# Bilt Hamber Auto Foam - First Impressions....



## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

I have been on the hunt for the Holy Grail for some time now - a product that actually does some cleaning without any contact, but preserves your LSP. So far i have tried lots of foams, and combos of foams and shampoos/APC etc and nothing really does anything useful  I have got quite frustrated with foaming now the novelty factor has worn off, and while it no doubt is ideal for use with a TFR etc on a car that is getting a full detail, I just hadnt had any worthwhile results to speak of....

UNTIL NOW......

I heard on the grapevine that BH were going to introduce a foaming product. Having had great success with Auto Wash and Surfex HD degreaser, I managed to scrounge a sample from Al (many thanks :thumb and between snow, hail and rain storms have managed to test it on 3 cars.

Weather was good today so I decided to finally wash the Saab as it was caked in salt and grime, and looking crap. I didnt think it would be ideal for the test as being dark silver, didnt expect the photos to show much, but went ahead anyway.

I dont know much about the foam except that it is supposed to be used at a concentration of 1-4% at the car. I did a couple of tests with my AB foam lance and decided that at the thickest foam setting, it dilutes at 1:5 (foam:water) so mixed up a 20% solution in the bottle, to get a 4% solution at the car (that is 100ml of foam + 400ml warm water or about 0.75" foam and half a large foam bottle of water). The mix is exactly the same as the quantities i was using of AB SSF to get the same foam thickness.

*The Process*

1. Dirty car
2. rinse with cold water PW - K3.99 at medium pressure using harvested rain water 
3. 500ml of foam solution applied via AB foam lance
4. rinsed with PW when foam had mostly fallen off the car
5. car left to dry naturally to determine actual dirt removal (no 2BM wash)

*The Results*

I think the pictures below tell the story pretty well  This foam produced a good thickness of foam and dwelled for about 4-5 mins on a wet car before being 95% gone. It left a very glossy finish to the car when wet and rinsed away with no issues. When finally dry, the paintwork was MUCH CLEANER, with very substantial dirt removal from just 1 foam and NO CONTACT of any kind :thumb:

The car was not clean enough to put a towel on, and there was still slight patches of road grime just visible in the worst areas like behind the wheel arches etc but many panels looked completely clean. The water did not bead as tightly or sheet quite as well after the rinse, suggesting the paint certainly wasnt completely clean. When I followed up later with a 2BM wash, there was some dirt in the rinse bucket (less than is usual though...) and the foam clearly didnt get a 100% clean finish but it was VERY good. Beading and sheeting returned to normal after the full wash.

*Conclusion*

ABSOLUTELY THE BEST CLEANING FOAM METHOD I HAVE EVER TRIED. None of my other foam/APC/shampoo etc combinations have come anywhere close to the results from this product. I have twice now used this as a quick one-step wash (foam, rinse, sheet) and been very happy with the results as an interim wash, between full contact washes. This will absolutely be my pre-wash of choice, and will have an additional place as an interim touchless wash, when i havent got the time/energy/weather to do a full wash. Recommended :thumb:

There were a few other notable observations:

1. I used only 500ml of diluted foam mix to completely cover my cars, even doing a couple of hits to larger panels, which was less than other foam mixes I have used.

2. the foam disappears quickly on the ground :thumb: Other foams and shampoo mixes have collected in gutters etc and in cold weathers I have had foam residue last 2 days in the gutters, which has caused some complaints from neighbours. This stuff was gone in 5 mins :thumb:

The pictures:

*Before* _Lots of crusted salt and road grime from 500 miles of recent winter motoring_


































*During*

_Initial Spray_


























_After 1 minute_


















_After 2 minutes_










_After 3 minutes_










_After 4 minutes_










_After 5 minutes_










_After rinse with PW_


















_After becoming virtually dry in the sun (please bear in mind the reflections of my tarmac driveway on the lower panels looks like dirt in some pics but it isnt )_


































I have some more images from my other car which is red and shows the dirt much better, but the first wash wasnt THAT dirty and the images came out very poorly and didnt really show too much. I have one more set to sort out from a VERY dirty wash that are also very impressive, so will add those ASAP.

Let me know your thoughts.

Damon :wave:


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## Russ and his BM (Jan 1, 2008)

Wow. Looks like another great BH product. I have already asked girlie for a HD lance for my birthday in Jun, so I'll pick some of this up to use with it. Along with my BH auto wash, clay, balm, and degreaser.
Great write up dude.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

A good write up Damon and if it out performs the Autowash through a foam lance then I see Bilt Hamber being onto a winner.

