Who loves suds??

TH3M B0N3Z

TH3M B0N3Z

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I watch lots of detailing videos just because I think I want to live vicariously through those videos. Anyway, I've noticed some detailers think suds aren't needed when washing your car. They say that lubricity is key, suds aren't important. While I agree the lubricity is great, I love seeing thick, rich suds in my wash bucket and I love seeing the suds roll off the paint. If I have anything less than that, I feel like I'm washing my car with a water-soaked mitt. Just doesn't look or feel right.
 
I DO! :laughing:

I'LL AGREE. lubricity is very important, but i want suds! i use the gilmour foam gun. i finished up a bottle of prima hydro wash. it was good on both accounts. back to megs hyper wash. great wash! suds last thru the whole wash and lubricity is great.
 
I agree. Gotta have the suds. I'm the same way with the mitt. If I try a wash that doesn't sud up.....it's gone! Lol. As far as OTC wash that suds good, I use the Blue Corral wash or the Meg's Ultimate Wash and Wax. Both sud very well. Especially the BC. It's by far my favorite.
 
pro 4x said:
I DO! :laughing:

I'LL AGREE. lubricity is very important, but i want suds! i use the gilmour foam gun. i finished up a bottle of prima hydro wash. it was good on both accounts. back to megs hyper wash. great wash! suds last thru the whole wash and lubricity is great.
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I use CG Maxi Suds II in my foam gun and wash bucket. Nice maintenance soap, medium suds according to CG, but I get pretty thick foam going on and I use one ounce in the foam gun and 2 ounces for the wash bucket, one ounce for the wheel bucket, so I use a total of 4 ounces per wash. I buy the gallon, though. Lasts a while. I'm thinking about checking out their Honeydew soap. Supposedly that's their highest sudsing soap.
 
pro 4x said:
I DO! :laughing:

I'LL AGREE. lubricity is very important, but i want suds! i use the gilmour foam gun. i finished up a bottle of prima hydro wash. it was good on both accounts. back to megs hyper wash. great wash! suds last thru the whole wash and lubricity is great.
Click to expand...

I agree on Meg's Hyper Wash
 
the honeydew is good. never tried cg mr. pink yet. i also thought DP XTREEM FOAM was very good.

the megs hyper wash is gallon size also. good price for a good soap.
 
I do and if they're not a good idea then foam guns and foam canons are simply just hype..:props:
 
Suds are great. I think we all like to see a soap that "holds up" throughout the wash. If the suds are there in the beginning and go flat as you wash, it kinda of makes you feel that the soap is fizzling out.

I'm not a physicist or a scientist, but I do remember how soap works. Soap molecules have hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts to them. The hydrophobic part attracts the dirt (grease / oil), the hydrophilic part enables the dirt to be carried away through micelles (clusters) of soap molecules in the water.

Since suds are multiple bubbles, and bubbles are soap molecules with a water layer between, it stands to reason that if the "suds"(or bubbles) drop off, that most of the soap molecules are "used up" suspending dirt and it's time to change your wash mixture. But during a wash, who wants to do that?

So, seeing strong suds at the beginning and at the end of a wash, seems to signify (to me at least) that the soap is still performing well.

Hopefully I got that right. Anyone who knows more please correct me.
 
If it cleans the paint safely without harming the protected surface, then I'm a fan of whatever form its in.

We have been taught to equate the amount of suds to the degree of cleaning power. Manufactures develop chemicals that continue to produce suds throughout the entire wash cycle because they did such a great job of teaching us to think suds meant cleaning action.

Suds indicate the presence of a surfactant in the water. There's the key (anybody say ONR?)

Yes, suds are cool and they make us all feel better...and isn't that what's its all about when we wash our cars?
 
^ Good point. Rinseless washes don't sud but still do a great job.
 
I love my Honeydew out of my foam cannon, tons of suds

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Just my take on Suds-ing/Foam-ing:

Pros:
-Nice to look at...maybe FUN to play with;
-Provides a padding...something to: "cushion the blow" between
the wash-mitt (media?) and vehicles' panel surfaces;
-Acts as a vehicle-soils' "encapsulator"

Cons:
-Doesn't clean like surfactants will (probably no cleaning abilities at all!)
-Hard to completely rinse off vehicles at times: Filmy residue.

Also:
-I remember the Ivory Snow Flakes and 20 Mule Team Borax "soap" days all too well...
-Suds, back then, were judged to be a sign of cleaning.
-Seems difficult for today's marketers to not advertise the same: Suds=Clean-Philosophy.

-But there are different "cleaning-soaps" nowadays: Synthetic Detergents.
-Chemists can formulate their suds-level according to the car-care manufacturers' requests.
-Chemists can even formulate these detergents for "specialized-soils" removal


Often, if I want more suds from my car-washing liquid/shampoo/detergent:
-I'll just throw a couple of teaspoons of a sodium salt (table salt will work) into
my jug of car-washing liquid and let it dissolve before use:
Voila!!...I'll be able to have: Suds/Foam up the ying-yang.


:)

Bob
 
Its all for aesthetic purposes, it barely serves any purpose. In my opinion its just there to give you a false sense of security that your car is getting cleaned by the "suds".
 
Theo_Auto_Fines said:
Its all for aesthetic purposes, it barely serves any purpose. In my opinion its just there to give you a false sense of security that your car is getting cleaned by the "suds".
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Agreed. I have heard comments on how ONR doesn't really have any suds, so therefore it must not be safe.

Smell is a big factor to me. I have yet to use a soap that smells better than Meguiar's NXT (no longer made :( ), but I did just order CG Mr. Pink.
 
I think the difference is, ONR cleans by encapsulating dirt (suspending it) in polymers. Rinseless washes tend to be polymer based and have little to no soapy surfactants - so, little to no suds. As polymers are not know for forming bubbles in a solution like soap or detergents. Just shake your spray sealant.

Conventional car wash uses soap/detergent as its cleaner, it may have some polymers, but its "polymer light". They are surfactant based cleaners. One characteristic of a "soap" is its ability to encapsulate air between a thin film of soap mixed with water, to form a bubble. Bubbles together are suds or foam.

If you start washing with a conventional car wash with a ton of suds, the detergent/soap micelles can get "used up" attaching themselves to dirt. Therefore, there is less "soap" to make bubbles and the suds die. So, the diminishing of suds can be a sign a conventional wash is spent.

But , to say ONR makes no suds, so a conventional wash doesn't need them is comparing two different types of cleaning technology. You may not need a ton of suds with conventional soap, but suds are a by product of the surfactants in those products. If the suds disappear (and can't be brought back), its likely time to change your wash solution to be safe. IMO some car wash soaps are better than others, as the amount and type of surfactant can vary and cause differences in performance.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
When did that happen and why?
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I got this response from Michael Stoops over on MOL

"Sorry to say, NXT Car Wash is no more. It was one of those things that retailers just couldn't justify stocking any longer, given the much higher sales of Gold Class and the intro of Ultimate Wash & Wax. Honestly, even before UW&W the NXT had extremely limited distribution. Too much competition in the marketplace - simple as that."
 
It seems like its still available in the UK if anyone "gotta have it"

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