Snow foam rookie

[oli356]

Noob question time... There are probably very similar threads on here but hey ho..

I wanted to try snow foaming my car, my friend let me borrow a lance of his (cheap Karcher one). I went and bought some Pro Kleen snow foam shampoo, the 5l bottles.
It was coming out very liquidy, , more liquidy and even when it was most foamy (still pretty rubbish) it would rinse off the car within a minute.

Blamed the lance and now I've bought a pro keen lance and will try again at the weekend. The lance manual says to use 25% foam and 75% warm water, though I think the snow foam says 50/50, so guess need to experiment.

So my noobie question. Is this mixture meant to be the mixture that goes into the lance bottle, ie, 250ml of foam and 750 ml of water. Or does it need to take into consideration what the water coming through the pressure washer?

Also, do you give the car a once over with the pressure washer prior to foaming?

Thanks!

 

[AlexA4Avant]

750ml in the bottle I have the karcher one and I am looking to get a better one it's ok at throughing on product but actually making foam not so much

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Radford212]

I have the autobrite Lance, got it from amazon for about £35 with 500ml of magifoam. I’m currently using Valet Pro snow foam, it says to use 300ml product and add 700ml of water in the bottle. Produces a very thick foam that clings to the surface. Possibly my favourite snow foam I’ve used so far.

 

[Jassyo06]

I used this Karcher lance for over a year it was pretty good foamed very well indeed,

not that much difference between this one

and the Karcher to be honest with you bar build quality and a larger bottle ,the model of pressure washer and water pressure have a part to play as well, as for foaming once you've sorted the issue out and try this Valet pro kit,

it's the best on the snow foam market, dilution is 10-1 and does what it's says on the tin awesome kit mate and well worth the extra £10/12 over the rest

 

[oli356]

@jassyo06 Looks like the Karcher one I was using, hopefully get better results with the new one anyway.. the pressure washer isn't the best, but it does work .. don't really want to get a new one of them! (it is my parents mind you as I live at home)

 

[scotty76]

I had the Karcher one to try but it never worked well for me. Watery foam. Bought the Autobrite one and could make foam as thick as you like. Same pressure washer Karcher K3.97 so I reckon you'll be fine!

 

[scotty76]

This was me over doing the foam a bit. It'll actually go much thicker than this but I find it needs a bit of liquidity to pull the dirt down and off. Thicker doesn't necessarily mean better...

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/my-s4-thread.240053/page-5#post-2518232

 

[Jassyo06]

This was me over doing the foam a bit. It'll actually go much thicker than this but I find it needs a bit of liquidity to pull the dirt down and off. Thicker doesn't necessarily mean better...

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/my-s4-thread.240053/page-5#post-2518232

That looks normal lol right its a "Snow foam Lance off" this was taken 10 minutes after application.....bit rich me thinks

 

[scotty76]

@jassyo06 entries in here http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/show-us-your-snow-foam-pics.227914/

 

[Jassyo06]

@jassyo06 entries in here http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/show-us-your-snow-foam-pics.227914/

Aye there's a Few abdominal Snow foam men cars on that threads Jeez us lol

 

[S32B]

That looks normal lol right its a "Snow foam Lance off" this was taken 10 minutes after application.....bit rich me thinks
View attachment 146949 View attachment 146950

That blue and those alloys look spot on mate, I like it

 

[oli356]

I had a bit better luck today though still don't think its quite right.
Used the new lance and some of the foam that came with it ..


Took a quick pic after like a minute max after spraying it..

Somehow though I went through 75% of the 1 litre bottle which was 1:3 of foam to warm water.
Still not as thick as I'd expect (as advertised https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61-AjUdP5KL.jpg)

I was using the widest spray setting and had the dial turned to 'full' to try and make it more foamy. Maybe next time I need to use more foam, though surprised I almost used the entire lances bottle covering the car (badly lol). Would get 3 washes out of that 1litre bottle of foam at this rate.

 

[S32B]

I had a bit better luck today though still don't think its quite right.
Used the new lance and some of the foam that came with it ..
View attachment 147180

Took a quick pic after like a minute max after spraying it..
View attachment 147179

Somehow though I went through 75% of the 1 litre bottle which was 1:3 of foam to warm water.
Still not as thick as I'd expect (as advertised https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61-AjUdP5KL.jpg)

I was using the widest spray setting and had the dial turned to 'full' to try and make it more foamy. Maybe next time I need to use more foam, though surprised I almost used the entire lances bottle covering the car (badly lol). Would get 3 washes out of that 1litre bottle of foam at this rate.

Pro cleen say a 50-50 mix in the bottle. I've used that and it's very thick that way, I use about half the bottle on each wash. It's cheap as chips so not too bothered about it being 50/50

Dial on top set to max mix by the way + on mine.

 

[A4A4]

My 'rookie' attempt at snow foam last week and this was not even using a pressure washer!

