Is snow foam worth it?

[LTD]

OCD ?

I use two buckets but never use a wash mitt twice during the wash. The second bucket is for rinsing off the dirty mitts only.

I have one mitt per panel - built up every time Halfords have a 3 for 2 offer on.

 

[chrisk2010]

I must admit I have run out of BH and I am missing the cozy feeling I get from use it.

The trouble with the detailing bug and OCD is where do you stop?

Why two buckets and not three?
I use three! third for the wheels and if I took a pic of the state of it you'd see why

Why not snowfoam twice? First rinse with gentle pressure then second one with high pressure etc.

Sometimes I do, I also keep the paint work coated in shampoo rinsing with soapy water as I go so the panel I done doesn't dry by the time I have done a pass.

One wash or two? How many drying cloths 3, what type 2 waffle, 1 kent microfibre to finish? Filtered water for final rinse only in the summer at work as the facility is there, now how about a blow drier for the crevices missus hates me stealing the drier. You did clean those with a special brush of course nooks and crannies on the last pass after soaping the car.?

What’s the best time of day to wash morning while the kids eat there breakfast much cooler too also not rushed for time before sunset, should you put a special mat out first didn't know I could buy one! googling now. In fact is washing outside a good idea after all - what about the wind blowing dust and dirt onto the paint as you’re cleaning it that's why I rinse before touching a panel and after I have touched it?

IMHO the only thing that matters is that you’re happy with your car and no one else is likely to care.

Obviously worth doing the best job you can with the time/facilities available to you but as I’ve said before I find nowadays my cars are generally not as clean as they used to be as I only wash them when I have a couple of hours spare.

They have less swirls now but spend more time covered in dirt - pointless when you think of it really!

Sorry couldn't resist at least it'll help push this thread to the next page.

Like anything it's each to there own really! The lads at works can't understand why I spend so much time maintaining my car but then again all of them want me to detail theirs.

 

[LeeJV]

OK.. I do love a good debate

So here's another 1 for you all to think about.... Snow foam... start at the top and work down? OR start at the bottom and work up?

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Whatever happened to Ed, the guy in Scotland who set up a detailing service?

He was an avid poster last year but I haven't seen anything from him for ages, anyone know if he is OK?

 

[Will]

Whatever happened to Ed, the guy in Scotland who set up a detailing service?

He was an avid poster last year but I haven't seen anything from him for ages, anyone know if he is OK?

I think he had a row with another forum member over detailing which was a shame as he seemed like a nice guy.

I’m sure he’s been on a few times since but pretty much gone from the forum although I know a few people are still in touch, I think he’s okay just having a break from here

 

[Deleted member 126251]

OCD ?

I use two buckets but never use a wash mitt twice during the wash. The second bucket is for rinsing off the dirty mitts only.

I have one mitt per panel - built up every time Halfords have a 3 for 2 offer on.

Just curious, if you only use the wash mitt once, why do you need two buckets?

I have a 3 mitts - one for wheels (plus 3 types of brush ), One for body panels down to the sill and then one for under the sills and in the edges of the wheel arches after I've done everything else.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Managed to get some pics today after I applied snowfoam, this is before any water or anything physical touching the car... but apparently snowfoam is snake oil to some

View attachment 89198 View attachment 89199 View attachment 89200 View attachment 89201 View attachment 89202

A jet wash would have done pretty much the same thing.....just not as interesting to see or fun to do.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

The most amazing thing about all this is, it has now run to 8 pages with 158 posts!! It's bl**dy snow foam folks, get a grip LOL

Lively debate is always good.

 

[LTD]

Just curious, if you only use the wash mitt once, why do you need two buckets?

I rinse out my mitts in the second bucket before putting them in a bag for the washing.

Keeps the soapy water totally clean and makes tidying up a bit neater.

Keeps SWMBO a little happier and that’s all good !!

 

[LeeJV]

Ok Guys, seeing as this debate has a large amount of Unconvinced Foam users I decided to do a test with the product and show you the difference between a good snow foam and just a jetwash.
The product is BH Autofoam , This is the best snow foam that I have ever used and has incredible results at only £17.00 per 4ltrs.
The recommended dilution ratio is 4% PIR (Panel Impact Rate)
to work out your impact rate fill your cannon with water.
next connect to a jet wash , turn the ratio adjuster on the lance to full (Clockwise)
Now empty the cannon via your JW into a bucket and measure the amount of water used.
My Total was 10trs + 1ltr in the cannon = 11ltrs x this by 4% = 440ml of product.
I only use 500mls of mixed solution on an entire Ford Transit, so mixed 220mls of product with 280mls of water in the cannon.

This is the van before any rinsing or foaming

As you can see the doors are extremely soiled with road grime, Next I applied BH autofoam to 1 side of the van doors.

The next picture is after approx 4mins of dwell time, you can now see the dirt running down the paint.


Next up is to rinse the both doors with a PW leaving this result is on the untreated door.


This is the other door that was treated with foam.

Next to show how much soiling has been removed with just a PW, I used a white applicator to swab the panel for soiling, This is the untreated door


And saving the best till last I took a swab of the treated door using a 2nd applicator pad.


