Snow Foam Products

Genuineguy

Hi,
Could anyone recommend a snow foam product that i could use on my car as i am planning in purchasing a snow Foam lance for my power washer.

Does Halfords, Woodies keet this product stocked, I heard it suppose to do a good job when washing a car.

Curran

Not exactly sure what yo mean by a product "that will give it a good shine one I am finished"

The snow foam solution, helps clean the car, but doesnt give it any shine. The shine is achieved by a good polish and wax / sealant. After that, the snow foam helps break down dirt before washing it with a wash mitt and two buckets.

If you are looking for something that you can spray onto the car to give it shine, the only thing that I can think of that will sort of work is Demon Shine....it works good as a rinse aid, making the water sheet off the car, gives a bit of shine, but it wont last long.

Recommend a good snow foam product...here's my opinion on some of them
Orchard Autocare Cotton Candy - thick foam, good cleaning action (I use personally)
Autobrite Magifoam - good cleaning action but it striped my protection (Chemical Guys Pete's 53)
Autobrite SuperFoam - testing it tomorrow
Valet Pro - foams well, not great at cleaning
Chemical Guys Honeydew - not personally used it, but gets good reports

All of the above are likely only to be got on online shops, snow foam that you'd get in Halfords or a local motor factors should be approached with caution - have strong cleaners in them, traffic film removers, that will strip away any wax/sealant on the car and may also cause more rapid deterioration of plastic and rubber trim on the car.

As said, Demon Shine is the only product that I can think of that you could use through the lance to add shine, but it wont last long. Available in the likes of Halfords, local motor factors, and Tescos (sometimes on special offer at good prices)

Curran

Just re-read your edited post, perhaps you meant the actual snowfoam lance?

If thats the case, perhaps you know, but be sure to buy a good one. The attachments that the power washer manufacturers sell arent up to much. They produce sudsy watery solution rather than thick foam. Better to buy right the first time!

Avoid this kind of attachment


A good lance looks like this - it should have an adustable air flow know and an adustable fan/spray at the front

Genuineguy

Thanks Curran for your posts.

I havent used snow foam before, but i understood i could apply it to a car that is not too dirty, leave the snow foam on and then use a brush and water to give the car a better cleaning and power hose the foam off the car like they do in the car washes.

The issue i have when i wash is that the Car shampoo i use can dry and leave a scum on the windows and paint work, espically if its a warm day.


Obvously if the car is very dirty i can apply one coat of foam, leave for some time, Then powerhose the foam off which should hopefully take the big scum of dirt off, and then apply another coat of Foam. which i will use a brush to remove off the rest of dirt.

However, from what i understand from your earlier posting, That this Foam is not intended to give a car a shine once it is washed, That i should use turtle wax or some other product to do this.

Am i correct in this?

Curran

Please dont use a brush on your car's paint work!

Unless you want your paint work, due to damage from dirt, grit and the bristles, to look like the right hand side of this image....



During the summer, if you have very light dust on the car, then perhaps it would be OK to snowfoam the car, rinse it off and dry it. In places like California, its ideal, but in reality, with our weather and condition of roads, it is unpractical to have a touchless wash - by that I mean, you dont use a wash mitt on the car, just snowfoam and rinse.

The recommended way to wash your car, and limit damage as best possible, is the following...
Snowfoam; allowed to dwell, but not dry out
Rinse
Wash; with two buckets, a wash mitt (ideally two) and a good shampoo - no sponges, or brushes
Rinse
Dry; with a good microfiber towel - no water blades or chamois

During the winter, if the car is really bad, then repeating the snow foam a second time might be advisable, depending on how much has been rinsed off the first time.
Snowfoam has the advantage of keeping all the shuts, around the windows, doors, boot lid and bonnet clean, simply from regular washing.

For protecting your cars paintwork, its recommended that you apply wax or sealant. It will protect it from day to day driving, but also makes it easier to wash and dry. There would be better products to spend your money on than Turtle Wax, as they are usually a bit of a false economy...you have to use so much so often to get any results and it becomes a pain applying them so often.

randy hickey

Yeah OP, Curran's on the money on this one.
You won't be buying a proper snow foam lance in the likes of Woodies or Halfords.
You CAN buy the proper snow foam lances in the following places;

http://www.detailingshed.com/6-shampoo-snowfoam

http://www.cleancar.ie/snow-foam-and-lances.html

http://www.fort.ie/

Snowfoam is not a "magic wand" product where you spray it on,rinse it off, and viola,your car is magically gleaming!
Such a product does not exist.
Snowfoam is merely a prewash,essentially to minimise the amount of fine dirt that your microfibre wash mitt has to deal with.