Snow foam

[Buckman]

Does anyone use a pressure washer and snow foam to clean their vehicle? I have only come across this snow foam stuff a few years ago at one of those automated car washes. The machine sprays it on as you enter and it is then washed off within a minute. Reading up on snow foam it is supposed to stay on the vehicle for at least 5 minutes to work effectively.

I watched a few Youtubes where a person use the Autoglym snow foam Polar Blast, then Polar Wash and finally a Polar seal on a car with dried up mud on it. Also watched other Youtube clips on snow foam with other brands of snow foam and cars seem to clean fairly easily as the snow foam seems to break down the ingrained dirt. As we live in a rural area and the car is constantly muddy especially in the current weather, the snow foam may be a step forward.

At the moment taking the car to the hand car wash which is 5 miles away and cost is £11 a time. Over a couple of months that adds up. Although I have mobility issues I can handle the pressure washer and do the clean in the summer months, but unsure about physically washing the car by hand during the polar wash application as that may be a bit much for me . Not really want to take too much advantage of grandsons as neither of us like asking people for help all the time as they have their own lives to live. Obviously in the winter months it is better for me to go to the hand car wash.

Is the snow foam application method as good as what they make it out to be and does it give the car a good clean? Thanks.

 

[otherclive]

My son does his FL2, grandson his 5 series and three near neighbours use it. All seemingly to good effect. Our local hand wash places now use it instead of one grubby sponge in each hand. I’ve used it at the local jet wash car wash. It does work and is better than using a bucket and sponge where you risk minor scratches on paintwork so when I do the cars I use the two bucket method.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I have a Karcher Pressure Washer which has the foam attachment. Waste of time in my opinion.

I filled the container with the supplied car wash stuff and sprayed it on the car which then foamed up. Left it for a while and then washed it off with the pressure washer. Hardly made any difference.

I'm also in a rural area and mud etc is quite common. Even using the pressure washer without the foamer doesn't make a big difference. Gets rid of loose dirt and mud and brake dust around the wheels though.

So, I use the pressure washer first to get as much as possible off then hand wash it.

Maybe its the stuff that came with the washer that's no that good. I tried putting in regular car wax shampoo and that made no difference either.

 

[Buckman]

Thanks for the input. We have the Karcher K4 basically for cleaning the patio etc. and when reading reviews came across the snow gun.

General reviews was that the Karcher snow foam gun was not very good. According to Youtube clips there are other far better snow foam products like the MJJC or Autoglym than the Karcher snow gun as it sprays the snow too thin.

 

[otherclive]

My son and grandson use Muc off snow foam.

 

[Jcloughie]

I tried some years ago with the same poor results as Sam. But I remain open minded. It might be that I was using a poor applicator gun and not the best foam. In my case, the foam did not cling as it does in on YouTube.

Even so, if I could get It to work. I take it that it deals with the heavy stuff and the car still needs hand washing to do a proper job.

John

 

[Beachball]

Take my new car to a hand car wash with the height i cannot reach the roof so with my mobility issues i would rather let someone else use there pressure washer and then foam it and they dry it for me i was charge £8 including a car air fresher and i thought was very reasonable

 

[ProfJohnL]

Does anyone use a pressure washer and snow foam to clean their vehicle? I have only come across this snow foam stuff a few years ago at one of those automated car washes. The machine sprays it on as you enter and it is then washed off within a minute. Reading up on snow foam it is supposed to stay on the vehicle for at least 5 minutes to work effectively....

Do not assume the car wash uses the same chemical that you can buy. Often industrial chemicals can be stronger than those you can buy - even if its the same supplier.

 

[Buckman]

Do not assume the car wash uses the same chemical that you can buy. Often industrial chemicals can be stronger than those you can buy - even if its the same supplier.

We would be looking at a snow foam that does the job but is also environmentally friendly both to the car and the environment.

 

[otherclive]

We would be looking at a snow foam that does the job but is also environmentally friendly both to the car and the environment.

Best thing is to give it a try and see the results. Auto express did a compared snow foams. Might be worth a Google.

Best snow foams 2022 | Auto Express

The best way to shift dirt without risking scratches

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[Buckman]

Best thing is to give it a try and see the results. Auto express did a compared snow foams. Might be worth a Google.

Thanks I did read the article and most seem to be effective and also environmentally friendly. More or less decided on the MJJC Snow cannon V2 which seems to be getting very good reviews. It deciding on which snow foam to buy as most seem to do the job, but with me it is the leay amount of physical work involved that I need. LOL!

Washing with lance not too much of an issue, but concern is hand wash with the "wash shampoo" foam and also the drying. If car is not dried it tends to leave streakshowever if using the Autoglym Polar seal perhasp this is not an issue?

 

[otherclive]

I find with washing the cars using our hard water I have to go over with chamois leather and microfibre cloths to dry them quickly or else I get water stain drying marks that are a devil to remove. Here’s another 2023 review of foams. There seems to be a variation on usage such as lance settings, dilution, residence time etc. You are hard pressed to get 10 minutes in summer.

Good luck anyway

Best snow foam 2024: The faster way to a cleaner car | Expert Reviews

Soften up the dust, dirt and caked-on grime with the best snow foams from just £8

www.expertreviews.co.uk

 

[Buckman]

I find with washing the cars using our hard water I have to go over with chamois leather and microfibre cloths to dry them quickly or else I get water stain drying marks that are a devil to remove. Here’s another 2023 review of foams. There seems to be a variation on usage such as lance settings, dilution, residence time etc. You are hard pressed to get 10 minutes in summer.

Good luck anyway

Best snow foam 2024: The faster way to a cleaner car | Expert Reviews

Soften up the dust, dirt and caked-on grime with the best snow foams from just £8

www.expertreviews.co.uk

Thanks for the link. The Bilt Hamber Surfex seems to be the one that is consistently in the top 5 on various site reviews.

​

 

[otherclive]

Thanks for the link. The Bilt Hamber Surfex seems to be the one that is consistently in the top 5 on various site reviews.

​

Bilt seem to be well regarded by some Forum members for their car/caravan polishes.

 

[Woodentop]

½ bucket of warm water with about an eggcupful of Muck-Off push-bile version in it, wash van with car wash brush, leave a few minutes then rinse off with hose or gentle setting on jet washer. Bingo, clean caravan.
If you have bought a large Muck-Off (it ain't cheap but does work very well) you can feed it into the jet washer through the additive pipe, it just uses a bit more cleaner that's all.

 

[Kevin M]

I use my Nilfisk pressure washer to snowfoam my caravan then wash it in the usual way using fewicks and a brush, comes up a treat, don't use the pressure washer to rinse off tho. The Polar Blast is great.

Kev

 

[Hutch]

Muc off is fantastic, I use it on my Motorbike, car and caravan if it gets muddy. If you can get hold of the Demon cleaner with the hose attachment and then use it with Muc off even better.
Remember even after the Snow foam your supposed to shampoo your car/caravan .

 

[Buckman]

Yesterday I experimented on OH's 1996 Corolla. I used the Karcher K4, Autoglym Polar Blast with a MJJC snow gun and proposed leaving it on for about 5 minutes, but it started raining so was like about 20 minutes.

Anyway washed off what was left of the snow foam , but did not do any physical wash or anything on the car. I did not even dry the car. i was pleasantly surprised at the result as car looked shinier and nice and clean.

May get around to doing the Jeep today if the wind drops because at the moment we are having very strong gusts of wind however the sky seems to be quite clear with no heavy clouds. With a bit of luck Europe will share some of its extra warmth with us?