Foam Wash...... Pretty much Useless?

[Coatingsarecrack]

I just got Autoglym Polar Blast after a long wait from an online sale. Weather might just allow me to use it this weekend. I keep finding that it might be comparable to Bilt Hamber via reviews. Since my vehicles aren't seeing much snow these days, I have high expectations.

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Completely different. Polar Blast is PH neutral and BH AutoWash and Touchless are Alklaline. The Alkaline is what gets it clean but the PH neutral is safer for LSP’s. Won’t clean nearly as well.

From what i’ve gathered it’s alot like Griots Surface wash. Works well for PH neutral but will just soften up the grime, won’t remove it.


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[Coatingsarecrack]

Jon goes on about how Bilt-Hamber is generally the most economical product in a given class

I guess that's relative because EVERYTHING in the UK seems outrageous to me, especially with all the VAT, etc

I was just looking at the USA site and man, they are proud of that stuff

I know it is economical in the sense that a little goes a long way but still pretty pricey in my world

Plus shipping to me is a deal breaker

Oh well...

Carry on

Maybe cheaper to order from UK? Try Ultimate Finish UK.


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[Coatingsarecrack]

I just got Autoglym Polar Blast after a long wait from an online sale. Weather might just allow me to use it this weekend. I keep finding that it might be comparable to Bilt Hamber via reviews. Since my vehicles aren't seeing much snow these days, I have high expectations.

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Jon from Forensic Detailing reviewed that one and I know he liked it but when he reviewed the Bilt-Hamber pre-washes he gets this little twinkle in his eyes! FWIW I can't say enough about these 2 products and can't wait for spring to use them on a weekly basis

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Edit: this sentence was inserted in Klasse’s text but it was my posted response

I do believe in one of his video’s for BH i did see the dreaded “paid promotion” tag

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[Klasse Act]

Completely different. Polar Blast is PH neutral and BH AutoWash and Touchless are Alklaline. The Alkaline is what gets it clean but the PH neutral is safer for LSP’s. Won’t clean nearly as well.

From what i’ve gathered it’s alot like Griots Surface wash. Works well for PH neutral but will just soften up the grime, won’t remove it.


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Well said

Griots Garage Surface Prep is a great "tweener" without a doubt, especially if your someone who doesn't have time to top your LSP all the time or car isn't coated because as Crack said the Bilt-Hamber pre-washes are pretty strong but DO WORK, the proof will be in puddles all around your car

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[Azure]

I think it's really an un-needed step in the wash process. Here's the way I use snow foam...

• 
  If my car is a couple days dusty and the weather is great, I use Adam's Car Shampoo because my experience is when it dries, it re-activates with water and does not leave spots. I'll mix about 200ml or so with another 400ml of warm water to get it to mix together better with the water. I'll foam the car heavily, then use a wet microfiber wash mitt and lightly wash the car. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

• If the car is just your typical "dirty", I only pre-rinse the car before bucket washing. Only change to that is if I have to do this in direct sunlight, then I'll foam it with Adam's (~150ml and 700ml water) after the pre-rinse and leave it on the car while I bucket wash. This has helped me keep away the water spots. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

• If the car is full-on dirty or winter months dirty and not too cold (above 50°F), I'll pre-rinse and follow with an Adam's foam (~150ml and 700ml water) and leave it on while I bucket wash. My thinking is that leaving it on helps with water spots like the above method, but also loosens and softens the dirt. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

I used GFS, but I have never let it dry to know if it re-activates well with water or leaves spots. The P&S Pearl I used totally left spots when it dried and I don't think it rinsed off that well.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

I think it's really an un-needed step in the wash process. Here's the way I use snow foam...

• If the car is full-on dirty or winter months dirty and not too cold (above 50°F), I'll pre-rinse and follow with an Adam's foam (~150ml and 700ml water) and leave it on while I bucket wash. My thinking is that leaving it on helps with water spots like the above method, but also loosens and softens the dirt. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

I used GFS, but I have never let it dry to know if it re-activates well with water or leaves spots. The P&S Pearl I used totally left spots when it dried and I don't think it rinsed off that well.

Sounds needed to me…….


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[Klasse Act]

I think it's really an un-needed step in the wash process. Here's the way I use snow foam...

• 
  If my car is a couple days dusty and the weather is great, I use Adam's Car Shampoo because my experience is when it dries, it re-activates with water and does not leave spots. I'll mix about 200ml or so with another 400ml of warm water to get it to mix together better with the water. I'll foam the car heavily, then use a wet microfiber wash mitt and lightly wash the car. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

• If the car is just your typical "dirty", I only pre-rinse the car before bucket washing. Only change to that is if I have to do this in direct sunlight, then I'll foam it with Adam's (~150ml and 700ml water) after the pre-rinse and leave it on the car while I bucket wash. This has helped me keep away the water spots. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

• If the car is full-on dirty or winter months dirty and not too cold (above 50°F), I'll pre-rinse and follow with an Adam's foam (~150ml and 700ml water) and leave it on while I bucket wash. My thinking is that leaving it on helps with water spots like the above method, but also loosens and softens the dirt. DI water rinse, dry w/drying aid and done.