Excellent products at Excellent prices.:thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

Gleammachine said:


> A good write up Damon and if it out performs the Autowash through a foam lance then I see Bilt Hamber being onto a winner.
> 
> Excellent products at Excellent prices.:thumb:


It is considerably better than AW through the lance  i always get good foam from AW but it doesnt clean in anything like the way this does. I had reasonable success with a Surfex 3-4% pre-spray and AW foam, but not in this league by any stretch....

I hear it is VERY good value as well


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## mark1319 (Sep 9, 2007)

Looks great, any news on a release date?


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## Cliff (Mar 4, 2007)

That looks really good :thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

mark1319 said:


> Looks great, any news on a release date?


no idea  I'm sure Al will be back tomorrow and give us the BH view and more info. I just had some to try


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## L555BAT (Apr 3, 2007)

Never used any Bilt Hamber products before. They seem to have a good rep on here, so I don't doubt that this foam will be top quality stuff. 
Put me at the top of the list for buying it when it's released, Mr Bilt Hamber.


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## MR Ray (Jun 29, 2007)

Cool

What I wouldnt do for a driveway


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

If it is as good as the other products, it will be spot on, need to get my hands on some of this :thumb:


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## bilt-hamber kid (Dec 4, 2007)

Cheers for that Picklers. Pete struggles to make a decent cup of coffee without adult supervision, so I am invariably gobsmacked when I see what he's capable of when he sets his mind to it.  

I'll try and put some retail details up tomorrow. :thumb:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

bilt-hamber kid said:


> Cheers for that Picklers. Pete struggles to make a decent cup of coffee without adult supervision, so I am invariably gobsmacked when I see what he's capable of when he sets his mind to it.
> 
> I'll try and put some retail details up tomorrow. :thumb:


Al - get him a cup of tea from me then, as this stuff is good 

Had to splash some Auto Balm on it afterwards for good measure..that stuff isnt half bad either :lol:


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## bilt-hamber kid (Dec 4, 2007)

Let me know when you try it on the Royce.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

bilt-hamber kid said:


> Let me know when you try it on the Royce.


already did it - very impressive :thumb:

thread here


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2008)

Really excellent results! I'm just about to run out of SSF too. Any idea when this is likely to become available?


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## kk1966 (Aug 8, 2007)

That certainly does look impressive, gonna have to keep an eye out for this.

Just got some uto Balm to play with at the moment as well.


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## bilt-hamber kid (Dec 4, 2007)

We're thinking about £13 - £13.50 for 5 litres at the moment, what do you guys think? The budgeting hasn't yet been finalised and I'm still hoping we can make savings. That is at a _very slight _premium over the price of other similar products (whereas normally we are priced ultra competitively ~ possibly too competitively) but Pete wanted the best performing foam and he has bought in some pretty expensive stock for this.. and that capital needs to be clawed back somehow. I'd be interested to gauge your thoughts on the price.

Launch date is going to be sometime in the next month or so. The issue is as much about satisfying other product orders and releasing production line time and resources as it is anything else. Auto-balm seems to be doing really well with a hard core fringe in the States (you wouldn't believe the amount of Stateside orders we're getting from people who are saying that they read about it here first), and we are building up Auto-balm stocks for the summer here as well (hence finding the slot in the production schedule). What we doesn't want is have a Terminal 5 type scenario - you know, heap out promises, start a new production run, have people be expecting the product at a certain date.. only to have something (anything) go wrong.

So, what we'll do is have a commercial dry run first, and if all goes well with that and if it meets expected standard, then that stock will form the stock reserve and retailer first come first served issue. And only then will we produce direct sales material from the second run. I know that might make things a week or two longer, but prudence is Pete's middle name. I hope you bear with us, but I guess the simple answer is that we're looking at 3-4 weeks. How does that sound?


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Sounds good to me  ^^^^^


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

seems good value to me Al.

I used exactly same, or even slightly less, of the foam product as I do with any other SSF I use, and will happily pay a little more for a foam that actually cleans


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## stupidmonkfish (Sep 4, 2006)

Bigpikle said:


> seems good value to me Al.
> 
> I used exactly same, or even slightly less, of the foam product as I do with any other SSF I use, and will happily pay a little more for a foam that actually cleans


Agreed :thumb:


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## bilt-hamber kid (Dec 4, 2007)

Pete wanted me to make it clear that this foam is designed for pressure equipment and will not be effective in low pressure or hose powered "foam" applicators. The surfactants used are tailored to be used in pressure application equipment - wouldn't want to disappoint non-pressure owners if they purchased it thinking it would work for them.


