Car wash soaps will not make suds

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AllenK

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My wife had a minor fender bender in her 2009 Pontiac G8. We got it back from the body shop at the end of August. I went back to bucket washing instead of using a rinseless. I didn't want to take any chance of putting any wax or anything on the fresh paint even in a small amount.

I had been using Meguiars Gold Class which I received for Christmas in a gift set. I placed an order from another company recently,and I asked for a free random car wash sample. I also purchased another random sample.

The first sample was Chemical Guys Honeydew snow foam. It was a 2 oz sample,and I used about half of it to a 5 gallon bucket. It foamed very nicely both times I used it. The Gold Class sudsed up very well also.

The other sample was from Gyeon. The sample leaked a little so I could not read the full name of the product. I assumed it might be Bathe. I washed with the Gyeon after I used up the Honeydew foam,and it would hardly make any suds at all. I wound up pouring the whole sample in the bucket trying to make suds,but it wouldn't make many at all. I got disgusted and poured out the Gyeon.

I got out the Gold Class wash again,and the same thing happened. Normally with the Gold Class there would be suds foaming out the top of the bucket before you finished spraying. No dice though.

I washed the car again this week with the Gold Class and got the same results. I just let the bottle glug over in the bucket,but I still got very little suds even at that.

What is going on? This obviously has to be some sort of water supply issue. Something has changed in the last few weeks. Any ideas? I haven't noticed any issues with our shower,dishwasher,or washing machine water.

I have a few more weeks to go before the 90 day no wax period is up. I will be going back to rinseless,but I'm still curious about this issue.
 
I use 5-gallon buckets for my hand washes. I've noticed that sometimes with both Megs Gold Class and Megs Ultimate Wash & Wax that I get very little suds. Plenty of suds in the bucket, but not on the mitt when it hits the car. I don't measure my soap carefully, but I do notice that when I use too much soap I get tons of suds on the mitt and car, but when I don't put in too much I get very little on the mitt and car. Try carefully measuring the recommended amount and see it if does it again.
 
It can be that you got gyeon bathe + and that has sio2 in it. This soap doesnt suds as normal car soap but you get the lubrication to wash safely anyways. Test a other bucket to determind that the sio2 doesnt play a trick on you in the old bucket. Does it not suds for you even in a different bucket with your megs gold class then something has happens to your water. And don't have your mitt in the the new bucket when you test it just bucket and water and soap. Test it and see what happens.
 
i've added ONR to a rinse bucket (don't do it anymore) when doing a traditional wash and noticed when dipping into the wash bucket (which has a lot of suds) the suds are dead when washing the panel. i wonder if your wash mitt and/or bucket has the rinseless wash residue left in it which is causing this...
 
•Some car-wash shampoos are sudsy
(foamy); some not so much.

•Chemists have the ability to manipulate
car-care products’ characteristics in a
sundry of fashion—usually in the fashion
that the companies/bosses, that they work
for, have so requested. {With “invaluable”
input from the marketers, no doubt!}

•Does foam/suds perform any actual clean-
ing duties? Or, is it just to their visual cues
that we have become so accustomed?



Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
•Some car-wash shampoos are sudsy
(foamy); some not so much.
Click to expand...

Yea but how does this explain his recent experience with Meguiars Gold Class?

VISITOR said:
i've added ONR to a rinse bucket (don't do it anymore) when doing a traditional wash and noticed when dipping into the wash bucket (which has a lot of suds) the suds are dead when washing the panel. i wonder if your wash mitt and/or bucket has the rinseless wash residue left in it which is causing this...
Click to expand...

I think this makes the most sense.
 
Sounds like you need some Foam Booster.:awesome:
 
Suds and bubbles look nice, but that does not equate to a good soap or one that cleans well.
 
VISITOR said:
i've added ONR to a rinse bucket (don't do it anymore) when doing a traditional wash and noticed when dipping into the wash bucket (which has a lot of suds) the suds are dead when washing the panel. i wonder if your wash mitt and/or bucket has the rinseless wash residue left in it which is causing this...
Click to expand...

