Getting a good thick snow foam
Discussion
I've tried various products - currently using Meguiars Ultimate snow foam but I cannot get the same thick covering which I've seen on various detailling videos. I use a Karcher Jet wash both at home and work and even if I fill the bottle half full of the stuff although it sticks it doesn't cling the way I would like it to. The water pressure at work is terrible but at home quite good so I can't put it down to that. What else can I do to get the desired effect?
p4cks said:
In all seriousness, don't bother. It doesn't do anything other than making for a good Instagram photo or YouTube video.
This. I use Bilt Hamber touchless and even on the lance's highest foam setting its just a thick cream rather than silly foam party, but it does the job and effectively lifts off dirt.Thick foam is just a waste of product as 90% of it is not making contact with the dirty paint. You want the covering to be even, thin and a good balance between clinging enough to bite into the dirt but runny enough that it then pulls off that dirt away from the paint.
If you genuinely want to use it as a pre-wash (and not for the 'gram') then I highly recommend swapping the foam lance for a pump sprayer. (The sort of thing you have for weeds)
It's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
It's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
8IKERDAVE said:
Ah ok, it seems my craving for the foam is uncessary then. I only have the standard Karcher lance with the additional foam bottle attached.
I had the standard Nilfisk snow foam lance for years. It was okay. Then purchased a dedicated lance from Amazon. Night and day. Now any snow foam will produced a nice clingy foam. For some reason I also used to run warm water through my washer, but cold water is much better for foaming.Paul_M3 said:
If you genuinely want to use it as a pre-wash (and not for the 'gram') then I highly recommend swapping the foam lance for a pump sprayer. (The sort of thing you have for weeds)
It's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
I sacked off snow foam as itIt's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
a) Doesn't really clean that well in my experience - looks good though
b) Makes a right mess of the drive
I bought a cheapy 2.5ltr pump spray from B&Q and use Auto Finesse Dynamite. It's miles better in removing dirt than snow foam.
Don't care about removing 'product' as I use Autoglym Polar Seal in the lance now which is a brilliant product. I don't have a ceramic coating and as I wash the cars each week and do this, they stay pretty much clean 90% of the time.
It's a simple, quick and effective way of cleaning my cars. Minimum effort, maximum results.
juice said:
Paul_M3 said:
If you genuinely want to use it as a pre-wash (and not for the 'gram') then I highly recommend swapping the foam lance for a pump sprayer. (The sort of thing you have for weeds)
It's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
I sacked off snow foam as itIt's quicker and easier to use, the product is directly in contact with the paint, and it's FAR easier to get the correct PIR (Panel Impact Ratio). Bilt Hamber Auto Foam for example is good at cleaning, but should hit the panel at 4% concentration. That's much easier to do when just mixing it with water in a pump sprayer. And you've mixing up 5 litres at once, so it's just ready to go next time.
a) Doesn't really clean that well in my experience - looks good though
b) Makes a right mess of the drive
I bought a cheapy 2.5ltr pump spray from B&Q and use Auto Finesse Dynamite. It's miles better in removing dirt than snow foam.
Don't care about removing 'product' as I use Autoglym Polar Seal in the lance now which is a brilliant product. I don't have a ceramic coating and as I wash the cars each week and do this, they stay pretty much clean 90% of the time.
It's a simple, quick and effective way of cleaning my cars. Minimum effort, maximum results.
The Polar Seal I'm a big fan of; more so on my F01 as it helps to keep the car clean & washes are simple. Works well on the wife's Racing Jazz too, but as that's silver, it looks clean even when it's filthy!
I use the Autobrite snowfoam canon and I'm currently using KKDs snowfoam which I'm really rating; better than BH Autofoam, not tried their 'Touchless' though yet
I also use Citrus pre-cleaner 10:1 from a 5l garden sprayer bottle etc; that's great for the really ingrained dirt/baked on muck etc
Gave up with snow foam as part of my pre clean process, it's useless. I now use Auto finesse citrus APC with a pump sprayer let that dwell a bit (but not dry out) and then jet wash works much better.
You can of course do what Ammo NYC does and foam the car and then wash it with a mitt, but just foaming it and jet washing after it's slid off is a waste of time.
You can of course do what Ammo NYC does and foam the car and then wash it with a mitt, but just foaming it and jet washing after it's slid off is a waste of time.
Edited by Wills2 on Saturday 9th April 16:18
Wills2 said:
Gave up with snow foam as part of my pre clean process, it's useless. I now use Auto finesse citrus APC with a pump sprayer let that dwell a bit (but not dry out) and then jet wash works much better.
You can of course do what Ammo NYC does and foam the car and then wash it with a mitt, but just foaming it and jet washing after it's slid off is a waste of time.
Each to their own... Some folk find it works; others don't etc...You can of course do what Ammo NYC does and foam the car and then wash it with a mitt, but just foaming it and jet washing after it's slid off is a waste of time.
