As I was told on here years ago when I questioned the Autoglym shampoo that pretty much looked like a bucket of water with nothing in, suds don't make shampoo good, it's job is primarily to lubricate.
*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***
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Exactly, see how the mitt feels when you drag it over the paintwork, the job of the shampoo is to dissolve the dirt and to lubricate the paintwork so you don't damage it. Similar thing goes on with snowfoam. A lot believe that more foam = better cleaning power. Which is nonsense.
Using it more often won't do any harm. I use it myself as you describe usually, applied to a still wet car before drying. I also have it diluted 50/50 in a bottle. In neat form its a very effective spray sealant but it dilutes down well, especially if you're going to be applying it to a wet car anyway. Effectively saves a stage as there's no need for drying then spraying and buffing, just spray on, wipe down with a drying towel and a quick buff with a buffing cloth.
FWIW, I have it applied on top of cQuartz ceramic coating, but it should work the same way regardless.
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Thanks, next time I wash my car I will spray it on each panel while wet and dry with drying towel, that should hopefully help remove any water marks, and also as you said save the extra stage of applying on a dry car.
I have Gyeon can coat coating on mine.
No worries. If you're going to be applying every 3-4 weeks it makes sense to dilute it down a bit too, won't last as long but you're applying it far more often than required so it's an option to save money. I actually find it very tacky and sticky to remove neat, personally.
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Can't say Ive found it a problem even on a dry car. I make sure I only spray once on each panel and that way it only uses a little, I could dilute it, but I can't be bothered
Got a potentially daft question. Bought a snow foam lance to replace the standard detergent lance for my Bosch AQT120. The pressure washer does 120bar max, and 350l/h flow. I need a 4% dilution through the lance, but it seems the lance is using a very small amount from the bottle, whilst outputting a lot of water.
I did two tests, I need to do more still, so this is still a WIP.
First test, I opend the valve on top to max + (counterclockwise) it was 2 and a half turns from fully closed. This gives the lowest rate of solution to water through the lance yes? It used 100ml of solution and generated 9litres into a bucket, which would make 90litres per 1l of solution right? This seems an incredible amount, but OK, I did have the valve fully open.
Second test was half open, 1.25 turns from fully closed, this used 100ml of solution and generated 6.5l which makes 65l per 1l bottle. Again, seems to be a massive amount, a lot of other people are saying 15-20l per 1l of solution.
My last test at some point will be using the lance fully closed to see what that yields.
There must be something I'm doing wrong? I have the spray on the lance to a very wide settings, one I would be using on the car.
I did two tests, I need to do more still, so this is still a WIP.
First test, I opend the valve on top to max + (counterclockwise) it was 2 and a half turns from fully closed. This gives the lowest rate of solution to water through the lance yes? It used 100ml of solution and generated 9litres into a bucket, which would make 90litres per 1l of solution right? This seems an incredible amount, but OK, I did have the valve fully open.
Second test was half open, 1.25 turns from fully closed, this used 100ml of solution and generated 6.5l which makes 65l per 1l bottle. Again, seems to be a massive amount, a lot of other people are saying 15-20l per 1l of solution.
My last test at some point will be using the lance fully closed to see what that yields.
There must be something I'm doing wrong? I have the spray on the lance to a very wide settings, one I would be using on the car.
My 2p:
If you're getting the right amount of foam I wouldn't worry about it. The foam should be thick and lathery but not quite shaving foam.
You may want to get a 1.1mm orifice if the Lance doesn't have one already. Some Lance's come with a 1.1, but most usually come with 1.25mm. A 1.1 will get you better foam in a 'lower end' pressure washer (compared to something like a high end marcher or kranzle)
If you're getting the right amount of foam I wouldn't worry about it. The foam should be thick and lathery but not quite shaving foam.
