# Snow foam too watery



## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

Guys, I need some advice. 
I've a Direct hoses lance for my karcher washer. I've got bilt hamber foam however it just won't sit on the car as in YouTube videos I've been watching. I've adjusted it from fully ,+ and - which makes a difference but still find I end up covering the car twice. Can I reduce the flow of water from my tap to make a difference?


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

What dilution are you using in the bottle as that will have a big effect on the foam and which karcher do you have?


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## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

I'm using it neat, but my washer is pretty old. Got to be around 10 years old. Think it's a 114a ???


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

Should'nt be using snow foam neat..


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

it could be that the pressure washer is just giving up and can't kick out enough pressure, autofoam is not that foamy anyway but cleans well, do you have any pictures of what the foam looks like?


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

I am pretty sure that the bilt hamber is supposed to be used neat in the bottle from what it says on the website.


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## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

Bilt Hamber is used neat, 1st time I did dilute but you can imagine what it looked like. I'm cleaning my Beemer tomorrow so will take some pics of how it lays.


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## TomWVXR (Mar 16, 2012)

Ive not once used Auto Foam neat, Always about 1.5 inches in the lance topped up with warm water and it works perfectly
Id check that the gauze in your lance isnt blocked


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## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

Shouldn't be blocked, it's brand new.


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## ianrobbo1 (Feb 13, 2007)

I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, but are you saying the snow foam is just running off the car ?? I found that the only time I got snow foam to "stick" like on the various video's about, was on a car that had not been cleaned or had any polish on for some time, now my theory is that when I put snow foam onto a recently polished or regularly cleaned car it just slides off, due to the remains of the polish or protection previously applied stops it "gripping"!! and I was also under the impression the idea of snow foam was to get it to slide off the car taking much of the muck with it, rather than just sit there and needing jet washing off!!


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## rhinoman (Jul 9, 2013)

I've found that depending on the mix/dilution, I occasionally have to turn my lance down to get thicker foam, so try adjusting it regardless of what logic tells you.


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## XtrailAndy (Oct 14, 2013)

Yesterday I used a Foam Lance for the first time, and like the OP I used it with BH Autofoam. It took a little getting used to, but once I dialled in the minimum dilution ( turned fully to - ) the foam became thicker and sort of stuck to the car, maybe for about 5-8 min, but all the time gradually running off.

I put about 2 inches of the foam in the bottle and topped off with cold water to about 850ml, which I thought would be plenty ( cleaning a 4X4 ) but it only just lasted, so if using neat, as some have suggested, you would go through a 5L jerry can in no time at all.

Or is it a case of using Autofoam neat and just increasing the dilution?, I'll give this way a try next time.

Either way I wasn't that impressed with it through a foam lance ( maybe a case of me getting used to the product ), but I find it much more effective, with greater cleaning power when used through my Hozelock Pump Sprayer.


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## andspenka (Apr 19, 2014)

I find that it sticks to a dry car better than a wet one, when I first started using it I was PW the car off first. Now I spray it on to the car when it's dry without using the PW first.


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## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

Just a bit more information on my findings, 
The car has recently been bought and prepared by Audi, so it will have been polished a few weeks ago. Using 2" of neat BH Autofoam got me a couple of passes over a Q7, 
I understand It's supposed to run off removing heavy grime which it does but by the time I've foamed the rear quarter panel the front wing would resemble the same amount of foam had I just used a sponge and shampoo.


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## ianrobbo1 (Feb 13, 2007)

Re reading this thread, I think it's easy with foams to become obsessed with "sticking" with BH in particular IMO, it does seem to "look" thin and run off quickly, BUT it also seems to take as much if not more muck with it thanone or two others I've tried, and whilst I don't want to get into a "foam X is better than foam Y" argument I have found that not many foams actually take that much muck off the car if it has no previous record of polish or protection, and I know that many on here think that using foam is just smoke and mirrors and don't use it at all!! :doublesho my advise is to experiment with what you've got and see if any of your friends has a different brand you could try, because often, as has been found on here, what works for one may not for someone else!!


