar]

Davie_GLA said:

Just watched that video and am quite surprised. Looks like i'll be forking out for a foamlance

I think they scammed the video a little - it's better than they show and so far it works 100% .

Perhaps you don't need a foot of snow on your car for it to clean?

I just had a long late night mid-summer journey and my car got hammered with huge insect gloop, hundreds of them + dust from 3 miles of gravel roads, some tar and big lepton brake dust, I'll report back in a couple of hours as to how effective the Nilfisk snowlance is on that lot.

[Davie_GLA]

I'm not so sure. I tried it and even although it was standard shampoo it just ran off. The car was just as dirty when it subsided.

[Spitfire2]

I've got the snow foam lance (bought from ultimate finish) and the comparison on the video is pretty much what I get.

In fact I find it best to dilute the liquid in the bottle to avoid the former going a bit OTT.

[cheddar]

Spitfire2 said:

I've got the snow foam lance (bought from ultimate finish) and the comparison on the video is pretty much what I get.

In fact I find it best to dilute the liquid in the bottle to avoid the former going a bit OTT.

You used neat suds in the bottle!?!

I dilute about 30/1 (just using Turtle wax Wash and Wax) and get 3 foam washes out of a bottle, the third one is in about an hour