You may want to get a 1.1mm orifice if the Lance doesn't have one already. Some Lance's come with a 1.1, but most usually come with 1.25mm. A 1.1 will get you better foam in a 'lower end' pressure washer (compared to something like a high end marcher or kranzle)
Cheers, it's more to get the correct PIR for the Bilt Hamber Autofoam. 4% is the advised dilution onto the panel. I'll have a look at the orifice size though, good shout.
Although I've done a bit more reading and I think there's a lot of confusion as some snow foam lances have the + and - in opposites.
Correct me if I am wrong, but turning the valve on top fully counter clockwise opens it, and allows the water to flow through minimising how much solution is taken yes? On my lance, this is set as the + symbol. On others this is set as -
Closing the valve clockwise will increasr the amount of solution in the bottle being picked up yes? Which on my lance is set as - symbol, but on others the + symbol.
I'll have to give it a go with the valve fully to the clockwise poisition and see if that changes things.
@VaderDSL - I appreciate what you're saying with PIR, to be honest all I've ever done is left the lance at max (clockwise) and adjusted the solution to get the result I wanted. I've never really seen the need to be particularly accurate re PIR as long as I'm getting a suitable foam and I can tell it's actually doing something to the dirt.
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Some more bits. Waiting for my vertool das21 da, Scholl purple pads and S20 one step correction, and have some ccquartz UK to finally polish and coat the car.
If I clayed the car about 4-6 weeks ago, will I have to do it again before polishing?
Some more bits. Waiting for my vertool das21 da, Scholl purple pads and S20 one step correction, and have some ccquartz UK to finally polish and coat the car.
If I clayed the car about 4-6 weeks ago, will I have to do it again before polishing?
Odd having Trix and tarx but nonetheless, just use those and don't worry about claying on this occasion.
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Aye, I didnt realize iron X had tar removal action at the time of ordering. Decided to clay it as after drying I could feel some grittyness. Polished the entire care with Scholl S20 and a purple pad. It seems to have corrected about 90% of the swirls, I can't see any unless I use an led torch and even then they're quite minimal. Not perfection, but expected on a 1 step solution. I managed to apply 1 coat of carpro cquartz until I ran out of day light, so will give the second coat tomorrow.
Can I reuse the supplied suede applicator clothes for the second coat, or should I buy some more? I have a 50ml kit so potentially could do 3 coats .
Aye, I didnt realize iron X had tar removal action at the time of ordering. Decided to clay it as after drying I could feel some grittyness. Polished the entire care with Scholl S20 and a purple pad. It seems to have corrected about 90% of the swirls, I can't see any unless I use an led torch and even then they're quite minimal. Not perfection, but expected on a 1 step solution. I managed to apply 1 coat of carpro cquartz until I ran out of day light, so will give the second coat tomorrow.
Can I reuse the supplied suede applicator clothes for the second coat, or should I buy some more? I have a 50ml kit so potentially could do 3 coats .
I personally wouldn't recommend applying a ceramic coating outdoors in this way because it will have developed a layer of dust of the car by now and really needs to be washed first...
And no, don't reuse the suede applicator, the coating dries and crystalizes (just take the lid off the bottle and see). Reusing the cloth is likely to inflict more damage.
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Thanks mate. I took it to my dad's place to borrow his garage, did a maintenance wash, wiped down the panels and did a second coat + carpro reload. Happy with the finish, has come out with a really nice gloss on the paint.
Does the same advice (wrt throwing away microfibres etc) apply when using products like reload too (spray on "ceramic" sealants)?
Ah excellent! When you said ran out of light I assumed outside.
Washing and reusing them with products like reload will be absolutely fine.
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Does anyone know how to get a black mark (assume it's ink) out of red leather?
Thanks
Thanks
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When I had my Alfa with red leather interior, I had ballpoint pen ink spill onto the seats. I managed to get it out by rubbing a microfiber cloth over the stain after spraying some IPA solution 1:1. It got the mark out, the leather dry which I treated with some leather conditioner after.
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