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+--- Thread: Paint damage (/showthread.php?tid=3822)
Paint damage - Moley - 11-03-2018
Think you will find its the other way about Gord
hock:
Paint damage - russelllinn - 11-03-2018
where do you get snow foam from then or how does it work, I have only ever rinsed off.
Paint damage - steviewevie - 12-03-2018
russelllinn where do you get snow foam from then or how does it work, I have only ever rinsed off.
I use Bilt-Hamber's Autofoam, but there are other makes of snow foam around. Various online sellers of detailing products sell them (e.g. here).
The idea is that you spray this onto the car as the first stage, you leave it to "dwell" for a few minutes, then rinse it off. This loosens up the dirt to start with, getting rid of some of it and helping reduce the chance of introducing scratches as you clean it.
What you need is a "foam lance" attachment for your pressure washer, to which you add the snow foam solution. This then makes it come out in the right sort of consistency (by way, a common misconception is that you want it so thick it's like shaving foam, which might look fun, but isn't going to loosen the dirt very much if it's not very wet).
A foam lance looks something like this :
![[Image: hd_foamLance2.jpg]](http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/images/uploads/hd_foamLance2.jpg)
They're not cheap, but do a very good job. Basically, you get what you pay for. You can get cheaper attachments but the consensus (from detailing forums etc) is that they don't work well at all.
Paint damage - Asi - 12-03-2018
i have a foam lance and works great mate. saves a lot of time and you will get better results
Paint damage - Carpediem - 12-03-2018
[quote=steviewevie]I use Bilt-Hamber's Autofoam, but there are other makes of snow foam around. Various online sellers of detailing products sell them (e.g. here).
The idea is that you spray this onto the car as the first stage, you leave it to "dwell" for a few minutes, then rinse it off. This loosens up the dirt to start with, getting rid of some of it and helping reduce the chance of introducing scratches as you clean it.
What you need is a "foam lance" attachment for your pressure washer, to which you add the snow foam solution. This then makes it come out in the right sort of consistency (by way, a common misconception is that you want it so thick it's like shaving foam, which might look fun, but isn't going to loosen the dirt very much if it's not very wet).
Stevie, I can find loads of these nozzle attachments, but cant figure out what detergent to use? is it normal car shampoo?
And without sounding thick ( i know ive previously said i dont want to wash my car in a diff thread)
but would the process be
Snowfoam
Rinse
dry
wax
or
snowfoam
rinse
sponge
rinse
dry
wax?
PS Apologies for thread hijacking, if a MOD wants to move this to its own thread thats cool
Paint damage - FirebirdPhil - 12-03-2018
don't apologise its a relevant question!!
Paint damage - parthiban - 12-03-2018
I know the proper detailing foam lances are a little better as they allow you to vary the ratio of water to soap but they are fairly expensive. I use a Karcher foam lance with my Karcher pressure washer - it only cost £15 and works brilliantly so a more cost effective solution if you have a Karcher pressure washer (not sure if it works with others).
Technically you can use any soap, it works reasonably well, but snow foam works better as it lathers up much more and therefore "dwells" on the paintwork much longer. I got my snow foam from Elite Car Care and think it was around £15 for a 5 litre bottle if I remember correctly - don't think I've even used half of it yet (although I don't wash my car that much either!)
And in terms of a normal wash, my process is:
Rinse
Snow foam
Rinse
Sponge
Rinse
Dry
Paint damage - Bobby - 12-03-2018
Sponge.......what the experts say
Whats Wrong With A Sponge?
Millions of people wash their car using a sponge. But if you read the threads on detailing forums you will see that hardly any members are washing their cars using a traditional sponge... Why is that? It all comes down to the flat flace of the sponge.
Even after rinsing !!
Imagine automotive paintwork with your typical dirt and grit paricles stuck on the top of the paint, that you want to wash off to reveal your car's shine. Some of these dirt particles are sharp.
Now, if you place a sponge down ontop of these grit particles as you would do if you were washing your car with a sponge, the grit particles become trapped between the face of the sponge and the paint - they have no where to go but to the flat face of the sponge.
When you wipe the sponge across the paintwork, you wipe the sharp grit particles straight across the paint. As they move over the paint, the dirt particles leave a thin hairline scratch.
These little scratches are highly visible in bright light because they catch the light, and this is what gives you the dreaded swirl marks that rob your paint of gloss and colour and ruin the car's look.
Wash Mitts
Lambswool and Sheepswool wash mitts have been developed to get around the problems of sponges trapping grit particles by the flat face. If you run your fingers through a lambwool mitt, you can see that it is deep pile and not flat faced.
Returning to the grit partciles on paintwork, when the wash mitt is placed onto them, the grit particles are absorbed into the mitt - safely away from paintwork so that they cannot scratch the paint.
Therefore, sweeping the mitt across the paint doesn't sweep the grit over the paint also and so you don't inflict lots of tiny hairline scratches.
Note: While washmitts are considerbaly better than sponges, it is impossible to completely avoid inflicting the odd swirl marks here and there using a wash mitt.
Paint damage - parthiban - 12-03-2018
Is lambswool better then for a washmitt? I have a microfibre one, is that not the best material for washing then?
Paint damage - Lexusboy - 12-03-2018
I have the lamb wool one, i am not sure there is too much difference in them both.