Always wet your van first
Snow Foam - How I Did It -
- Thread starter Dellmassive
- Start date
A quick update from a snow foaming virgin here..! I don't care if if it's a faff (it is) or whether it gets it all off first (it didn't), it's just such good FUN..!!
Even the neighbours came out to watch.. They of course, know that I may be a DIY god, and strive for perfection in all I attempt. Conversely, they may just have a right old laugh at my expense.
Sprayed it on dry, left it to run off (not as long as I thought) and set to with the straight water blast. Filled my two buckets and set to on the mitt, blasted it all away and watched it gleam. I even got a blower on it, but whilst it works it makes you deaf, so I'm planning on reverting to an old fashioned frying towel wipe down next time.
Mine is ceramic coated with Gtechniq stuff too, and the ease of getting the shizzle off is amazing, which is what I wanted.
There's no substitute for effort, though. It was easier than a normal polished & filthy van, but not the panacea that the guru's would have you believe. Unless you're @Tourershine , in which case all bets are off..
Even the neighbours came out to watch.. They of course, know that I may be a DIY god, and strive for perfection in all I attempt. Conversely, they may just have a right old laugh at my expense.
Sprayed it on dry, left it to run off (not as long as I thought) and set to with the straight water blast. Filled my two buckets and set to on the mitt, blasted it all away and watched it gleam. I even got a blower on it, but whilst it works it makes you deaf, so I'm planning on reverting to an old fashioned frying towel wipe down next time.
Mine is ceramic coated with Gtechniq stuff too, and the ease of getting the shizzle off is amazing, which is what I wanted.
There's no substitute for effort, though. It was easier than a normal polished & filthy van, but not the panacea that the guru's would have you believe. Unless you're @Tourershine , in which case all bets are off..
There's no substitute for effort, though. It was easier than a normal polished & filthy van, but not the panacea that the guru's would have you believe. Unless you're @Tourershine , in which case all bets are off..
I have no idea what you mean, I have better things to do on a sunny Sunday morning-afternoon
I've been using the new autoglym polar products the past few weeks...
This is my routine:
Polar Blast
Make a cuppa and sit and drink it while watching the foam do it's magic
Rinse off
Polar Wash through foam lance
1 Warm bucket of clean water
Use a wheel brush to clean all the nooks and crannies
Use another wheel brush to clean the wheels
wipe down the polar Wash rinsing the mit after every panel
Rinse off the Polar Wash
Use Polar Seal over everywhere except the windscreen
Left it to do its magic for 5 minutes (in the shade)
Then wiped it down gently with a polishing cloth
Then buffed with a finishing towel
Total time 1hr 35 minutes
This is my routine:
Polar Blast
Make a cuppa and sit and drink it while watching the foam do it's magic
Rinse off
Polar Wash through foam lance
1 Warm bucket of clean water
Use a wheel brush to clean all the nooks and crannies
Use another wheel brush to clean the wheels
wipe down the polar Wash rinsing the mit after every panel
Rinse off the Polar Wash
Use Polar Seal over everywhere except the windscreen
Left it to do its magic for 5 minutes (in the shade)
Then wiped it down gently with a polishing cloth
Then buffed with a finishing towel
Total time 1hr 35 minutes
Great product
Always pre-rinse first, pointless snow foaming onto dry paintwork.
Guys, reading the comments above and watching the @Dellmassive video, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what to expect from a snow foam lance. Firstly snow foam is one part within a multi stage process. Pressure or mixture ratio has little effect too, Ph neutral snow foam agents are very mild and is not designed to clean your car, as I said it's one stage.
Yeah, bigger volume gives better throughput and provides filtered water longer. But as you say, you do 4 a week, whereas my use is much more casual and my cars don't need cleaning weekly. So, I opted for the cheaper 7ltr version .... I'd like a 25ltr but am surprised how much the resin is and couldn't really justify the big unit
Interesting. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there in the detailing world over this, but thinking logically the reason for this pre-wash stage is simply to loosen as many large particulates from the paint as possible before any physical wash takes place.
Why pointless..? I'm confused.
Because, it's all about doing what you can to remove as much dirt as possible before making actual physical contact with the paintwork. It seems many people expect to spray their vehicles with snow foam, rinse it off and boom it's clean!
So I would do the following safe wash procedure:
Pre-rinse
Spray citrous based apc to heavy soiled areas and spray iron remover based wheel cleaner to the alloys, leave to dwell for a few minutes, making sure it doesn't dry
rinse
Snow foam and leave to dwell
Rinse
Then either do a one bucket method or two bucket...depending on condition of vehicle
Rinse
Spray on wet coat
Rinse
Dry with mf drying towels.
This process on my T6 takes around 40 mins.
I'm led to believe that's for cleaning the brake dust detritus off alloys & wheels, and not for paintwork. Brakes have sintered metal particles impregnated in the brake pads and is shed when you brake in the form of 'dust' that sticks to your wheels.
I think..
I believe that you can buy it for paintwork as well because those metal brake particles also get on the panels, as well as other airborne metal particles. That is why you get those little orange specs on panels (really noticeable on a white van). @Tourershine @Clydiee are you able to share wisdom?
Auto finesse iron out is safe on paintwork.
Thanks @Northern Monkey. Would you use this before or after first rinse? Before or after foam????
In simple terms, No.
I might have a reasonable knowledge with detailing, and my T6 might look pretty good, but i'm not actually a detailer so to speak.
Our speciality is Caravans and Motorhome surfaces, (fibreglasses, plastics, aluminums, powder coatings etc) and these just don't need the same types of products as say a car would. My own vehicles just wouldn't ever get to the point where the wheels are caked in brake dust because it's a daily job to wipe around my wheels, so they are pretty much perfect all the time.
I've seen the products you're referring to, but I just haven't ever had the need to use them.
Sorry chaps, i'd just be guessing.
When I used it mate I snow foamed then washed and rinsed, applied the iron out to a couple of panels then left it for 5 to 10 mins until it turned purple then rinsed off with the jet wash. Did all the van then washed it again just to make sure it was all off lol.
Just to note my van had no ceramic coatings and to be honest never bothered with this one.
Gtechniq w6 or any fallout remover (britemax /chemical guys etc etc)
Are all completely safe on paintwork (out of sun and not allowed to dry out)
We use w6 after a prewash and actually do it once a month and use it as a washing lube .
I.e
Prewash with whatever (snowfoam etc etc)
Smother vehicle in fallout remover
Then begin washing with a mitt and bucket
Then rinse
Fallout removers will only disolve airborne particles and wont damage anything unless left to dry .
If you feel your paintwork with a rubber glove on , or a plastic bag
You will be amazed how rough the paintwork feels unless you have used a falliut product within the last 8 weeks or so
Are all completely safe on paintwork (out of sun and not allowed to dry out)
We use w6 after a prewash and actually do it once a month and use it as a washing lube .
I.e
Prewash with whatever (snowfoam etc etc)
Smother vehicle in fallout remover
Then begin washing with a mitt and bucket
Then rinse
Fallout removers will only disolve airborne particles and wont damage anything unless left to dry .
If you feel your paintwork with a rubber glove on , or a plastic bag
You will be amazed how rough the paintwork feels unless you have used a falliut product within the last 8 weeks or so