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## Bluffin (Oct 7, 2014)

I managed this with BH, but as most are saying it soon runs off


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## Dougnorwich (Jun 27, 2014)

That doesn't look right to me.....I'd 

Clean the gauze in my gun, do you rinse it out by putting the pick up tube in your rinse bucket

I use a inch of foam topped up with warm water, put the lance on max foam, for me that's + then turn it back quarter turn, I then get something that resembled shaving foam 

Bilt hamber is really good not the thickest but cleans well, I think it should be thicker than that anyway


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## robotrobo (Jan 24, 2013)

rhinoman said:


> I've found that depending on the mix/dilution, I occasionally have to turn my lance down to get thicker foam, so try adjusting it regardless of what logic tells you.


hi.
i left the gauze filter for 3 all days in a solution of cleaner, thats how long it took to dissolve the very fine particles blocking the filter.
Prior to cleaning the filter i was getting 3 washes out of a 1" of foam in the bottle.
when i tried it today for the first time since the filter clean , the foam was coming out good & unblocking the filter had cured the problem, but now i am only getting one clean from the diluted bottle!, so i am thinking now i need to slow the water passing through down a bit somehow, also for the first time from now on is unscrew the bottle off & turn the power washer on to clean the filter properly.


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## XtrailAndy (Oct 14, 2013)

Dougnorwich said:


> I use a inch of foam topped up with warm water, put the lance on max foam, for me that's + then turn it back quarter turn, I then get something that resembled shaving foam


Having only used a foam lance once before ( with BH Autofoam ) I am a little confused re the + / - knob on the lance.

I was under the impression that this was to control the dilution of the foam?

So setting the knob to + would increase the dilution and therefore produce thinner foam.

And the opposite, setting the knob to - would reduce the dilution and produce thicker foam.

Is this right or have I got it the wrong way round?


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## Dougnorwich (Jun 27, 2014)

I've heard both ways mate for me the + increases but I've heard it also decreases try one turn to the other next time you use it


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## T.C (Sep 1, 2014)

Do you also rinse the car before applying snow foam. I have found it stays on the car better on a dry car rather than a wet car


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

Regarding the +/- I was under the impression that the it is the water amount you are altering, which means all the way to minus mean the least water and the most foam solution, It follows logically I think as well, I have also found that the is a sweet spot where you get a good foam and either side is not much at all. I have only used my lance once and did have to fiddle with the fan/dilution settings a couple times to keep it sweet.


Regarding Autofoam being used Neat, This comes from the fact that unlike every snow foam guideline, they use Xmm to Xmm in the foam bottle, and Bilthamber use a PIR Panel Impact Ratio, so it will require more information on float rate from bottle and flow rate of washer etc. again experimentation with ratios in bottle and lance settings.

From what I understand Foam is a prewash, you spray it on to a car first, to it can start to eat into the dirt,traffic film etc and pull as much as it can off and soften the rest and run off the car once it has been absorbed. Then you wash off the car and this helps shift what the foam has lossened.

This will leave the car clean except for the finer, sticky traffic film which needs a washmitt/sponge etc to move. It gets called no-touch wash but isn't going to be able todo this in most cases.

Now on a really well protected car, the dirt, traffic films etc can not grab hold of the paint/glass etc as strongly so snow foam will grab more of it, it will also run off more quickly since the car is, by design more slippery.


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## XtrailAndy (Oct 14, 2013)

Dougnorwich said:


> I've heard both ways mate for me the + increases but I've heard it also decreases try one turn to the other next time you use it


Thanks for the advice, I'll do a bit of experimentation the next time I use it :thumb:


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

AutoFoam is a bit different from other foams I've used. You do use more product per application, and by design it does not come out and thick like shaving foam. It's the foam dripping down the panel is what drags the dirt off the car, so don't compare it to other SF videos on YT.

As you're already using it neat and tried fully + and - I would check and clean your gauze if in a hard water area, or just replace it, it's just £5.

