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Adding citrus pre wash to snow foam

8K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  planehazza 
#1 ·
Does anyone put a bit of citrus pre wash in with their snow foam mixture to increase cleaning power?

If so, is it worth doing, and how much would. I need to add into my snow foam bottle for it to make a difference, and can you recommend some decent value ones to try?

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#4 ·
You can add APC or TFR or a pre-wash product to snowfoam to give it more "bite", but it does depend on what snow foam you are using and how much water your pressure washer puts through your foam lance.

Bilt Hamber Autofoam and Surfex play well together, as they are related formulations.
 
#6 ·
If you're using it through a snow foam lance the dilution would be so small unless you put it a good chunk. Unless using the all hailed pump sprayer where there's more freedom for dilutions etc.

I prefer a decent snow foam... magifoam is gash!

Piste, awesome foam, avalanche and KKD blizzard are all good! Looooooads better than magifoam!
 
#7 ·
Forgot to mention - Powermaxed TFR mixed 50 / 50 with PowerMaxed Blizzard Snowfoam is a fairly epic combo via a foam lance if you want super thick clinging foam that will properly clean a minging motor.

Guaranteed 11/10 + bonus points if you clean a neighbours / rels never-been-washed shopping trolley with this combo. Gasps of amazement as a sparkly clean car emerges ... LOL
 
#9 ·
Sorry for bumping and old thread, but I figured it better than creating a new one to ask a similar question.

I've noticed the VP PH neutral snow foam not really biting into the winter salt/grime, even on a car that was cleaned and protected only a couple of weeks ago. I don't want to use a TFR/APC, as I don't want to damage/strip off said wax. It doesn't seem to matter if I apply the foam weak or strong, runny or super thick and clingy. When I rinse the car, and watch it start to dry, it's still super filthy.

If I add a small amount of neat Surfex HD in with the snow foam, say (APC:Snow Foam:Water in foam bottle) 1:2:7, or weaker, will I get more 'bite' against the winter crud without affecting the wax?

Citrus pre wash before snow foam is the obvious choice, but well, I don't have any ha. I'd go and get some AF Citrus Power from Halfords, but if it's not that good, I'd rather save my money and time and buy a better citrus prewash from CYC etc.

Thanks!
 
#10 ·
Sorry for bumping and old thread, but I figured it better than creating a new one to ask a similar question.

I've noticed the VP PH neutral snow foam not really biting into the winter salt/grime, even on a car that was cleaned and protected only a couple of weeks ago. I don't want to use a TFR/APC, as I don't want to damage/strip off said wax. It doesn't seem to matter if I apply the foam weak or strong, runny or super thick and clingy. When I rinse the car, and watch it start to dry, it's still super filthy.

If I add a small amount of neat Surfex HD in with the snow foam, say (APC:Snow Foam:Water in foam bottle) 1:2:7, or weaker, will I get more 'bite' against the winter crud without affecting the wax?

Citrus pre wash before snow foam is the obvious choice, but well, I don't have any ha. I'd go and get some AF Citrus Power from Halfords, but if it's not that good, I'd rather save my money and time and buy a better citrus prewash from CYC etc.

Thanks!
Generally speaking the harsher the cleaner, the quicker it will degrade LSP (wax etc). No defeating the laws of chemistry, I'm afraid.

TFR / APC Products touted as "wax safe" might not strip your wax immediately but they will degrade it.

It is a bit of a trade off as you have found, VP ph Neutral is very kind to wax, but not a great cleaner.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hi mate,
Are you talking to me or the OP? Cheers :)

Generally speaking the harsher the cleaner, the quicker it will degrade LSP (wax etc). No defeating the laws of chemistry, I'm afraid.

TFR / APC Products touted as "wax safe" might not strip your wax immediately but they will degrade it.

It is a bit of a trade off as you have found, VP ph Neutral is very kind to wax, but not a great cleaner.
Makes sense. I need to stop thinking in certainties; just touching the paint with a wash mitt will degrade the wax slightly, so I suppose any chemical will degrade it to some extent as you say.

Would you recommend I just snow foam twice perhaps, or do you think I'd benefit more by adding just a small dash of TFR/APC to the snow foam, being careful to not let it linger too long or dry?

Something else I should consider: I use Meg's gold class, and will do until it runs out (I'll go for Adam's or a BH product next). I've read that the MGC can 'clog' up wax. Whilst not a good side effect, will that in itself give a sort of protection to the wax against TFR etc?
 
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#15 ·
Here is your problem- do you know what's in the products?

Several well known products in each category simply do not work together. Simply put, some products have positively charged surfactants, some negative. If you mix them, they react together. Best case scenario, they turn into some useless salt that remains soluble. More likely the result isn't soluble and you can gum up your lance or spray.

If your normal foam doesn't cut it, why not just get a small bottle of something stronger, designed by people who know what they are doing, rather than taking mostly blind guesses? This sort of nonchalance with chemicals is the principle reason for harm occurring in use.
That's me told! I added ~50ml of Surfex HD to about 350ml Snow foam, filling the remaining 600ml with water. It seemed to work quite well against the large amount of salt and winter grime that had accumulated over the last week.

Whilst it may not be chemically or technically the best method, it seemed to do the job well for me, and it's not something I plan on doing often. Ideally, I would attack the car with a diluted citrus cleaner before snow foaming, but I didn't have any. I thought adding a very small amount of APC to the snow foam would aid the bite.
 
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