Snow Foam!!

[JordanHill]

Hi guys,

 

Gave my Z its first ever snow foam the other day and it seemed to really work well! I think the idea that it lifts all the dirt up prior to washing with a sponge is great! What do you guys think? Do you think its worth it?

 

[KyleR]

It's a great pre wash providing you have a decent lance to get the foam to its best

[ChrisS]

I'd edit the word " sponge " before anyone notices it and makes a comment or two.

 

It's always the favourite photo shot.

[HaydnH]

I'd edit the word " sponge " before anyone notices it and makes a comment or two.

 

Too late! SPONGE!!! :scare:

[ioneabee]

SPONGE.....................OMG

[Vlad]

What? sponge? SPONGE?

Show foam deffo worth it... Shame I have got an outside tap at my new flat

[peteman35]

Snow foams awesome in the winter

 

Car never gets dirty enough to make me use it..

[Stutopia]

I love snowing, espuma smells so nice I don't even care how good it is and it's so much fun spraying it around. It confuses the hell out of the natives round my parts. What's not to like?

[BulletMagnet]

If you use a sponge after the snowfoam, you might as well use a sandblaster

[downhuman]

I will be contentious ...

 

1) sponges are fine, I use them and prefer them to sheepskin mitts, which get clogged and is high maintence

 

2) snow foam, for me, is a detailing placebo. I've tried all the foams and now believe that a decent apc, appropriately diluted, is more effective at actually pre cleaning.

 

I do still use it, mainly in the underside of the car and the arches, purely due to cling... But mixed with apc

 

 

 

[Ekona]

Snow foam isn't worth it in the slightest. Even after you've used it, you still need to use the TBM to actually clean the car. If a car was really, really, really filthy then I may use the foam as a pre-cleaner (I did on the Impreza after I came back from a very snowy and gritty trackday at Spa in March), but otherwise it's just another 20 mins of wasted time. A hose nozzle set at the appropriate spray setting will get rid of as much larger particles of dirt as you'd need.

[Payco]

In fear of mentioning the S***G word again and getting beaten up can someone draft out the ideal process for cleaning the z without a snow foam. IE Products and exquipment. Would be good to see as i am self taught.

 

Payco

[downhuman]

Buy a pressure sprayer (e.g. from garden centre)

 

Mix warm water and APC to appropriate dilution depending on if you do or don't want to strip wax

 

Fill pressure sprayer and spray mix over car - fit a foaming head to the sprayer if you wish

 

Then rinse and proceed with 2bm wash

 

Boom

[KyleR]

There's also a sticky in this detailing section.

[Ekona]

Rinse with hose

TBM for cleaning using wash mitt & shampoo of your choice

Rinse with open ended hose

Dry using drying towel

 

 

Very, very basic but that's the idea. By the way, TBM = Two Bucket Method, one bucket with your warm water & shampoo in, and one with cold clean water to rinse mitt before loading up with shampoo water again. One panel at a time, i.e. load mitt, clean bonnet, rinse mitt, load mitt, clean bumper, rinse mitt etc.

[JordanHill]

Rinse with hose

TBM for cleaning using wash mitt & shampoo of your choice

Rinse with open ended hose

Dry using drying towel

 

 

Very, very basic but that's the idea. By the way, TBM = Two Bucket Method, one bucket with your warm water & shampoo in, and one with cold clean water to rinse mitt before loading up with shampoo water again. One panel at a time, i.e. load mitt, clean bonnet, rinse mitt, load mitt, clean bumper, rinse mitt etc.

 

To be fair that does sound like a great way of cleaning the car! I bet yours looks spot on How long does it take you to clean your car haa?

 

[Payco]

Thanks all will follow your advice.

 

Payco

[HaydnH]

Snow foam takes hardly any time or effort to use and while it's dwelling you can do your wheels and fill your buckets etc ready for the next stage. Considering the time/effort, even if it saves 1 small swirly per wash I'm happy using it.

[Ekona]

To be fair that does sound like a great way of cleaning the car! I bet yours looks spot on How long does it take you to clean your car haa?

Quick wash takes about 45 mins as I always do the wheels, tyres and glass too, but a full-on clean with wax is usually around 4-5 hours.

[Ewan27]

I find a neutral snow foam is great to use in between cleans, i.e. during the week. I'm quite anal with my car cleaning so spend a few hours most weekends doing my or someone else's car. However during the week when I come home and the car is a bit dirty I just rinse, snow foam, rinse and dry. This technique is not recommended if your car is dirty, as the snow foam won't remove the major dirt. I stress neutral and rinse (not pressure wash) as you'll strip your wax off.

[GMballistic]

If you use a sponge after the snowfoam, you might as well use a sandblaster

I will be contentious ...

 

1) sponges are fine, I use them and prefer them to sheepskin mitts, which get clogged and is high maintence

 

2) snow foam, for me, is a detailing placebo. I've tried all the foams and now believe that a decent apc, appropriately diluted, is more effective at actually pre cleaning.

 

I do still use it, mainly in the underside of the car and the arches, purely due to cling... But mixed with apc

Getting a bit confused. I've been cleaning cars for decades and have always used a sponge!. Am I risking the paint work then or not in your opinions? What I tend to do is this; Using my jet washer I soak the entire car with water and remove loose dirt with the lance. Then I use a snow foam all over the vehicle. Rinse off, followed by going over the whole car with a sponge using the two bucket method ~ one with soap/warm water & the other to clean the sponge. Then I use a chamois clothe to dry the whole car. Opinions please, thanks. Edited October 11, 2013 by GMballistic

[Stutopia]

I prefer a drying towel to a chamois, got one of these which I like

 

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/dodo-juice/orange-plush-microfibre-drying-towel.aspx

 

though I've read good stuff about the mammoth.

 

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/drying-towels/chemical-guys-wooly-mammoth-drying-towel/prod_1003.html

 

Also got a mitt, not a sponge

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meguiars-Luxurious-Lambs-Wool-Wash/dp/B001MPW5IC

 

This stuff is quite personal though, so it is not necessarily black and white on this. If you have the cash, simply try a couple of things

[GMballistic]

Thanks for the quick reply SuperStu. It's funny because when I heard people talking about a "drying towel" I thought they where just talking about a regular towel like you might have in the bathroom. Definitely think I might give one of those mitts ago and possibly the towel too. Cheers.

[Stutopia]

No worries. It's not a great leap from a bathroom towel TBH, the dodo that is, there's a Meg's one with a waffle finish which is quite different from a conventional towel, but I seldom use mine as the dodo is miles better. I'll go mammoth next time, just for the change.

 

Mitt FTW!

[ilogikal1]

Also might be worth noting that snow foam will clean better on a dry car - there's really no need to rinse/soak first as this encourages the foam to run off quicker.