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Have been meaning to chip in with my thoughts, and since I have only been able to test it via the Pinnacle/Gilmour and something new I'm hoping to "write-up" when the damn weather lets me, I have to echo BHK's forewarning to non-PW and lance users - it won't do the job half as well as expected or claimed.
So, a bit more trialing with this 'other' unit, to see if it can work, otherwise you'll all need to switch to PW and lances.
All invoices* to be sent to:

Bilt Hamber Laboratories
Billericay
Essex, 
CM12 0EG










* I'm only kidding guys! :lol:


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## MR Ray (Jun 29, 2007)

LOL non of you guys in Purchasing then 

its too expensive


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

MR Ray said:


> LOL non of you guys in Purchasing then
> 
> its too expensive


oops....20 years in sales :wall:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

PJS said:


> Bilt Hamber Laboratories
> Billericay
> Essex,
> CM12 0EG


:thumb: only 10 mins from me.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2008)

Any thoughts on following the foam with Surfex through a pressure sprayer? The one thing I tend to find with SSF is that it while it does remove the actual dirt, a greasy residue is often left.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

havent done that yet as i was testing the foam only. I guess it cant hurt, but I got better cleaning by foam than by Surfex alone, so maybe better Surfex firs and then foam?... I'm going to try a hot surfex spray next as Al mentioned 40-50 degs is the magic temp for Surfex to increase its cleaning ability.

NO residue left by the foam that i could tell BTW


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## leon20v (Jul 7, 2007)

bilt-hamber kid said:


> I hope you bear with us, but I guess the simple answer is that we're looking at 3-4 weeks. How does that sound?


:thumb: fantastic !!! really looking forward to getting some.. typical though.. will be back in america by then:wall: mean's i got to wait untill July.. but its going to be worth it !!


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## bilt-hamber kid (Dec 4, 2007)

Minimal residue chaps, certainly that I have determined. Having said that, I make a point though, of not making any claims as I (obviously) have a vested interest in making it sound good and I would rather act as an info conduit between you lot and Pete and not some cheese out for a quick sale.

Yup.. trials show that 45 degrees or so is the optimum operating temp with a +/- MFE of about 10-12%. 

Gleamers, Sorry mate. The lab isn't set up to receive public. Its not that we have anything to hide, its just easier for Health and Safety reasons not to have to cater for commercial visitors. Might we open a factory shop? Possibly. But most of our trade is BtB in other fields and you don't tend to get oil field managers dropping by for a cuppa and 25,000 gallons of Hydrate 80 or Dynax. 

Once again, PJ is on the money. HP only chaps.


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## MR Ray (Jun 29, 2007)

Bigpikle said:


> oops....20 years in sales :wall:


:lol:

OMG the one department I hate with a passion :doublesho

Design and sales does not mix :lol:


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

MR Ray said:


> :lol:
> 
> OMG the one department I hate with a passion :doublesho
> 
> Design and sales does not mix :lol:


probably right, but I dont do it any more  Still, sales probably keep you in business :devil:


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Phisp said:


> Any thoughts on following the foam with Surfex through a pressure sprayer? The one thing I tend to find with SSF is that it while it does remove the actual dirt, a greasy residue is often left.


First off, not all SF's are the same chemical composition, so the one you have might be doing as you find through insufficient rinsing. Equally, could be something in its mix that is clinging on for dear life before the shampoo solution removes it. It's not a generic trait as I had no such issues with Autobrite's SF.
Anyway, in regard to the Surfex HD, it's more for engine bay grease and grime cleaning than paintwork, even though Piks had success with a 1-3% solution mixed with a SSF.
The point here is, Auto Foam is akin to Auto Wash and Surfex HD having "relations" one night, and this is their resultant offspring.
There's a bit more to it, but that's the shortened version from what Pete told me - or what I can remember before my eyes glazed over when he started talking about bubbles collapsing and something or other happening!

So, take heart that you'll not need to buy Surfex HD unless you intend to retain it for engine bay cleaning (and spot treatment on carpet? Need to check if that's S-HD or AW).


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## yourlovewas (Feb 10, 2008)

I have a a quick question regarding the new foam, I live in a very hard water area and find that the foam from other SF mixes just dies very quickly so I don't get very much bubble-popping-cleaning-power really. Well, BH AW is formulated to work well in hard water areas right? Does the new foam have any similar traits?


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Yep, chelating agents to soften the water. You'll probably need to play around with amount to get it right, if you've particularly hard water.


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## mark1319 (Sep 9, 2007)

Thats a very good price IMO and if it's as good as the other BH products and no doubt it will be I'll be up for getting some.


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