Snowfoam?

A3 Sport

A3 Sport

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With Snowfoam, do you hand wash the car after using? The thing is, with winter approaching, I want a quick, easy way to keep the car clean, I ended up cleaning it last year as the water froze on the car! If I snowfoam'd it regularly, would this keep it clean?

If I was to buy a snowfoam lance, which one would you recommend for a Karcher pressure washer?

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
Yes you also hand wash the car afterwards. I'm sure someone else will be able to point out the best one for you.
 
personaly lm not impressed with snow foam. doesnt do the same as the foam you get at the wash points.
 
You should foam the car first yeah. The foam lifts some dirt of the paintwork.
After, when you hand wash it, the wash will be milder, and you won't get as many swirls as if you didn't foam it first.

If your car is recently sealed or waxed, you might be able to keep it clean just by foaming. Remember to use as mild foam as possible, so you don't strip of the wax.
 
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A3 Sport said:
With Snowfoam, do you hand wash the car after using? The thing is, with winter approaching, I want a quick, easy way to keep the car clean, I ended up cleaning it last year as the water froze on the car! If I snowfoam'd it regularly, would this keep it clean?

If I was to buy a snowfoam lance, which one would you recommend for a Karcher pressure washer?

Thanks :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
HAVE A LOOK ON CLEAN MY CAR .COM,try to match snow foam with shampoo with wax,will cut down the chances of striiping waxes off,if car isnt too bad then you may get away with just snow foaming,if not its just a light wash because the snow foam has softened and lifted the dirt,have about 6 different attachments on the site,should find one to suit,....
 
Snow Foams are effective when used correctly and when the correct product is used.

They are, essentially, pre-washes and not a substitute for proper hand washing but in the winter they can be sueful for removing some of the road salt and grime without resorting to a full wash.

Don't be misled into the cheaper 'snow foams' - check the dilution ratios and then work out how much each litre of solution is going to cost you:

I did a wee comparison between Meguairs' Hyper Wash (as included in in our foam lance kit Special Offers | PB Foam Lance Kit) and AN Other Snow Foam: AN Other snow foam: light soil dilution ratio: 25:1 water/product (or 15:1 heavy soil)

5litres at £14.99 plus £15.94 shipping = £30.93.

At light soil dilution, 5 litres equals 125 litres of solution.

Meguiar's Hyper Wash: standard dilution is 400:1 (water/product).

3.78litres at £29.99 plus £8.95 standard next day shipping = £38.94.

3.78litres @ 400:1 = 1,512 litres of solution

Cost per litre for Hyper Wash at 400:1 (assuming shipping at £8.95) = 0.025 pence per litre (yes, 0.025)


Cost per litre for AN Other Foam at 25:1 = 0.247 pence per litre so almost ten times the cost.....



With regard to the foam you get at wash points: that's traffic film remover: heavily alkali, very good at stripping dirt but also good at stripping protection, staining trims and generally attacking both the clear coat on your paint and the lacquer on your wheels.
 
Dont be fooled into thinking that snow foam (or suds) is a miracle cleaner, it is just a presoaker.Only if you have a hot jetwash will it perform better, ive tried both hot and cold.I have found that the sf does well in softening mud etc that can be gently rinsed off instead of blasting with a pressure washer at baked on stuff.Pretty logical if you ask me.I use megs hyperwash, and a PB lance.It takes a while to get the setting right (screwed right up tight) and the distance from lance to car (about 4 yards).The 'foam' is misleading though, its more like 'suds'.Ive seen pics of other cars that are 'foamed' and mine looks the same so im not doing anything wrong.Is it worth it? Undecided with a cold jetwash.I can get the same results with a gentle pre wash rinse, then a jetwash, butthe suds are a nice barrier between the grit and the jetwash. I find that the detergent doesnt do a lot, but seeing as i have the gear and it annoys the neighbours (they dont realise its biodegradable)Ill stick with it till i run out of the megs, and see if i can live without.
 
megs hyper wash used here as well, first class as a pre-soaker on the car and then excellent shampoo for the two bucket method after
 
I use Valet Pro PH neutral stuff...or I did till I ran out last week. Seems good but I've not used anything else to compare it against.

I tend to foam the car and leave it for 10 minutes and run around with a little brush and do all the detail bits like around the badges etc before rinsing it off.

