# Snow Foam Lance Guide



## andrewhutch1

(I'll add some more pics as and when I have them)

I've recently bought myself an Autobrite snow foam lance and thought I'd share my findings with folk on here who might have the same questions as I had.
I found plenty of questions (and helpful answers) about getting the right foam consistency but no central reference guide. So I thought I'd collect everything I have found and experienced about the snow foam lance and put it in one place.

*What is snow foam?*
Snow foam is a pre-wash foam, sprayed onto the car to dissolve and remove as much dirt as possible before washing by hand.

*What do I need?*
Typically you need a pressure washer and a snow foam lance attachment, as well as a snow foam solution/concentrate to mix with the water and create the foam.
You can also foam a car without a pressure washer using hose based lances, or even hand pumped foam guns. However, I'm not going to focus on those as I haven't used them before.









*Snow foam lance*​
Most people, including myself, seem(ed) to worry about their foam being too runny, too diluted, not staying on the car, just sliding off and not dwelling, etc, etc… (sound familiar?)

So in this post I'll focus on those issues.

To start with I would go with Autobrite's instructions (if you have the Autobrite snow foam lance) and see where that gets you. (Bare in mind that the foam will vary depending on the brand of snow foam concentrate you use)

*Autobrite's Lance instructions* are as follows… "_To use simply apply 50-200ml (depending on pressure washer) of either Autobrite Super Snow Foam or Magifoam into the 1 litre container bottle and fill up with warm or cold water. Each 1 litre bottle when full will foam approx 2 cars. You are now ready to use the Autobrite Snow Foam Lance by switching on your machine and altering the black adjuster on top of the lance for your desired foam. The adjustments are: towards the + on the knob gives you more water - less foam and towards the - on the knob gives you less water and more foam for a stronger mix._"

*Magifoam instructions:*
_Magifoam has been primarily formulated to be used in a foam lance, with a dilution rate of 100:1 it is also very economical, this equates to *roughly 1-2"* in the bottom of a 1l bottle in a foam lance when using with a domestic pressure washer. To use simply rinse car surface first, then spray the car with a liberal layer of foam and allow to dwell for at least 10 minutes, after this time simply rinse the foam off and watch the dirt rinse away too. The longer this product dwells the deeper it penetrates into the dirt and more of the dirt will then be removed._

*Superfoam instructions:*
_For best results pre-wet vehicle surface and apply through an Autobrite Foam Lance via a high pressure washer. Dilute with up to 200 parts of water adjust the dilution for desired foaming. If using an Autobrite Foam Lance place *up to 2 inches* of the concentrate into the foam lance bottle supplied and then top up with warm water. Plug and play! When vehicle surface has been covered with a blanket of foam leave to dwell and rinse under pressure._

*A couple of points to be aware of...*
If the car has a well waxed/sealed finish the foam (and hopefully the dirt) will tend to slide off more and stick less.
If the car is wet, it will be a little more lubricated and the foam will slide off more and stick less.
Neither one of these, however, affects the thickness of the foam coming out of your lance. So be sure to identify whether your foam is just not sticking, or whether it's too runny as it leaves the lance.

*What works for me?*

I personally work with 1 inch (at least 2 fingers) of concentrate in the bottom of the snow foam lance bottle. I have tried both Magifoam and Super Snow foam. I got a thicker foam from Magifoam. Both were good at removing the dirt from my car though. Little to choose between them on that front, but looks wise my preference is something more like shaving foam (thick).









*AB Magifoam (Thicker foam)*









*AB Super Snow Foam (Thinner foam)*​
Nothing wrong with either foam, but you can see that the top one is thicker so (based on the way I put the liquids through my lance) you can get a difference depending on the product you use.

I top up with warm water to* between halfway / two thirds up the bottle*. I found that this step plays a HUGE part in the consistency of the foam you get. 
All things being kept equal, except the foam lance bottle filled to the top with water (rather than halfway), I had much runnier (too thin) foam. 
The way I see it, I'm going to use at least an inch of concentrate to foam a car. If I add a little water (halfway up the bottle) I get the foam I want. If I add a lot of water (fill the bottle) I may get more foam but it's too runny for my liking.

I turn my dial on the top of the lance as far towards the - sign as it will go and then a tiny bit towards the + sign (just so it's not on full lock… for my piece of mind more than anything else). This implies a "less water, more foam, stronger mix"

The nozzle on the end is down to personal preference; in fact I adjust mine as I go around the car, depending on whether I want a wide fan spray of foam or a concentrated jet.

I use a domestic Karcher as my pressure washer. No specific reason, it's what I had before I even got into detailing. It's nothing special, they don't even make that model anymore, far from top of the range, so don't feel that you need the best pressure washer money can buy to get a good foam from your lance.

I hope this is of at least some help to anyone looking to get the most from their snow foam lance. If there's anything that can be added - feel free folks.

Andrew :wave:


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## Cab2cos

I'm new to DW.

I'm in the market for a snow gun as just got a brand new kercher K4 .

This post for me has been very helpfull.

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

Where's the best place and price to get a snow gun
Mark


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## andrewhutch1

I bought mine through the Autobrite deal available to forum members...

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=183611
Pretty good discount and price includes UK postage. 
There are others available but this one and these packages are very highly regarded. (Well they certainly get my seal of approval anyway).


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## Dcally

Thanks for the info will be giving snow foam a go at some point.


