*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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ganesh said:
I wouldn't bother with the snow foam to be honest, I bought all the kit and all it does is look cool and make the car marginally cleaner. It's just a bit of a fad and the foam lances are massively overpriced for what they are (£45 for a plastic bottle and some brass fittings?). You'll still have to wash the car afterwards if you want it to be actually clean, if I run my finger over my car after snow foaming it'll be black. Pressure washers are handy for rinsing and for cleaning patios etc though.
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I used to think the same but I've started using a stronger concentration of it and simply doing a snow foam and pressure wash this time of year as by the time I get to work on Monday it'll be half way to being dirty again.

Even with this 10 minute no touch wash it looks good from anything more than a few feet away... Probably stripping the wax off though :o
 
lordrobs said:
I used to think the same but I've started using a stronger concentration of it and simply doing a snow foam and pressure wash this time of year as by the time I get to work on Monday it'll be half way to being dirty again.

Even with this 10 minute no touch wash it looks good from anything more than a few feet away... Probably stripping the wax off though :o
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I've tried using a higher concentration, 500ml snow foam and 500ml water and it didn't do as much miraculous cleaning as I'd hoped, and this is Bilt Hamber foam so a good quality product, my standard mix is approx 250ml snow foam. It's alright for a quick once over to get some of the muck off, but if you want a clean car then it'd be quicker to just do it the old fashioned way.
 
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For me it wasn't how much I put in the bottle it was the knob on the lance that took a while to set up. I know have it set all the way to - which I've subsequently found out is the strongest concentration, and it comes out like whipped cream!

I'll get a before and after next time I get it really mucky. It isn't a faultless finish but with winter roads messing it up again in a few miles it is plenty good enough.
 
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Snow foam is brilliant as a pre wash, it will get 75% of the muck off, tbh for a car with decent paintwork, it will prevent swirls much more than the 2 bucket methods.

Plus, like lordrobs say, the whipped cream effect looks bloody awesome.
 
Snow Foam is brilliant if you don't get suckered into the whole oooooo it's gotta be non caustic to protect my lsp rubbish. If you get one that is overly safe with your LSP, then you're just going to end up with a SF that just looks pretty.

Get something that is a bit caustic and wears your LSP down over a period of 2-3 months. Then just re-apply your LSP every 2-3 months.

This way your snow foam will leave you with either a pretty clean car or a prety clean car ready for 2bm.

Observe below the power of Actimousse that is diluted down. Wax was still strong after 2-3 months, however I re apply every 2-3 months by default so it's irrelevant.

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Observe the X mark.

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No mitt, no touching, brilliant for winter when you want to wash the car within 5 minutes.
 
lordrobs said:
For me it wasn't how much I put in the bottle it was the knob on the lance that took a while to set up. I know have it set all the way to - which I've subsequently found out is the strongest concentration, and it comes out like whipped cream!
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I found this out straight away. When the knob was about half way, it was too watery, and the foam was running off the car and doing nothing. You need the knob turned up all the way or its pointless.

Just remember you don't have long before it's all gone though!!
 
I've got a MK4 Golf which needs a bit of a tidyup and all of the soft touch plastics inside are sticky, as though its deteriorating. I suppose it is a good 12 years old.

Anyone know what the best thing is to tackle this? I've got some AG Interior Shampoo but I dont think that will cut it!

Cheers
 
rossk26 said:
I found this out straight away. When the knob was about half way, it was too watery, and the foam was running off the car and doing nothing. You need the knob turned up all the way or its pointless.

Just remember you don't have long before it's all gone though!!
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It sure does drink the solution when set to max.
 
Our E39 touring had a good wash today but the wheels seem to be fairly porous or rough and are sucking in the brake dust and baking on, is there any recommendations for a one time heavy wheel cleaner then I can get some wax or sealer on them.

Tried today with some mukoff from my bike but didn't touch the sides.
 
maccapacca said:
Our E39 touring had a good wash today but the wheels seem to be fairly porous or rough and are sucking in the brake dust and baking on, is there any recommendations for a one time heavy wheel cleaner then I can get some wax or sealer on them.

Tried today with some mukoff from my bike but didn't touch the sides.
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Wonder Wheels, available at Halfords as well as online etc. It's a pretty strong acid, but does work very well.

I'd use diluted 50/50 with water and if it doesn't remove the brake dust/dirt etc - then increase to use neat.

Turtle Wax do a wheel cleaner that is a little similar to IronX, but if you want to order online, then CarPro Iron X will be worth a shot too. The latter is safe to use on bodywork as well as wheels.
 
anyone got any links or videos that explain technique etc on machine polishers?

i had one for christmas and would like to absorb as much info as i can before i use it.
 
Hi,

I applied Optimum Car Wax (this stuff http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/optimum-car-wax/prod_776.html ) today, it looked awesome at the time and I'll post some pics later, but now that its gone dark and the streetlights are on it it looks like I've put way too much on (grr!)

Any ideas of the best way to remove some of it to get a better finish? I tried buffing a small area under a streetlight with a microfiber towel but it looks like I'm just spreading it around and I don't want to introduce swirl marks with excess buffing etc.

Looking at some old threads on detailingworld it looks like over application is pretty common with this stuff, all it says it to spray onto the panels and wipe off, but apparently you only want to apply a small amount onto a cloth and then spread it around afterwards.

Nothing I can do now as its dark, but will get on it in the morning, any ideas appreciated! Particularly any short of polishing! Will washing again remove the excess?

Cheers
 
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