I'm not sure it would be good enough to just use the foam and rinse without a wash too but it does soften any crud/flies etc that normally come off with rinsing. It tends to shift the more obvious stuff more than the film of grime that builds up over the entire car.

I use one of the lances from Cleanyourcar and its really good. Had it well over 12 months now with no issues to report (I use a Karcher).

Might give the hyperwash a punt as I need to get some more.

T
 
photo.JPG


Mmmmmm Fooaammmmyy :)

I use Elite Snow Foam, but anything that foams works in a proper foam lance. I've even used DoDo Juice Supernatural car wash in it before but it does use quite a bit so I just tend to stick with proper snow foam liquids now. The Elite one is good because you can actually see the foam changing from white to a horrible muddy yellow after a few minutes because it lifts all the muck off the paintwork.

Oh yeah and no matter what you use, always agitate with a sponge and a bucket of water to rinse. (grit gaurd in bucket prefferred obviously)

Hope that helps.
 
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I seeee... So in actual fact it's just being more careful about washing the car, doesn't save any time at all. But as suggested does save time for a mild wash in winter.

Back to 2 buckets I go lol
 
Yes,

Foaming is a useful, desirable but non-essential part of the wash process. Given the choice I'd always foam first but for some it's not possible (eg, no washer, no hose).

2 buckets - no 'grit guards' (they're on the bottom of the bucket. Where's the grit? Bottom of the bucket.....) rinse the mitt in the top part of the water and give it a visual check before going back into the detegent bucket - much safer than relying on a guard.

Lambswool mitt for bodywork and glass, microfibre mitt for wheel faces and textured plastics.

In winter, I tend to wash properly one week, rinse, foam, rinse the next.
 
Ouch at the sponge aggitation!

Megs Hyper wash is superb - dad (not as in to detailing as I am, but still likes a decent finish) uses it as a regular shampoo as well. Win win.
 
Ooh good it had been pointed out to me, only foamed mine twice. Honestly thought I was doing the right thing, not to worry though. Life goes on lol.

Would I be better off applying the snow foam warm? I have a heat setting on my washer. Tend to stick it at about 40 degrees.
 
40degrees is fine.

I tend to stick to 50 for pre-rinse and foam and use cold to rinse off foam.

On my own car, I use 70ish for the underside to get the salt and junk off the suspension components, exhaust etc.

Glad we caught you in time before the sponge did real damage! :icon_thumright:
 
Hmm, what about wheel arches, could foaming in the arches be done? Imagine it would work well for parts you cant reach to hand wash and like you say get rid of all that lovely salt on the road.

Ill try turning it up to 50-60 see how it goes

Thanks for the advise, I feel like a plumber with all the tools but no clue on how to use any lol.
 
PetrolAholic said:
Hmm, what about wheel arches, could foaming in the arches be done? Imagine it would work well for parts you cant reach to hand wash and like you say get rid of all that lovely salt on the road.

Ill try turning it up to 50-60 see how it goes

Thanks for the advise, I feel like a plumber with all the tools but no clue on how to use any lol.
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely fine under the arches. We often go as far as Megs Super Degreaser Meguiar's Super Degreaser | Meguiar's Car Care & Detailing Products under the arches where more cleaning power is required (applied via a hand sprayer)

You might find our other guides of use - Car Care Advice | Detailing Advice | How To Detail Your Car

I wouldn't worry about the 'all the gear no idea' thought: this is what we do for a living so we need to know these things.

You wouldn't expect me to come round to your work and know how to do your job! :scared2:
 
I tend to foam under the arches etc, just because after giving the car a good foaming there's some left over so I just spray it up under the arches and under the sills etc.

I tend to give the arches a good spray anyway to get all the crud out (mud, squished leaves) etc so it doesnt sit anywhere and cause any compost etc. The foam tends to soften up the crud so when its blasted off it leaves it nice and clean without the need to get in there with a brush. Think it helps that the arches were cleaned with the wheels off about 8 months ago so they're nice and clean, the foaming and spraying just keeps on top of it all now so its nice and easy.

I think I'll give the hyperwash a go based on this thread :)

T
 
i use autobrites foam and HD lance, its lasting ages but im honestly unsure if im gonna bother when it runs out.... i aggitate using the yellow handled brushes with the red collars, overall i suppose it is a better clean as it helps with the nucks and crannys....may give the megs a go when my megs standard wash runs out for the bucket
 
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