# Tried VP Citrus Pre-Wash through pump sprayer



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Many thanks to RapidRacoon 28, for kindly giving me some samples to play with when we met up @ Mattstock the other week. 

First up was VP Citrus Pre-Wash, used at a 10:1 dilution with hot water, through a Hozelock garden pump sprayer. 

The vehicle I had to play with was a relatives adapted wheelchair car, which only goes out once or twice a week and spends the rest of the time parked beneath overhanging foliage (though not any more, the first part of the plan involved a hedge trimmer and filling the green wheelie bin, so the car won't get sap-bombed so much in future). It has never really had a deep clean other than when they appear at our house and I am able to give it a quick wash n wax.

I went all round the car with the pump sprayer. As it was a hot sunny day today, I was able to open the doors and spray the rain channels which all had dried puddles of green grunge in them. Also lifted the bonnet and sprayed the wiper rain channels and the areas around the engine which were full of some stuff that had obviously been vegetation at some point in the past ... 

I left the VP Citrus Pre-Wash to do its thing for 5 minutes. During that time, I could clearly see little streams of dirt running off the car from catchment areas like the lower door panels beneath the plastic rubbing strip and from the edges of the indicator and headlamp glasses . It softened the green grunge easily and I was able to agitate it with a detailing brush so that it just dripped off. It also cleaned a load of black algae spots off the roof using just gentle agitation from a detailing brush and these had been stuck on quite firmly at first inspection.

When the five mins was up, I used my Karcher pressure washer to hose the car down. The results were impressive and it was certainly a lot cleaner than before. I would put it on a similar performance to the CarPlan RDS, though I guess it would work out a lot cheaper because of the dilution rates you can use with the VP Citrus Pre-Wash .

I certainly intend to buy some of this when I have gotten through the mountain ( lake ?) of RDS I bought at £2.99 / L in the recent Wilkos promotion. I have to say I am now a total convert to the idea of using pre-washes through a pump sprayer.

Next up was Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, which I was able to use at the recommended 4% dilution as I have tested and know the flow rates of the Karcher and the AutoBrite HD Lance. 

The Auto Foam gave quite a thick foam, and it pulled off the remaining dirt from the areas of paintwork which hadn't had the full coverage from the VP Citrus pre-wash, so good cleaning action for the BH Auto Foam; certainly much, much better that the Demon Shine snow foam I have tried previously.
And, more importantly, the BH Auto Foam smells lovely too !!

After using the two products, I would say the car was 90+ % clean which is very impressive given the state it arrived in and also given the fact I hadn't actually touched the car apart from selective use of a detailing brush. It left it very ready for the next stage of de-tarring, then rinsing and then a combo of G3 Detox Shampoo and G3 Clay mitt which left it ready for polish and wax, which will happen in the next few days.

Thanks again for the samples Andy and I still have left a sample of BH Surfex HD which I intend to try soon.


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## Rabidracoon28 (May 31, 2012)

You are more than welcome my fellow Manc. Happy to help out a fellow member on here👍


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## Dougnorwich (Jun 27, 2014)

What garden pump sprayer did you use ??

Nice write up btw


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

It is an old Hozelock 5 litre "Killaspray" which had been sitting in my shed almost new and unused for some years. It has Viton seals because it is intended for spraying weedkillers. 

Think it has now been superceded by the Hozelock heavy duty sprayers which also have the Viton seals.


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## Rabidracoon28 (May 31, 2012)

GleemSpray said:


> It is an old Hozelock 5 litre "Killaspray" which had been sitting in my shed almost new and unused for some years. It has Viton seals because it is intended for spraying weedkillers.
> 
> Think it has now been superceded by the Hozelock heavy duty sprayers which also have the Viton seals.


Is it like this one of mine Mike?


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Yeah, very similar.


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## Chris79100 (Jan 27, 2011)

Have you tried autofoam in the pump sprayer with hot water at 8 or 10%?
Found it very effective, more than citrus prewash.


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## neilmcl (Mar 26, 2010)

I have but 10% is pushing it. I think the recommended ratio in a pump sprayer for BH is 4-5%, and I find that works pretty well.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

The Snow foam lance is loads of man fun, ranks alongside BBQ's for bloke-iness and sometimes _just has to be done.... _but I think that in truth the pump sprayer / pre-cleaner is easier and more effective, especially as you can use hot water in it.

I will buy some Auto Foam as I was impressed with it, but one experiment I want to try is using some AG Pressure Wash via a pump sprayer, as I have found it to be a very good, wax safe, TRF via the foam lance.

