# Car chem snow foam anyone?



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Bought some bits from Mark Smith and was itching to get out and try some bit but only managed toe snow foam as its cold and SWMBO was giving me evils through the window.

Made a mix up in my bottle with approx half of the snow foam so about 200-250 ml and topped up with about 600 ish water and to be honest I wasn't that impressed.

Now it may well be me as I do like a thick snow foam and so far I've only used magifoam but got CG no touch for try next.

My car itself was practically clean as its only done about 20 miles since last visit where I topped up with Aqua Wax so that mig have affected the dwell time and lack of cling.

I will try again next time with remaining foam but so far it's not one i will be looking to go back to.

So,if anyone has any suggestions with the car chem to persuade me otherwise I'm all ears

So far

Autobrite Magifoam - yes I'd re buy
Car chem snow foam - no
AS ActiMousse XLS - no
CG no touch - not used it yet 


Now before anybody says it doesn't need to be thick to clean and do its job which I appreciate but for me I like a thick foam that will dwell and of I have to wait a touch longer for the cleaning them that's fine. I know everyone is different but that's just me.


----------



## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

did you adjust the lance settings?..


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

-Kev- said:


> did you adjust the lance settings?..


Yeah adjusted the fan and the +\- dial too.

Would using hot water in the bottle make a difference? Given my PW pulls though cold water I'd have though its doesn't matter


----------



## rob_vrs (Jan 4, 2012)

Would it be too much water? If its not very thick


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

rob_vrs said:


> Would it be too much water? If its not very thick


That was only thing I could think of but surely using 250ml plus of snow from per wash isn't that cost effective?

I've got some left so I will try again with less water


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

800ml of solution is too much, you should be able to do an average sized car with about 400-500ml.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

ECS said:


> 800ml of solution is too much, you should be able to do an average sized car with about 400-500ml.


Ok thanks, so what roughly should the snow foam be? 100 foam to 400-500 water?


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

Yes, I used to go for 100-150ml max, don't really bother with snowfoam anymore.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Thanks ill try 100-150 foam and 400-500 water although my ratio must've been similar at 200 ish foam and 600-700 water


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

Use hot water too.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Will hot water really make a difference?

Thanks by the way for answering my stupid questions


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

It makes the chemicals more miscible.


----------



## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Never used any more than around 50-75ml of CarChem snowfoam and its really thick.... Almost too thick at times. May be an issue with the gauze in the foam lance or slight low water pressure from water feed to pressure washer.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Ill try again next week then and see if I can get better results


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

Have you been washing your lance through when you've finished to help stop lime-scale build up.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Yeah I run it through after each go. Only used 10 times max. Ill make sure the garden tap is open fully too so flow isn't a problem and try hot water too. Failing that I'm at a loss as I'm not doing anything different when using magi foam and I got thick foam with that no probs


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

I used to leave mine in some petrol if it was hanging.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Food for thought anyway but I'm thinking hot water, different ratio and make sure tap is fully open and if its still the same then maybe its just me.

In its defence it just slid right off as I'd cleaned and aqua waxed it last week and car had oy been round the block so wasn't clinging at all which might not help its thickness


----------



## MarkSmith (Dec 17, 2010)

I find that 50ml of the foam and 450ml of watewr was more than enough to get a nice foam on the car with the Carchem foam mate. 250ml per wash is far too much and you really should get good foam from alot less.

As others have said, maybe your lance needs stripping and cleaning, and maybe the guaze pad is blocked ?


----------



## Short1e (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm quite shocked you didn't think it was thick enough.

Look at the thread I did on their snow foam

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=296110


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Short1e said:


> I'm quite shocked you didn't think it was thick enough.
> 
> Look at the thread I did on their snow foam
> 
> http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=296110


Yeah i saw that thread, would the fact my car was actually clean be the problem as there was nothing to cling to but AG Aqua Wax and I did notice how smooth the car felt before I started


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Would the lance really be blocked after 10 washes max??


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

Yes if it's not been cleaned thoroughly.


----------



## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Which foam lance have you got out of interest.


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Trip tdi said:


> Which foam lance have you got out of interest.


It's the Autobrite HD lance and I'm 99.9% certain it's not blocked as I magifoamed last week and it was fine


----------



## MarkSmith (Dec 17, 2010)

danwel said:


> Would the lance really be blocked after 10 washes max??


Mine got blocked up after 3 washes !!!

Try stripping and cleaning it anyway - Carchem Snow Foam foams up like mad for me using my Autobrite lance and just 50ml of snow foam, so there must be something else wrong somewhere


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Thanks Mark I used a lot of product, I'd say about 200ml!! Plus 600-700 water. Only think I can think of it I hadn't turned outside tap on fully or my car was that clean it just ran off as its done 10-20 miles since last wash lol

I will try stripping it down anyway as it won't harm like you said


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Is there anyway to clean it without stripping it right down as I've not got access to a vice just yet?


----------



## ECS (Feb 13, 2013)

Soak it in some petrol or a load of cillit bang


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Got access to one at work next week or sure I could find one at a push


----------



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Well it's deffo not the lance it's just the product I'm afraid I so like.

Been out testing with 50ml foam and 200ml hot water and same do doubled up to 100ml foam and 400ml hot water and got similar results. Really was expecting more from this.

As a comparison I tried 50ml foam and 200 ml hot water using Magifoam and this produced the thick shaving type foam I was after.

So either I've got a slightly dodgy batch which I doubt as mark had great results with so without slating it and knowing everyone is different but its one I won't be trying again as I've tried all sorts of ways and used the 500ml of car chem foam I had.


----------