Edited by Wills2 on Saturday 9th April 16:18
TBH one product I really rated which is a half-way-between IMO is AGs Polar Wash; apply that with the snowfoam canon and use your wash mitt to wash the car with that; again, found it worked really well
I think it depends on how you use snowfoam, I always used to rinse the car then snowfoam however I recently came across this video https://youtu.be/PDOOpTnuJEk
I've now adopted this method & have seen a massive increase in cleaning power
I've now adopted this method & have seen a massive increase in cleaning power
zsdom said:
I think it depends on how you use snowfoam, I always used to rinse the car then snowfoam however I recently came across this video https://youtu.be/PDOOpTnuJEk
How this berk gets away with calling the channel 'forensic' when it's nothing of the sort is beyond me. He's just another detailer spouting the same s
te as the next one, but in this case scribbling words on to a poorly fitted whiteboard for added effect. zsdom said:
...have seen a massive increase in cleaning power
Really though?! I haven't been doing any detailing for a long while and looking into this forum and also some detailing specific ones, it seems that snow foam has now fallen out of favour? I felt I was having a decent result with Bilt Hamber Autofoam though I also felt that my wax (Bilt Hamber Finnis or Autobalm) wasn't lasting as long as I'd hoped. Makes me wonder if the Autofoam was stripping it off or at least partly removing it?
We're currently looking for our next 'new' car (probably 5-6 year old) so I'll be stocking up on new cleaners, etc as most of my stuff is nearly used up now anyway. Wondering what the current recommendation is for regular 'maintenance' washing once I've done the whole decon, machine polish and wax that the 'new' car will no doubt need? Might as well stock up as I'm also buying a cheaper car for our son which I'll use to test it all out on.
We're currently looking for our next 'new' car (probably 5-6 year old) so I'll be stocking up on new cleaners, etc as most of my stuff is nearly used up now anyway. Wondering what the current recommendation is for regular 'maintenance' washing once I've done the whole decon, machine polish and wax that the 'new' car will no doubt need? Might as well stock up as I'm also buying a cheaper car for our son which I'll use to test it all out on.
d_a_n1979 said:
Each to their own... Some folk find it works; others don't etc...
TBH one product I really rated which is a half-way-between IMO is AGs Polar Wash; apply that with the snowfoam canon and use your wash mitt to wash the car with that; again, found it worked really well
Of course and perhaps it also depends on how dirty the car is and the kind of coating you have applied (or not applied) a ceramic coasted car with a light film of dust/traffic film might get a great result. TBH one product I really rated which is a half-way-between IMO is AGs Polar Wash; apply that with the snowfoam canon and use your wash mitt to wash the car with that; again, found it worked really well
But I do find that when my car is properly winter dirty snow foam has little or no affect and think that an APC has much more bite in terms of loosening the dirt.
However as I've found it's not a cost effective solution vs snow foam so I think I'll have to find another way, which is probably washing it more often.
OldSkoolRS said:
I haven't been doing any detailing for a long while and looking into this forum and also some detailing specific ones, it seems that snow foam has now fallen out of favour? I felt I was having a decent result with Bilt Hamber Autofoam though I also felt that my wax (Bilt Hamber Finnis or Autobalm) wasn't lasting as long as I'd hoped. Makes me wonder if the Autofoam was stripping it off or at least partly removing it?
We're currently looking for our next 'new' car (probably 5-6 year old) so I'll be stocking up on new cleaners, etc as most of my stuff is nearly used up now anyway. Wondering what the current recommendation is for regular 'maintenance' washing once I've done the whole decon, machine polish and wax that the 'new' car will no doubt need? Might as well stock up as I'm also buying a cheaper car for our son which I'll use to test it all out on.
Have a look at garage therapy products, I’ve moved over to them and am very happy with the results.We're currently looking for our next 'new' car (probably 5-6 year old) so I'll be stocking up on new cleaners, etc as most of my stuff is nearly used up now anyway. Wondering what the current recommendation is for regular 'maintenance' washing once I've done the whole decon, machine polish and wax that the 'new' car will no doubt need? Might as well stock up as I'm also buying a cheaper car for our son which I'll use to test it all out on.
Their sigma detailer is my personal favourite.
Belle427 said:
Have a look at garage therapy products, I’ve moved over to them and am very happy with the results.
Their sigma detailer is my personal favourite.
Thanks Belle427 had a search and found their site. Nice and clearly laid out and seems to explain well what each product does in terms of stripping wax (or not) and for example; what Sigma detailer is used for. Probably got enough Autofoam left to do an initial wax strip on the two 'new' cars so I'll replace it with some of their /One shampoo to use for maintenance washes.Their sigma detailer is my personal favourite.
OldSkoolRS said:
Belle427 said:
Have a look at garage therapy products, I’ve moved over to them and am very happy with the results.
Their sigma detailer is my personal favourite.
Thanks Belle427 had a search and found their site. Nice and clearly laid out and seems to explain well what each product does in terms of stripping wax (or not) and for example; what Sigma detailer is used for. Probably got enough Autofoam left to do an initial wax strip on the two 'new' cars so I'll replace it with some of their /One shampoo to use for maintenance washes.Their sigma detailer is my personal favourite.
Even if your not a Facebook fan like me its well worth a look.
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