Soldato
Bad joke made by my boss in 2007!
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*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***
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Underboss
picked up an autoglym snow canon I previously had a couple of aliex special ones plus a autobrite direct one but the foam adjustment knob seems to be playing up with that one. would have liked an mjjc but for the extra £30 quid nearly I cant see the point I will however be buying the MJJC gauze as thats slightly differnet and will try putting it in the autoglym to see if it makes any differnce with foam thickness.
Soldato
It’s not the foam which does the cleaning
Make sure you’re getting the right panel impact ratio (PIR) according to your snow foam
If it’s 4%, fill your bottle with water. Empty it into a bucket with the pressure washer, ensuring you have the nozzle on fully open.
Once all the water has come out the bottle, measure how much of it there is.
If there’s 8L in the bucket, say, you’ll want to work out the PIR as a %. Using 4%, you’d do 0.04x8000 = 320ml of snow foam to put into the bottle, the rest water.
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I also think if you have a slightly less powerful pressure washer changing orifice size on the lance a can help most come with a 1.2mm orifice you change change this to a 1.1 or lower like a 0.9. My K4 full control does okay with a 1.1
Underboss
too wet today 
had a good opportunity to clean the black trim and do the engine bay today
I've always wanted to do the engine bay, today I thought id do it..
had a good opportunity to clean the black trim and do the engine bay today
I've always wanted to do the engine bay, today I thought id do it..
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Soldato
too wet today
had a good opportunity to clean the black trim and do the engine bay today
I've always wanted to do the engine bay, today I thought id do it..
I always try and clean my engine bay before it goes in for a service/MOT
I use this
Lance
And this
Pressure washer
for reference.
I don't think its the kit so much as me not knowing how to use it I suspect.
Lance
And this
Pressure washer
for reference.
I don't think its the kit so much as me not knowing how to use it I suspect.
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I mean that looks like a great little pressure washer you have. I would still switch to a 1.1 orifice as that unit has the same stats as my k4 basically, and I noticed a difference on mine when I changed it over. I would definatly try to work out your panel impact ratio as a rough estimate I generally use 155ml product to 500ml warm water and I get good foam that works well but I usually use a citrus prewash first them layer the snow foam onto that.I use this
Lance
And this
Pressure washer
for reference.
I don't think its the kit so much as me not knowing how to use it I suspect.
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Soldato
My detailer mate said you get better results with no prewash / a dry car.
Snow foam is a pre wash - little sense using a pre wash and then adding snow foam on top IMO. The main cleaning is done with the wash mitt
You should use snow foam on a dry car though, as any water on the car will dilute the product.
Soldato
Have you tried just the citrus pre wash? I never found the autoglym foam to be that great.
Whatever the case though, if it works for you, that’s the important thing
Soldato
properly salty and winter covered car and bilt hamber touch-less snowfoam got rid of probably 90% of the muck of it! very impressed. That's the only pre-wash I use these days. I often see people pressure wash their cars first before applying snow foam, do not do that.. it reduced the effectiveness of the foam becausei runs off/thins out when on the paintwork.
Soldato
Touch less is very good indeed
I recommend using a pressure sprayer instead of a snow foam lance too - it's just as good and lasts significantly longer
Soldato
Snow foams are interesting in regards to how people perceive them. There's been an obsession with creating thick, heavy foam, but Bilt Hamber foams at 4% PIR is a very much wet foam and they're considered the better cleaning foams on the market.
I also think pH neutral phones like Polar Blast are pointless. They're contactless pre-washes and need strength to clean without the agitation. Typically, people using pH neutral are doing so because they have a LSP that will breakdown with base or acidic chemicals and they wish to preserve the LSP.
I don't understand this viewpoint though. You apply a LSP to protect the paint, but then risk increasing risk of leaving contamination on the car by using poor pre-washes, contamination that'll be there for the contact wash.
Might as well apply a sealant that has decent chemical resistance.
I also think pH neutral phones like Polar Blast are pointless. They're contactless pre-washes and need strength to clean without the agitation. Typically, people using pH neutral are doing so because they have a LSP that will breakdown with base or acidic chemicals and they wish to preserve the LSP.
I don't understand this viewpoint though. You apply a LSP to protect the paint, but then risk increasing risk of leaving contamination on the car by using poor pre-washes, contamination that'll be there for the contact wash.
Might as well apply a sealant that has decent chemical resistance.
Man of Honour
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And the mini got covered in rubbish this morning. Think we had some dusty rain too, combined with hideous roads that haven’t seen rain for a bit. Glad I sealed it last week.
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