This is the model pump sprayer that I have, below. Its old, but works perfectly well :


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## Rabidracoon28 (May 31, 2012)

GleemSpray said:


> I will buy some Auto Foam as I was impressed with it,


Very well priced as well Mike. Not found a disappointing BH product yet.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

So following on with this thread, today I tried some AutoGlym Pressure Wash through the pump sprayer. I used 150ml + 3l of warm water to give a mix at 20:1. 

This is a guess-timate mix as Pressure Wash comes ready mixed for use in power washers and has no suggested dilution rates.

Unfortunately (!) , the car was only lightly dirty, with rain spotting marks, some brake dust and also the usual diesel exhaust stains on the rear hatchback.

I sprayed the mix onto the dry car, walking round it twice to use the 3L of mix and then left it for 5 minutes or so before washing the car down with plain water via my Karcher K4 pressure washer.

The results were very good again, with a visible loosening and dispersal of stuck on dirt that plain water alone simply would not have shifted. It dispersed the rain spotting marks, the brake dust and also the diesel exhaust soot on the rear bumper / hatchback.

I would say the results were broadly similar to VP Citrus and BH AutoFoam, although I couldn't say for sure as there wasn't that much dirt to shift. When I am able to, I will try it on grubbier cars.

I remain convinced that this method is as effective as Snow Foam, but without the mess (or the fun .. ). It also is just as quick to do in terms of setting up and cleaning out the equipment.

In the final pictures, the car has simply been towel dried after rinsing off. No wash mitts were harmed in the making of this film. 

The HD Wax still seems to be beading up same as ever and during the rinse, the water was sheeting straight off the vertical surfaces.

Before ...




























During ..




























After ..


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## Pignut71 (Mar 12, 2013)

Great thread so far. I've got some VPCPW and used it in a pump strayer last winter but didn't really find it that effective on a weeks worth of grime. Used the same dilution ratio as above and kept going around a dry car until I had used the full 3 litres and let it dwell until I could see it just starting to dry (maybe 5 / 7 mins) and then blasted off with a pressure washer. It did remove some dirt but not as much as I would have liked or indeed expected. What ca I be doing wrong?

Atb, Jon.

Ps, the finish on the silver golf looks great. Mines white so needs a regular going over.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Reading up about various pre-wash products, it would appear that 1:20 works for general cleaning, but you need to get to around 1:10 to get the "bite" needed for really tough grime, although you are then into wax stripping territory.


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## Eliasasas (Feb 22, 2014)

Just a random question for you people using bigger pressure sprayers (5-10L or so) and filling them up: have you noticed the mixed solution of pre-wash getting weaker while sitting in the sprayer for maybe up to several weeks?


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

I just mix it when needed.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

I washed the wife's shopping trolley, which hasn't been touched for weeks, so was much grubbier and a better test. No pictures this time as I only had a limited opportunity.

I upped the dilution rate to 15:1, so 200ml of AG Pressure Wash plus 2.8L of hot water in the pump sprayer. The mix was sprayed on and left for 3 to 5mins whilst I got the pressure washer out and ready

Again the pre-wash mix worked well when rinsed off, particularly on the wheels which were black. They came up probably 85% clean without touching, but I am certain they would have stayed mostly black if I had just used water through a pressure washer.

The paintwork was left looking quite clean, though using a clean MF to swipe test the remaining wash water on the roof showed there was still visible dirt pick-up and a proper 2BM shampoo wash was needed to finish the job, as I had expected.

There is no doubt in my mind that the pre-wash technique dramatically removes / loosens a lot of the dirt, to the extent of leaving the car looking "_car-wash clean_" LOL; More importantly it makes the subsequent bucket wash so very much easier to do.

In terms of effort, I don't feel there is really any more or any less work involved in using a pump-sprayer than there is when I make up and use a mix in my AB HD snow foam lance - the main points are less mess on the drive than snow foam and a little less product used.

I do like all this experimenting on cars, towards the end result of less work and more clean !!


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Another Quickie: 

Demon Shine Rapid Dirt Shifter diluted at 2:1, in this case 500ml of RDS and 1 litre of water.

It loosened dirt, but not as well as it usually does, so I think that 1:1 is the max dilution you can get away with for RDS.

I just ordered some Surfex HD and some BH Auto Foam after being very impressed with the samples that RabidRacoon28 kindly gave me, so I shall be playing with them on the dirtiest cars I can find, to find out where the sweet spot is. 