I used GFS, but I have never let it dry to know if it re-activates well with water or leaves spots. The P&S Pearl I used totally left spots when it dried and I don't think it rinsed off that well.

If this works for you, great but I'm willing to bet that dirt is STILL in the paint after a pre-rinse of a dirty car. Now sure a dusty car, pre-foam and rinse is OK but only with a good pre-wash product. I've changed my tune greatly using Bilt-Hamber and Koch Chem products over the winter here. I plan to adjust my ratios come spring with them BUT will always pre-wash and seperate carwash on a "dirty" car, this is very much a NEEDED step and ensures a clean car and isn't that what we all want

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[UncleDavy]

It may be possible to perform a completely touchless wash with a foam cannon and a dryer if your vehicle has only light dust on it. For me, I use my foam cannon and power washer because FOAM IS FUN! I love experimenting with different soaps and mixing ratios with foam boosters to see how thick the foam can get. If the vehicle is really dirty, you really need to agitate the surface somehow with a wash mitt or a boars hair brush.

 

[Bill D]

Yep, stuff like enough road film is going to require mitts and agitation.

 

[opie2]

I've changed my tune greatly using Bilt-Hamber and Koch Chem products over the winter here.

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Whats the ph tolerance for the coating you have on your car? Even though you constantly have your car topped...something like bilt hambers auot foam has a ph level of roughly 13(says their website).

So i dont see how it wouldnt not strip your topper and then start to affect the coatings lifespan, if per say your coatings ph tolerance is maybe at an 11.
I wouldnt be worried if it was used a time or two, but if used constantly over the winter months i dont see how it wouldnt affect it
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[joebruin77]

I do believe in the value of "pre-treating" the car before proceeding with a contact wash, but instead of a foaming soap, I pretreat using either ONR (sprayed on using a garden sprayer) or, if the paint is very dirty, with Optimum Power Clean. How do you all think pretreating with a foaming car soap compares to pretreating with ONR or Power Clean? If ONR is designed to encapsulate dirt, I figure it would work well as a pretreatment, even before a traditional contact wash.

 

[chilly]

I do believe in the value of "pre-treating" the car before proceeding with a contact wash, but instead of a foaming soap, I pretreat using either ONR (sprayed on using a garden sprayer) or, if the paint is very dirty, with Optimum Power Clean. How do you all think pretreating with a foaming car soap compares to pretreating with ONR or Power Clean? If ONR is designed to encapsulate dirt, I figure it would work well as a pretreatment, even before a traditional contact wash.

I have tried pre-treating with ONR prior to a regular wash and I think it does have benefit

If you trust ONR to pre-treat prior to a full on rinse-less wash then why not use it before using a traditional bucket wash

A few months back I put a capful of ONR in with my normal foam soap and it almost completely killed the foam

Needless to say I was not impressed and didn't even bother to determine how well or how poorly it worked

I just blasted it off and cleaned out my cannon and used fresh mix to foam it and proceed with my wash

I REALLY should have stopped and thought and assessed what happened, that was not very good detailing procedure

My truck is covered in red dirt and rain spots so I am going to try adding it to my foam again and see what happens

I know this isn't what you were talking about but your post jogged the memory of that little experiment and the two are kind of related

I think I will do it dry as well

I will report back

 

[chilly]

Ok, first off: I gave up my second cup of coffee this morning for science and stuffs so you guys owe me…

On to the experiment

My nemesis, Hawaiian red volcanic dirt

The players

I left my adjustments as they normally are for straight foam premix and had at it on a dry truck

The foam was thinner and runnier than normal and by the time I got around the truck my starting point was almost bare

I figured it was another waste of time, water, and product but I went ahead and let it dwell while I watched for drying and streaking

After about 5 minutes I hit it with the pressure washer and checked the results

I have to say it took off all the surface dirt with just a rinse

These are the same two spots

Normally a rinse, foam, and rinse won’t get the red dirt off that textured tread on the bumper

I used my Sesame Street mitt on the wheels

I tossed this in the Target cart a while back to get to free shipping and I figured it was a gimmick but I have grown to like it

I finished my multi mitt wash and since the wind hadn’t picked up yet I dried outside with HS WW

If this had been my first try with WW it would have gone in the trash

It was awful

It was the worst streaking mess ever and was just as bad as the results on my Lexus

I gave up, rewashed the roof, and broke out the OCW

Perfect

I had been doing a long term test of WW, old blue bottle OCW, and new clear bottle OCW so maybe it was just too many products and a bad reaction

I gave the wheels a wash and rinse and some full strength Megs HCW because it had been a while

The wind picked up so I pulled into the garage to dress the tires but I got a couple shots

Bottom line?

