Talked about this before but anyone able to advise me where I may be able to obtain the type off car cleaning liquid the likes off those hot foam car wash places use ?? to be honest I think that for a quick winter clean the type off stuff the places use it is unbeatable, its simply a quick rinse, cover with foam and rinse off again and car is back to a presentable state again !!

try this with my regular pressure washer / snow foam and without actually working in the foam the car is not clean enough for a finished result.

so okay anyone any idea just what is the very stuff I am looking for and if it is available via ebay etc ??

 

Its mainly because your Preasure washer is cold water where as theres is 60 degrees or so - my car can be black and if I rinse it with 50 degrees water only its like 90% clean but the unit is works and not mine

Remember the TFR them places use is harsh as hell and will no doubt strip off your wax etc

 

Okay thanks again for the info, Traffic film remover - thats the stuff, plenty for sale on ebay but advice noted regards it being very harsh, may just do for the occasional quick blast !!

 

You'll find alot of these places use products with a very High PH level which in turn will strip any protection off your paint.

If i were you, i'd get the paint well protected with a sealant/wax and then just leave it dirty or wash it when you have a decent amount of time to give it a wash.

Or you could buy your own foam gun, they really come in handy during the winter months when you cant be bothered to spend an hour and a half washing your car in the freezing cold!

 

Clark - what do you recommend in terms of a foam gun. I need to buy one when I get home this week

Russell

 

Come in past and I will advise you sir!

What pressure washer have you got?

 

Actually Clark - it pretty much fecked so any advice you want to give in that respect is appreciated.

Russell

 

I've got a Karcher Pressure Washer... no idea which one, its a 'stand up straight' model, I bought it about 4 or 5 years ago and its still going strong. I'd also like to know what sort of cost there is for a decent foam setup, can I use the original lance?? What product to use?? Is it worth it??


Cheers,
Grant

 

Yes, it's highly worthwhile, as even with a cold water system, foaming will really help to loosen and remove a high percentage of the traffic film. Also, if you use a nice gentle foaming agent like Meguiars Hyper Wash, you won't strip your protection... and this in turn will prevent the film from becoming welded in place. For Karchers, we recommend these lances...

HD Foam Lance - Polished Bliss Car Care and Detailing Products

and here is the Hyper Wash...

Meguiars Hyper Wash - Meguiars Car Care and Detailing Products

To help those trying to decide whether foam is worthwhile, here is a little extract from a new FAQ section I am writing for our site...

---

I tend to only wash my car once a month, and in between washes it generally acquires a lot of dirt and grime. What can I do to make the wash process easier and safer?

Once a car has acquired a significant film of dirt and grime, there is a much greater risk of inflicting sub-surface paint defects during the wash process. This is due to the greater number of contaminants present that may inadvertently be moved around over underlying surfaces as they are removed, and the tendency to scrub the paint more to get it clean. At the simplest level, the first thing you can do to minimise this risk is to rinse off as much dirt and grime as possible using a hose or a pressure washer before washing the bodywork by hand. Ten to fifteen minutes spent carefully rinsing off in this way is time well spent, but may not always yield much improvement, particularly if two to three weeks worth of dirt and grime is present and has gone through numerous wetting and drying cycles. In such cases, the use of a pre-wash foaming solution can help tremendously.

The idea behind applying a shampoo-based product to the car in the form of thick clinging foam before washing is simple, and the benefits are obvious. If you apply a generous coating of suds to dirty surfaces and allow them to cling in situ for five minutes or more, the emulsifiers and surfactants present have more time to work and therefore dissolve and suspend a lot more dirt and grime. Once the foam is then rinsed off, much of the dirt and grime is simply removed with it, leaving relatively clean surfaces behind ready for a two bucket wash by hand. Clearly, the major benefit here is that the bulk of grime removal is done before a wash mitt is placed on the car, which greatly reduces the chances of inflicting sub-surface paint defects during the subsequent hand washing process.

A further way in which you can make the subsequent hand washing process much safer is to reapply a thick layer of foam to each panel ahead of wiping it clean with a lambswool wash mitt, as this ensures maximum lubrication as the mitt glides over underlying surfaces. This is a method we have introduced to our own wash routines, and we believe it significantly helps to minimise the risk of inflicting defects, particularly during the winter months when heavy accumulations of dirt and grime are unavoidable.

I want to start using foam to remove a lot of dirt and grime before I hand wash my car, but can I use my normal shampoo for both tasks, or will I need to buy a special foaming product?

Normal car shampoos can be used to produce foam with a reasonable degree of success, providing that the correct mix ratio is maintained (normally around 128:1 in terms of water to shampoo ). However, this can result in a lot of expensive shampoo being used up quite quickly, so numerous manufacturers also offer specialised pre-wash foaming solutions (often referred to as snow foams) with much higher dilution ratios. In our opinion, the best of these products is Meguiars Hyper Wash, as it produces thick clinging foam at an unbelievable dilution ratio of 400:1 (water to shampoo). A further key benefit when using Meguiars Hyper Wash is that it will not strip wax or sealant protection, unlike some other snow foam style products currently on the market.

I want to start using foam to remove a lot of dirt and grime before I hand wash my car, but I can’t decide whether to buy a foam gun for use with my hose, or a foam lance for use with my pressure washer. Is there a big difference in performance between the two?

In our experience, there is a significant performance difference between foam guns that attach to hoses and foam lances that attach to pressure washers. Foam production relies on air being drawn into a foaming solution as it passes through an injector head into the main stream of water running through either a foam gun or a foam lance. The higher the pressure of the main stream of water, the greater the rate of air intake, and the thicker the resulting foam will be. Accordingly, foam guns that attach to hoses, like the Gilmour Foamaster II Foam Gun, generate relatively thin bubbly foam with limited clinging power, while foam lances that attach to pressure washers, like the HD Foam Lance, generate much thicker foam that clings strongly, allowing more time for the emulsifiers and surfactants present to dissolve and suspend dirt and grime. Consequently, foam lances tend to offer a lot more cleaning power than foam guns, and our recommendation is that a foam lance is chosen over a foam gun whenever possible. In cases where a pressure washer cannot be used for any reason, a foam gun is worth having, as it will remove far more dirt and grime that water alone, and can also be used during the hand-washing process to lubricate the bodywork more thoroughly, as described previously. In all cases, using warm water will result in thicker and more effective foam with greater cleaning power, to the extent that when using a warm water pressure washer, touchless washing becomes a distinct possibility at all times of the year.

 

For sensible money, a little domestic Karcher cold water unit (£100-£150) is a safe bet, but if you want a meatier longer-term investment, then a Karcher hot water commercial unit would be the ultimate solution (£1000+). If using it for work or on a fleet of vehicles, then the latter makes sense, but if not the little ones are perfectly fine.

 

Brilliant info, think I'll treat myself... I'll probably be in touch at the end of the month.


Cheers,
Grant