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## Cab2cos

Thanks for info:thumb:


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## Gary gee

Thanks for the info, I had the same questions running about inside my head, ,I've experienced runny snow foam but I think that is just down to the standard karcher bottle with no adjustment on, so new bottle required


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## andrewhutch1

Gary gee said:


> Thanks for the info, I had the same questions running about inside my head, ,I've experienced runny snow foam but I think that is just down to the standard karcher bottle with no adjustment on, so new bottle required


I had the standard yellow Karcher one for a few years, I can't believe I put up with it to be honest. The "proper" lances are a different league!


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## MiT

andrewhutch1 said:


> I bought mine through the Autobrite deal available to forum members...
> 
> http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=183611
> Pretty good discount and price includes UK postage.
> There are others available but this one and these packages are very highly regarded. (Well they certainly get my seal of approval anyway).


crap, only if i knew about this deal before i ordered mine from elsewhere.


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## denboy

ordered the lance and foam today, many thanks for a very imformative write up. :thumb:


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## rbj*rbj

great post


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## rsdan1984

I'm having snow foam issues atm, and have been for ages now. I do an inch if concentrate but fill with water so I might try your suggestion of half fill the bottle and see if I get a thicker foam. My foam looks like your second pic which you say is OK but I'd prefer it stronger, like in the first (although that is a different brand).

I guess 2 inches of concentrate and fill to the top would equate to the same?


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## shl-kelso

rsdan1984 said:


> I'm having snow foam issues atm, and have been for ages now. I do an inch if concentrate but fill with water so I might try your suggestion of half fill the bottle and see if I get a thicker foam. My foam looks like your second pic which you say is OK but I'd prefer it stronger, like in the first (although that is a different brand).
> 
> I guess 2 inches of concentrate and fill to the top would equate to the same?


Might be worth cleaning your lance, the internal guaze seems easy to clog and does then affect the foam density. I've not had to strip mine down to clean yet, but I have had to take in indoors and give it a thorough flush with very hot water to clean it through.

I now always use hot water in the lance bottle and also make sure I flush the lance through with clean water when I'm finished. I've had no further issues and to date have only used Magifoam (my PW is a Nilfisk P150).


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## rsdan1984

I did the gauze ages ago, it didn't help. I like the idea of flushing it through after use though, I'll start doing that.

Do you prepare a fresh mix every time you foam? I leave mine in until the bottle is empty, then redo it.


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## J800PAN

I was getting a runny shampoo style foam when filling lance with cold water, i started to fill the lance with warm water before i went to the car and problem solved it came out nice and thick!!


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## shl-kelso

rsdan1984 said:


> I did the gauze ages ago, it didn't help. I like the idea of flushing it through after use though, I'll start doing that.
> 
> Do you prepare a fresh mix every time you foam? I leave mine in until the bottle is empty, then redo it.


I always use a fresh mix, I've got into the habit of mixing enough for the car I'm cleaning (2/3 of the lance bottle for my Kia Sorento, half a bottle if I'm washing my wife's Punto). I found over winter that if I left any mix in the lance for next time then it would tend to separate. Don't know if it would do that all the time or if it was simply because my garage gets cold.

Using all the mix each time means I can also fill the lance bottle with clean water and run in through the lance to clean it after every use.


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## rsdan1984

OK, lots of things I can try there. Cheers.


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## ceejay

Ideal timing to have picked on this thread with a couple of good tips for me when I get round to foaming. My AutoBrite lance arrived just this morning.


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## Filipe Coutinho

Hello everybody!
Here in Brazil as the weather is very hot and sometimes the humidity is low as long as the foam must act in painting the car should be far less than the 10 minutes ... I leave about 4 or 5 minutes in paint!
Longer than that the possibility of creating stains on the paint is very high and I'd rather not risk it, even with the car in the shade of the garage ...


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## Matty77

Thanks for sharing!


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## redit5

Very useful and reassures me about my mix levels thanks!


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## .Martin

Gents,

I've just logged on after quite a hiatus to look for some help  

I went to use my foam lance yesterday for the first time (owned it over a year). Inch and a half of MagiFoam with three quarters of a bottle of hot water.

Connected it to the Karcher, switched on and waited for the magic to happen......

NOTHING 

Tried turning the + / - dial on the top to see if that made any difference but again nothing. Is the screw inside that dial supposed to turn when you turn the dial?

Help me please and I promise not to leave it so long.


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## greymda

will try next weekend 2 things:
first fill in WARM water full (cause i own a BMW X5 and i think 2/3 won't be sufficient) and if it fails,
will try 2/3 of the bottle with warm water.

thanks OP for the thread!


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## Raj24v

Good tips in here, thanks. Will come in handy when I finally get my setup sorted.


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## craiga01995

Hi i recently purchased a snow foam lance thinking it would be compatible with my karcher k4 compact can i also bought another fitting to see if it would work and im haveing no joy ino this post was posted a few years ago but im hopeing someone can help me out im just needing to know what fitting or if i need another gun to connect this to the snow foam lance ive two bayonet fittings there and none of them connect properly to my karcher please someone help me!!!

Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk


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## dundeepeh

Would this be of any use for you http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pressure-...s-Compatible-Snow-Foam-Lance-HD-/282098841729


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## Tom B.

Do you still need to use contact washing after snow foaming and rinsing with a pressure washer?

Cheers.


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## Nadeem

AB snowfoam is decent, I think I have their old type :/


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## AOCBMG

wish i'd seen this post a couple of weeks ago 

was trying to work out the dillution for my new lance & I was working on + gives u more product / less water..... Doh!


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