Karchers Pressure washers

I don't have a pressure washer but have taken the car to a drive thru jet wash place, I didn't use the brush attachment but found the jet wash didn't shift all of the dirt. Wonder how much better a snow foam machine is?
 
Snow foam is just a high foaming TFR. I use it on customers cars to give them a bit of a show. I buy mine from autobrite which come in different flavours such as banana, blueberry etc.

As for Karchers, you get what you pay for. Nilfisk are good, but you try getting them serviced. Go for a K5 and above as they use ceramic components, not plastic, which is where most will fail. For reference, I have a Karcher which was built in 1994 that gets used heavily.
 
mejinks said:
Snow foam is just a high foaming TFR. I use it on customers cars to give them a bit of a show. I buy mine from autobrite which come in different flavours such as banana, blueberry etc.

As for Karchers, you get what you pay for. Nilfisk are good, but you try getting them serviced. Go for a K5 and above as they use ceramic components, not plastic, which is where most will fail. For reference, I have a Karcher which was built in 1994 that gets used heavily.
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My nilfisk is a metal pump. Infact most of its internals are made from metal. Servicing the Nilfisk is easy too. I had to replace one component as I was being very stupid and used my pressure washer in -10 while it had been left outside and getting hold of the replacement valve was cheap and no problem at all.

The main reason I went for Nilfisk in the first place was because it used a metal pump compared to karchers. Not to mention pound for pound you get a lot more punch. I paid £160 for my 130BAR pressure washer. To get the same in a karcher would have cost me £50 extra.

Im not saying karchers are rubbish in comparison but pound for pound the Nilfisk machines are better.
 
I got a Nilfisk c110 from Screwfix for £60. I think they're £69 now but it's great little washer.
Couldn't bring myself to buy a Karcher due to the stories I read about the pumps failing.
 
I'm still none the wiser about whether snow foam is a gimmick or the best thing since sliced bread.

If you have to leave it 5-10 mins and then still have to use a mitt anyway, isn't it quicker to just use a mitt and bucket method from the off?
 
Participant said:
I'm still none the wiser about whether snow foam is a gimmick or the best thing since sliced bread.

If you have to leave it 5-10 mins and then still have to use a mitt anyway, isn't it quicker to just use a mitt and bucket method from the off?
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Quicker yes. The point of the foam is to remove as much dirt as possible before touching the car with a mitt. This helps prevents swirls and scratches.
 
The benefit is you're not rubbing dirt and grime in to the car which = scratches.

I can use decent snow foam on my van and car and it lifts off almost all of the dirt and grime, even if they've not been washed for months.

There may be small areas that need washed by hand but 98% (not including the wheels) of the dirt comes off in my experience.
 
ganesh said:
Most vastly overhyped car cleaning product on the net, a dirty car will remain a dirty car regardless of how much snow foam you spray at it.
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Snow foam isn't designed to make the car squeaky clean, it's designed to remove a good chunk of the dirt and crap in order to make the actual cleaning process less arduous and less damaging the paintwork. In my experience it's very useful, particularly in winter when after a month your car is looking like it has been dredged from the Thames - I find it less necessary in the summer months when you're washing just a thin later of dust and grime off.
 
I ordered a K4 in the January sales and its been a real workhorse, does x2 cars and a VW T5 kombi van every 2-3 weeks (not all 3 at the same time) :)

really please with it
 
Pants said:
Will my Karcher K2 be powerful enough to do a good job with the snow foam attachments?
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that's what I use, water taken from a waterbutt also.

no issue here.

autobrite lance and their magifoam.

I got a K2 with a bunch of accessories for £100 from B&Q and sold the patio washer, extension, detergents, brush and foam nozzle on eBay for £50 which basically paid for the snowfoam lance.

the K2 is cheap, it feels cheap, it may break in a years time but I honestly dont care really. It does the job well enough.

with regards to how well it works, its decent at getting the majority of crap off the car, but you need to do a proper 2 bucket wash after anyway.

laugh inside as your neighbours watch in envy at all the fun you are having making your car into a marshmallow.

mandatory snowfoam.jpeg

IMG_20140406_133715.jpg
 
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