I always add a little ONR for every bucket wash, and it does knock down the suds quite a bit. Zero effect on the cleaning power though, IMO.

But I'm addicted to this method now because of the water-softening effect the ONR has.

I'll trade a few suds for not having to chase water spots any day.
 
PaulMys said:
I always add a little ONR for every bucket wash, and it does knock down the suds quite a bit. Zero effect on the cleaning power though, IMO.

But I'm addicted to this method now because of the water-softening effect the ONR has.

I'll trade a few suds for not having to chase water spots any day.
Click to expand...

these days i only really use one bucket which is the rinse bucket because i use the foam gun. if i notice the mitt is really dirty, i'll blast it with the hose nozzle and rub it against the grit guard in the rinse bucket and continue on...
 
VISITOR said:
these days i only really use one bucket which is the rinse bucket because i use the foam gun. if i notice the mitt is really dirty, i'll blast it with the hose nozzle and rub it against the grit guard in the rinse bucket and continue on...
Click to expand...

Allen and his fancy foam gun! Lol
 
PaulMys said:
Allen and his fancy foam gun! Lol
Click to expand...

lol. btw, how are the wife and fur babies doing?

btw, i can't help to think of you when you put microfiber towels and dogs together LOL. hopefully, you don't leave them laying around otherwise they become a chew toy... ;D
sock_water_bottle-612x407.jpg
 
Lol

Doing great! And no, none of my good MF's are anywhere near those "weapons of mass destruction" :P
 
Despite a rainy forecast for the week,I washed my wife's car again this week using Meg's Gold Class. I got the same results. I used a different bucket this time,and still got very little suds.

I always use a new or clean wash mitt. I used a brand new mitt for the last two washings,but the problem was happening with not new but clean mitts as well.

One thing that happened this time really stood as being odd. After I got done washing I noticed the hand I use to hold the mitt had a chalky appearance,and felt dry. Never had that issue before. Something is definitely going on with our water chemistry.

My wife's car went in the body shop on August 16th,and we picked it up on the 28th. The next time I wash it will be close enough to 90 days that I'm going back to using rinseless (DG,SC,McKees,Uber) washes. Paint should be cured now.
 
Do you have your own water source or from a bigger source? Can be that they switched to a new filtration and it's more lime in it. Or they hit the lake with lime were you get your water from. That can get your water to be hard water.

If you are worried get a water sample to get tested. If you have a painted metal or glass laying around. Test to spray with water and let it dry and see how the waterspots gets. If it is that different than before.
 
I use the Klasse twins on my truck and find the same issue when I use Adams, Optimum and another brand that I cant recall right now. BUT on my wife's car I don't have any problem with suds in the bucket or on the car using the same mitt and brush so I would disagree that it's residue left over on the mitt. The big difference between the two vehicles is the wife's car has little to no protection on it. Probably not much clear coat left on it either after 15 years.
 
Our local source of water is from a nearby river. The town regularly wins "best drinking water" or something like that for the state every year.

I failed to mention one other big issue. I took the driver's side WeatherTech liner out and washed it with the same soap. I always set it upright or flip it over to let it air dry. This time the liner turned chalky white after drying! I thought it was screwed,and I was going to be mad. I have the protection products from WeatherTech that I bought a while back,but I haven't felt the liners were bad enough to use them yet. Caught them on sale. I grabbed some CarPro Perl and got after them with it in the interest of time. I was loosing daylight,and I wanted something done quickly. The Perl took the chalkiness away,but boy I was sweating there for a bit.
 
Maybe a longshot but buy a new car soap and test in a bucket that you don't have had the gold class in. If that is a bad batch and the bathe + did do something before as that is low suds and sio2. The chalky residue is a strange thing.

You have a problem with something you just have to figure out what is causes it. And that you find out from test different ways to get it narrowed to what it can be.
 
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