It wasn’t to bad, it cleared most of the winter grime off. Some before and after shots

 

[Radford212]

This was one of my 1st goes snowfoaming my car last year. I think my mixture was a tad thick

 

[Jassyo06]

Demon Foam I tried once nope very little real cleaning power, in the last 5 weeks l have used 5 different snow foams, they are,

5.Valet pro pH neutral snow foam, its a good one not very high foaming it does a good job

4,Krystal Kleenz snow foam again a great snow foam, foams up better than valet pro and its cheaper than valet pro pH neutral.

3,Bilt Hamber snow foam, foams up great smells OK, good value for money but it justs lacks that extra bit of cleaning power for a winter wash when the car is really filthy, good summer snow foam although they say leave it on for 10 minutes so maybe don't snow foam yer car with this if it's sunny lol,

2.Ultinate finish Ultimate snow foam, awesome cleaning power it has, doesn't foam as well as the others but it has got what it takes to really clean a filthy car, very easy to rinse off.

1.Valet Pro advanced snow foam,just pips the ultimate snow foam for cleaning power, its a very high foaming product so clings on to your car for longer hence more cleaning power and probably because its the most expensive it actually is the best, hence its the best out of the 5 l used, down side its a ****** to dispense of all the foam off of yer driveway or mono block lol it hangs about for ages lol

 

[oli356]

Pro cleen say a 50-50 mix in the bottle. I've used that and it's very thick that way, I use about half the bottle on each wash. It's cheap as chips so not too bothered about it being 50/50

Dial on top set to max mix by the way + on mine.

Gave it another go today with 50/50 in the bottle, results weren't really any better than when I did 75% water 25% foam.

Going to borrow someones pressure washer next month and will see how it is then. If that isn't any better, almost out of ideas haha. Our pressure washer is a bit dodgy, leaks from the bottom somewhere etc!

 

[S32B]

Gave it another go today with 50/50 in the bottle, results weren't really any better than when I did 75% water 25% foam.

Going to borrow someones pressure washer next month and will see how it is then. If that isn't any better, almost out of ideas haha. Our pressure washer is a bit dodgy, leaks from the bottom somewhere etc!

Strange, have you got the dial set all the way to max mixture?

They are only using 25% solution here:

 

[S32B]

As for a new washer, mate of mine just bought this one with a 3 year warranty http://www.wickes.co.uk/Karcher-K4-Full-Control-Home-Pressure-Washer/p/145269

Once in the basket discount is applied (discount is online click & collect/delivery only):

 

[oli356]

Strange, have you got the dial set all the way to max mixture?

They are only using 25% solution here:

Yeah nothing like that haha.... I've got it all the way to max (+ symbol, I think) and then turned back a bit, all the way to max seemed to be liquid but turn back just slightly and that seemed best..

 

[S32B]

Yeah nothing like that haha.... I've got it all the way to max (+ symbol, I think) and then turned back a bit, all the way to max seemed to be liquid but turn back just slightly and that seemed best..

Try going all the way to - depending on the lance it may be the other way around!

Mine when I first used the pro kleen on the S3 black car as well =

 

[oli356]

Think I tried that and it was worse haha, will have to see next time. Our pressure washer is a karcher k4.600 - think its fairly old and not sure how good it was when it came out. If my friends one seems to do the trick then will have to buy a new one I suppose

And well, coudln't tell that your car is black lol!

 

[scotty76]

As @S32B says sometimes - is thicker. It is on my Autobrite lance.

 

[oli356]

I've had some success, borrowed a colleagues Karcher and it was miles better compared to my previous attempts... Time to buy a new pressure washer

 

[S32B]

I've had some success, borrowed a colleagues Karcher and it was miles better compared to my previous attempts... Time to buy a new pressure washer

View attachment 148272

That's more like it

I bought my Nilfisk from here and they were good https://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/productslist.asp?Main=Domestic-Pressure-Washers

 

[oli356]

That's more like it

I bought my Nilfisk from here and they were good https://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/productslist.asp?Main=Domestic-Pressure-Washers

Went and bought the one from Wickes you posted, the K4. Collected it and now in the garage ready for use

 

[S32B]

Went and bought the one from Wickes you posted, the K4. Collected it and now in the garage ready for use

Just thought I'd give you options

 

[Chris43]

Went and bought the one from Wickes you posted, the K4. Collected it and now in the garage ready for use

Keep us posted ! I have just got the K4 home and car. I think the only difference is you get the snow foam gun and a bottle of car shampoo

 

[oli356]

Keep us posted ! I have just got the K4 home and car. I think the only difference is you get the snow foam gun and a bottle of car shampoo

Plan to clean the car next weekend, can't be bothered today as got a 400 mile round trip on Wednesday. Will be interesting to see if the k4 is any different than the one I had borrowed... which was miles better than our broken one