As you can clearly see, the difference between the treated and untreated side are noticeably different, If I were to have just PW'd the van with water, then washed it, I would still have a huge amount of soiling that would have been then transferred to mitt, and even using the 2BM I would still be more likely to create swirls and scratches.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Ok Guys, seeing as this debate has a large amount of Unconvinced Foam users I decided to do a test with the product and show you the difference between a good snow foam and just a jetwash.
The product is BH Autofoam , This is the best snow foam that I have ever used and has incredible results at only £17.00 per 4ltrs.
The recommended dilution ratio is 4% PIR (Panel Impact Rate)
to work out your impact rate fill your cannon with water.
next connect to a jet wash , turn the ratio adjuster on the lance to full (Clockwise)
Now empty the cannon via your JW into a bucket and measure the amount of water used.
My Total was 10trs + 1ltr in the cannon = 11ltrs x this by 4% = 440ml of product.
I only use 500mls of mixed solution on an entire Ford Transit, so mixed 220mls of product with 280mls of water in the cannon.

This is the van before any rinsing or foaming
View attachment 91742
As you can see the doors are extremely soiled with road grime, Next I applied BH autofoam to 1 side of the van doors.
View attachment 91743
The next picture is after approx 4mins of dwell time, you can now see the dirt running down the paint.
View attachment 91745

Next up is to rinse the both doors with a PW leaving this result is on the untreated door.
View attachment 91746

This is the other door that was treated with foam.
View attachment 91747
Next to show how much soiling has been removed with just a PW, I used a white applicator to swab the panel for soiling, This is the untreated door
View attachment 91748

And saving the best till last I took a swab of the treated door using a 2nd applicator pad.
View attachment 91749

As you can clearly see, the difference between the treated and untreated side are noticeably different, If I were to have just PW'd the van with water, then washed it, I would still have a huge amount of soiling that would have been then transferred to mitt, and even using the 2BM I would still be more likely to create swirls and scratches.

Thanks for that - I'm off to see if I can get a small bottle of BH to test on my car. Been using Autofinesse Avalanche so maybe that is the problem. It is a bit more expensive than BH on Amazon but they recommend to only use 1 to 2" of product in the bottle so a lot less required than BH and that probably makes it cheaper than BH.

I'm happy with the foam it (Avalanche) produces and also get dirt running down the paint etc so perhaps the formulation is not as aggressive as BH as there is always residual dirt on the paint.

 

[LeeJV]

you can only get BH in 4ltrs matey.. but as for amounts you need to use, as said above 500ml of mixed solution will do a whole van, and I only use 300ml of mixed solution on a C63 so you will find it more economical. if the car is not that heavily soiled you can use it at 2% so that would only be 200ml mixed with 800ml of water, you can also dilute 80ml of product into a 5ltr pump sprayer and use it as a TFR.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

you can only get BH in 4ltrs matey.. but as for amounts you need to use, as said above 500ml of mixed solution will do a whole van, and I only use 300ml of mixed solution on a C63 so you will find it more economical. if the car is not that heavily soiled you can use it at 2% so that would only be 200ml mixed with 800ml of water, you can also dilute 80ml of product into a 5ltr pump sprayer and use it as a TFR.

I don't mind what it costs (within reason) if it works. I'll ask around and see if I can purchase a small amount of BH off someone local - not going down the road (again) of buying bulk quantities of stuff that does not work for me.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

A jet wash would have done pretty much the same thing.....just not as interesting to see or fun to do.

Yeah...

No it wouldn’t have done the same thing.

Thanks for that - I'm off to see if I can get a small bottle of BH to test on my car. Been using Autofinesse Avalanche so maybe that is the problem

Absolute Gold.

 

[LeeJV]

you can only get BH in 4ltrs matey.. but as for amounts you need to use, as said above 500ml of mixed solution will do a whole van, and I only use 300ml of mixed solution on a C63 so you will find it more economical. if the car is not that heavily soiled you can use it at 2% so that would only be 200ml mixed with 800ml of water, you can also dilute 80ml of product into a 5ltr pump sprayer and use it as a TFR.

Sorry guys, just need to say i made a mistake in the dilution for a pump sprayer. It's 200ml to 4800mls of water at 4%

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Yeah...

No it wouldn’t have done the same thing.



Absolute Gold.

Why do you consider it absolute gold?

I'm always willing to admit if I'm wrong and it still remains for me to test it (BH) on my car which lives in a warm garage where the dirt dries on nicely and sticks - I still have my doubts as to whether or not the mighty BH will remove the dried on dirt as demonstrated by @LeeJV .

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Why do you consider it absolute gold?

I'm always willing to admit if I'm wrong and it still remains for me to test it (BH) on my car which lives in a warm garage where the dirt dries on nicely and sticks - I still have my doubts as to whether or not the mighty BH will remove the dried on dirt as demonstrated by @LeeJV .

The entire thread it’s been recommended, and you’ve been against it from day 1

Lee puts up some visual comparison of dirt (I mentioned it several pages ago, this is already on google) to which you finally half cave in and want to try some

Gold!

I think in other words, you’ve denied the ability of something without first trying it. You know what they say, “Assumption is the mother of all f’ ups...”

 

[Deleted member 126251]

I've admitted it might be better and that I need to try it. I still have my doubts that it will work with dried on dirt but will report back if I ever manage to source a small quantity of BH to test.

 

[chrisk2010]

Just received a fresh delivery from Slims detailing if you're near Essex Only cost about £6 quid using up my points.

I used to use AF snow foam when I first used a snow foam canon and it's ok, impressive river of foam afterwards but no way near as good as BH.

It isn't a miracle cleaner but has it's purpose and after reading Lee's post I may take the time to work out the ratio a bit better.

 

[LeeJV]

180 POSTS!!!!