AutoFoam is fantastic SF, the best I've experienced for cleaning power (other than DuraFoam which is more of a TFR) I just restocked last week. :thumb:



-Kev- said:


> Should'nt be using snow foam neat..


Autofoam is fine neat.

If you do the testing, and follow their 100-1 PIR (panel impact ratio) I was using about 60% SF and 40% water in the lance. But I find using it neat and adjust the the +/- until the foam looks the same is more economical with usage.



XtrailAndy said:


> Yesterday I used a Foam Lance for the first time, and like the OP I used it with BH Autofoam. It took a little getting used to, but once I dialled in the minimum dilution ( turned fully to - ) the foam became thicker and sort of stuck to the car, maybe for about 5-8 min, but all the time gradually running off.
> 
> I put about 2 inches of the foam in the bottle and topped off with cold water to about 850ml, which I thought would be plenty ( cleaning a 4X4 ) but it only just lasted, so if using neat, as some have suggested, you would go through a 5L jerry can in no time at all.
> 
> ...


- gives thicker foam and uses more SF. I'm guessing all knobs you can buy with + and - have a + for turning right and - for turning left. As the valve opens when turned left that's the way for more foam.


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

That picture posted on page 2 of the thread is exactly what my foam looks like when applying Autofoam - it's just how it comes out I reckon.

I personally prefer the look of the shaving foam affect, but then they do say that Autofoam cleans better.

Not sure I've really noticed the difference tbh but I will defer to those with more experience than I. I reckon I'm going to go back to VP pH neutral as it foamed up nicely for me. Either that or get some Auto Finesse Citrus Power instead of Snow Foam.


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## KEV. (Oct 22, 2007)

Thanks all for the information. I will continue experimenting and I'm sure to find the perfect set up.


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## [email protected] (Nov 3, 2011)

I've used foam approx dozen times. Managed to get the right amount of warm water with the foam mix and the right setting so that it stuck to the car and trailed down and off in approx 10 mins. One of my mates whilst round at a weekend asked if it made any difference and of course, I said "Yeah, sure". He asked if I would do half car with and half without, just to show him, so I did.
I took pictures also and have them on my phone currently. No rinse first and did on a dry car (63 plate black fez) ideal colour to see the 50/50 as it were and let it do it's bit and 10 mins later rinsed off with PW...after inspection of all panels there were no difference at all between what had been snow foamed and what hadn't. The car was mega dirty and an ideal time to do. I was a bit gutted to be honest. My mate laughed and I now don't include this in my cleaning cycle. Could try a different make to see if it would make any difference, but then again, I probably won't.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> I've used foam approx dozen times. Managed to get the right amount of warm water with the foam mix and the right setting so that it stuck to the car and trailed down and off in approx 10 mins. One of my mates whilst round at a weekend asked if it made any difference and of course, I said "Yeah, sure". He asked if I would do half car with and half without, just to show him, so I did.
> I took pictures also and have them on my phone currently. No rinse first and did on a dry car (63 plate black fez) ideal colour to see the 50/50 as it were and let it do it's bit and 10 mins later rinsed off with PW...after inspection of all panels there were no difference at all between what had been snow foamed and what hadn't. The car was mega dirty and an ideal time to do. I was a bit gutted to be honest. My mate laughed and I now don't include this in my cleaning cycle. Could try a different make to see if it would make any difference, but then again, I probably won't.


....yeah...but it looks good! And is fun :lol:


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

what powerwasher you useing?
best foam ive tried up to now is achem snowfoam extreme


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## XtrailAndy (Oct 14, 2013)

After a little experimentation I finally managed to get some reasonably clingy foam out of the lance. I put about 2 inches of auto-foam in the bottle and topped up with hot water ( tap hot ) to about 700ml, I set the lance dial all the way to the + side and that seemed to do the trick. We are not talking shaving foam thick, but thick enough to cling for about 10-15 min.

Thanks to Dougnorwich for the advice, cheers fella :thumb:


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## Dougnorwich (Jun 27, 2014)

Pleasure mate 

Don't forget to drop that pick up pipe in you rinse bucket and run it through


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