# Snow foam a wet or dry car????



## malcky (Feb 20, 2016)

Hi peeps,

Just wondering if people power rinse their car before snow foaming?

It occurred to me that as I've always rinsed the car first then snow foamed it, I wonder now if I should have left it dry so the foam has more time to work instead of run off the car sooner because it's wet???

Thoughts!

Do different foams work better on a wet or dry car?


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## kenny wilson (Oct 28, 2008)

Have always applied it to a dry car, thinking it may adhere longer and have more time to soften any surface grime ready to be washed off. Would think on an already wet car, it would just run off.


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Mixed thoughts.

PW first gets some crud off before you put any chemicals on the car.

Flip side is foam will obviously tend to run off wet paintwork more quickly.

During winter I tend to use a pre wash via pump sprayer, PW off then apply foam etc.

Just have a play... maybe do one side of the car dry and one wet and see what works best for you


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## leehob (Jul 9, 2014)

I always pw the car before foam, just think that removing some of the gunk first reinforces the pre wash stage, foam clings for a good 5-10 mins so still does its job, in fact today got loads off first just with the pw but some of it needed the foam to soak in before it came off, the cleaner the better before the Mitt makes contact in my opinion :thumb:


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## Pittsy (Jun 14, 2014)

Always dry for me, it looks like the foam doesn't stick as well to a wet car.... No scientific proof on this just my perception:thumb:


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

I always PW first to get the worst crud off the car then foam and let it dwell for 5 minutes to attack what's left, oh and that is done after I've applied the citrus pre wash via pump sprayer.


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## pee (Apr 6, 2009)

I always go in dry


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## malcky (Feb 20, 2016)

Soul boy 68 said:


> I always PW first to get the worst crud off the car then foam and let it dwell for 5 minutes to attack what's left, oh and that is done after I've applied the citrus pre wash via pump sprayer.
> 
> View attachment 45837


Do you citrus pre wash the whole car or just the lower area?


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## malcky (Feb 20, 2016)

Seems there is no right or wrong answer here, but think I will do an unscientific test next wash by power rinsing one side of the car only and then foam the whole car to see if I can spot any difference in cleaning ability of the Bilt hamber auto foam. 

Will update on this little test too.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

malcky said:


> Do you citrus pre wash the whole car or just the lower area?


Just the lower panels fella, they take the most abuse.


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

Always dry

Idea of it is to lubricate the dirt so it doesn't scratch, on a wet car you'll already have blasted the crap across the paint


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## giggs (May 20, 2011)

Was first for wet. Now I'm for dry. If car is dry it just seems like the solution would have more effect on dirt. If the snow foam hits the wet dirt it just dilutes even more i think.
I also think I use less water if I go with the dry option.

BTW:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=223720
http://www.detailingworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345687
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/cleaning/67239-do-you-rinse-before-snow-foam.html


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## RealR0cknr0lla (Jan 17, 2016)

You can do it both ways - if doing it dry then about 25mm of product in the lance bottle then fill up with warm water. If the car is really filthy & full of crud do a pre rinse first.

With the car wet i always add a little more product roughly 30-35mm fill up with warm water then adjust the mixing tap at the top of the lance to get a thicker foam going onto the car the thicker foam will dwell on the car longer that way .


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

I always do on dry car..Somehow it seems to me that is the better way.


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## Juke_Fan (Jul 12, 2014)

Wet, alway use a TFR first then PW off and let the car drip dry whilst I get the lance filled and set up (always give it a blast through before I use it).

Ultramousse stays on 10+ minutes even on a wet car.


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## adjones (Apr 24, 2013)

Kimo said:


> Always dry
> 
> Idea of it is to lubricate the dirt so it doesn't scratch, on a wet car you'll already have blasted the crap across the paint


No no. The whole point of all of these products is to wet the soiling. That is the absolute fundamental behind water based cleaning. By applying to a dry surface, you are giving more work for the product to do.

The dwell time is important but you can have long dwell time and limited wetting. The point of the dwell time is to increase wetting. It just doesn't make sense to do something which inhibits wetting in order to improve wetting later.


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## EVO6RSS (Sep 11, 2015)

adjones said:


> No no. The whole point of all of these products is to wet the soiling. That is the absolute fundamental behind water based cleaning. By applying to a dry surface, you are giving more work for the product to do.
> 
> The dwell time is important but you can have long dwell time and limited wetting. The point of the dwell time is to increase wetting. It just doesn't make sense to do something which inhibits wetting in order to improve wetting later.


Agree with the above. That's why citrus power instructions say apply to a dry car. I apply citrus power via a pump spray and then leave to dwell for a couple of mins. Then I snow foam over the top with a thick foam mix and leave to dwell. The idea being that this stops the citrus power drying out and increases the dwell time again. Then I bang the dilution right up on the lance to get a very low foaming mix and kinda use this as pre rinse, to again give a longer dwell time and allow the crud to come off.

It's very effective because you can see proper dirty puddles coming off in the foam.

My car is black, so you can really see a perceivable difference on the panels afterwards and means much less soiling of the mitt on the wash stage.

EVO6RSS..


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Dry here also as the foam dwells longer. Never found it to make a difference on a pre-rinsed or dry car for cleaning power anyway.


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