ONR obviously didn’t hurt the CLEANING ability of my foam although it made it look less cool and impressive

I honestly think it got cleaner, especially considering I didn’t pressure wash first

Next time the truck is in the same condition I am going to try just pre-rinsing with QD strength ONR and see how the results compare

Thanks for looking


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[BlackCarBlues]

Ok, first off: I gave up my second cup of coffee this morning for science and stuffs so you guys owe me…

On to the experiment

My nemesis, Hawaiian red volcanic dirt

The players

I left my adjustments as they normally are for straight foam premix and had at it on a dry truck

The foam was thinner and runnier than normal and by the time I got around the truck my starting point was almost bare

I figured it was another waste of time, water, and product but I went ahead and let it dwell while I watched for drying and streaking

After about 5 minutes I hit it with the pressure washer and checked the results

I have to say it took off all the surface dirt with just a rinse

These are the same two spots

Normally a rinse, foam, and rinse won’t get the red dirt off that textured tread on the bumper

I used my Sesame Street mitt on the wheels

I tossed this in the Target cart a while back to get to free shipping and I figured it was a gimmick but I have grown to like it

I finished my multi mitt wash and since the wind hadn’t picked up yet I dried outside with HS WW

If this had been my first try with WW it would have gone in the trash

It was awful

It was the worst streaking mess ever and was just as bad as the results on my Lexus

I gave up, rewashed the roof, and broke out the OCW

Perfect

I had been doing a long term test of WW, old blue bottle OCW, and new clear bottle OCW so maybe it was just too many products and a bad reaction

I gave the wheels a wash and rinse and some full strength Megs HCW because it had been a while

The wind picked up so I pulled into the garage to dress the tires but I got a couple shots

Bottom line?

ONR obviously didn’t hurt the CLEANING ability of my foam although it made it look less cool and impressive

I honestly think it got cleaner, especially considering I didn’t pressure wash first

Next time the truck is in the same condition I am going to try just pre-rinsing with QD strength ONR and see how the results compare

Thanks for looking


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Love the research happening here! Very interested to see the results of presoaking with only the ONR at QD strength. While you’re doing that test would you consider doing a couple panels with RW strength ONR just to see how much you can dilute and still get good results?


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[chilly]

Love the research happening here! Very interested to see the results of presoaking with only the ONR at QD strength. While you’re doing that test would you consider doing a couple panels with RW strength ONR just to see how much you can dilute and still get good results?


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You got it

Stand by

Probably washing truck in the next couple of days


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[Uncbrs]

Reviving this again... what about the 3D Super Pre-Soak vs BH? Anyone here that has tried both or the 3D one? I'm watching some videos online and they mention it's better for those of us in NA vs the UK but since it can be found, wondering what the thought is on the 3D offering vs BH?

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[Klasse Act]

Reviving this again... what about the 3D Super Pre-Soak vs BH? Anyone here that has tried both or the 3D one? I'm watching some videos online and they mention it's better for those of us in NA vs the UK but since it can be found, wondering what the thought is on the 3D offering vs BH?

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I haven't used the 3D product but I have both Auto-foam and Touchless and they've melted weeks of winter muck away and apparently I'm going a little light on my ratio I'm not going post where I bought Bilt-Hamber from but to help someone out drop me a PM for where to get it. I may have to try the 3D though

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[Klasse Act]

OK, I’m old school and wanted to try out the “latest and greatest” thing called foam cannon wash.

Griots foam cannon using Chem Guys Melon also have tried the bubble gum (?) stuff. Honda powered gas pressure washer with plenty of psi, and using general tip for initial hose off and final hose off.

This is about the 3rd or 4th time I’ve used the cannon.

Previously, on my Black 911, it left a sort of film substance, and the car was definitely not “dirty” by any means when I started. Certainly not a clean wash. Had to hand wash after.

Used it today on a 2021 Graphite color Palisade. Wasn’t all that dirty, just general Southern wet road stuff. Not only did I have to use a mitt on the body, but had to go back and hand clean the dirt off all 4 wheels.

What is the point of using the new and improved “no touch” cleaning method if it doesn’t actually clean anything?

OP, curious as to your thoughts after reading through the thread

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[opie2]

Reviving this again... what about the 3D Super Pre-Soak vs BH? Anyone here that has tried both or the 3D one? I'm watching some videos online and they mention it's better for those of us in NA vs the UK but since it can be found, wondering what the thought is on the 3D offering vs BH?

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I have 3d super pre soak and do like it. Its so concentrated, so very little product needed per bucket wash or foam cannon.
It 100 percent will degrade your wax/sealant...i know cuz it happened to me lol.

Cant compare as ive never tried BH...but I may have to try BH this year so i can compare.

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[briarpatch]

I haven't used the 3D product but I have both Auto-foam and Touchless and they've melted weeks of winter muck away and apparently I'm going a little light on my ratio I'm not going post where I bought Bilt-Hamber from but to help someone out drop me a PM for where to get it. I may have to try the 3D though

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Have you noticed any difference between the BH AutoFoam and the Touchless?