Have already used them at 5% and 4% respectively and they both worked well, but next test is BH AutoFoam via the pump sprayer with hot water instead of the snow foam lance + pressure washer that I used last time.


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## mike41 (Apr 5, 2011)

Good thread and writeups- hadnt seen it until now. Been using VP CPW for a couple years now at 8:1 in a pump sprayer with very good results. Getting low on it now, so I bought 5 litres Autofoam last week to try next. What sort of dilution ratio should I use it at in the pump sprayer?
Cheers
Mike


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Haven't yet tried Autofoam via pump sprayer, only via snowfoam lance . 

Will try it initially at the BH recommended 4%, if this rain ever goes away.....


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## chefy (May 9, 2011)

I've only used my VP CPW a couple of times, and I'm on same boat as JDO330 ! only used on mildly dirty cars, but used in a small 2L pump sprayer I bought specially for this - I do have a large one, but thought its too big, and no need ! anyhow, I just used cold water - is this why I didn't see much happening ? does it have to be hot water ? and when you say hot - is that HOT ? as in too hot to touch or is warm water ok ?
So is it best to spray onto dry car, and soak it, or is it best to maybe wet the car first with hose water ?


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## zahtar (Oct 26, 2012)

*chefy,*
haven't used the CPW, only ph Neutral and Advanced Neutral Snow Foam. They are supposed to be more gentle than CPW, so in theory what I'll mention applies.

I use tap water at comfortable temperatures, not too hot or cold to the touch (I think lukewarm is the correct word here). An indifferent feeling I would say. I use a 1L pump sprayer for my entire Fiesta, it covers everything once, including wheel faces and arches. I spray that on a dry cool surface and within 5 minutes I pwash it with horizontal moves, starting from bottom to top. I do not let the mixture dry on the surfaces, and if it is warm/sunny it will only dry on the roof which is relatively cleaner. It might also make a difference that I make the mixture right before the wash, I don't keep anything diluted. I think I read somewhere her in DW, that some products loose their properties if they are diluted and not used within a short period of time.

This gives me a result >80% clean which is great for me. Most (if not all) visible road spray disappears. 2BM follows, etc

EDIT: keep in mind that the end result might also be affected by water hardness and lsp choice. I have moderately hard water and have been using fk1000p so far.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Todays play : After dodging the rain .... AG Pressure Wash at 10:1 dilution with warm water gives a very strong clean, very nearly touchless via the pump sprayer. The dirt was visibly running off the wheels and paintwork. Afterwards the HD Wax appeared to be beading and shining same as ever.

As with all these, a light film of dirt remains in places that requires a light touch with a mitt to bring it fully off - but this appears to always be the case, whatever you use.

The pre-wash did its job and bought off the worse of the dirt by itself and significantly loosened the remaining dirt so that it only needed the lightest of bucket & mitt washes afterwards.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Haven't updated this thread for a while, but have been playing with different dilutions of different products. Today got around to properly trying something I have been thinking about for a while - adding snowfoam to TFR.

I had 5 bottles of Demon Shine Rapid Dirt Shifter (which I got in the Wilkos clearance a while ago at £1.50 each , as I recall). 

So... 2 Litres of RDS in the Hozelock sprayer with 1 Litre of hot water , which is a mixture ratio I have used before, but this time I added 100ml of Demon Shine Snow Foam and gave it a good shake up.

The positives from this are that the pump sprayer didn't explode or melt and I didn't pass out or experience any skin mutation when spraying, so I think it is safe to mix them together.

The result was not foam by any means, but was definitely a far more soapy mix out of the sprayer which, crucially, really hung onto the vertical panels instead of dripping off like it normally does. I always leave it 2 or 3 minutes whilst I set up the PW and this time virtually none of it had dripped off the car.

I do think it cleaned the lower half of the car better and defiantly loosened the baked on crud which then power washed off the car first pass.

So worth a play if you have any spare snow foam to mix with your TFR I think.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

I always go back to Auto foam it's very effective.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Ross said:


> I always go back to Auto foam it's very effective.


 It is. I have 5L of AutoFoam and also 5L Surfex and they are both very effective. I also just bought some Power Maxed concentrated snow foam and the concentrated TFR, so will have a play with them also.

But I do like to experiment with stuff and today I was trying to use up surplus gear and clear the storage shed a bit.

Over December & January, I usually give the car a quick wash once or twice a week because the rain and road conditions turn it grey quite quickly so this year it is going to be many different products ( including shampoos ) going through either the Hozelock pump sprayer or the AutoBrite foam lance to see what works and what doesn't.

:detailer:


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