Car Snow Foam Guide - What it is and how it works (2023)

FAQs

Car Snow Foam Guide - What it is and how it works? ›

How Does Snow Foam Work? Snow foam works by creating a thick, clingy foam that sticks to the surface of your car. The thick foam increases the amount of time that the cleaning agents inside the snow foam are in contact with the dirt on the car's surface. This is what's known as contact time.

As a pre-wash, snow foam lifts dirt and floats it away without rubbing it into the finish. Snow foam detergents encapsulate road grime, dirt, dust, and pollen, lifting it away from the surface of your vehicle.

Spray the Snow Foam directly on to the vehicle without pre-rinsing it – Snow Foam works best when used on a dry surface. Spray it all over the vehicle bodywork and allow it to dwell for about 3-4 minutes – you will see the foam start to change colour as the dirt is lifted away from the surface of the paintwork.

We always recommend spraying snow foam onto a wet car. This way you can get most of the top layer of dirt off the car before the foaming starts. So fire up the pressure washer and give your motor a quick rinsing down.

Unlike a car shampoo, snow foam doesn't contain any lubricant to help cloths glide over your car's surface, so wiping it off can cause scratches on your paintwork. Always rinse off your snow foam with a hose or a pressure washer.

Typically, snow foam is applied with a pressure washer, but other tools can also be used in absence of a pressure washer. A handheld foaming pump sprayer or a foam cannon attached to a garden hose will achieve a similar effect.

Perhaps the most critical aspect of a snow foam is the dilution ratio. Whether it's coloured snow foam or not, you don't want to make the mistake of using an overly concentrated mixture. Most professionals will advise you to mix snow foam and water in a 1:10 ratio.

Do I really need Snow Foam? If your serious about your paintwork then yes you do. If you take into consideration everything we have talked about so far, not using Snow Foam greatly increases your chances of scratching your paintwork by rubbing around dirt and contaminants.

The formula in snow foam will immediately encapsulate small particles of dirt so the contaminants will simply run off the vehicle. But don't forget that snow foam is only a pre-cleaner. You will still need to wash your vehicle with water and car shampoo after rinsing off the snow foam.

After covering your car with foam, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The foam will loosen the deeply embedded dirt in your car's exterior. Remove the foam before it dries by rinsing it off with the pressure washer. Once you're done removing the foam, you can start cleaning your car with wash mitts.

Do you sponge after snow foam? ›

Snow foam needs to be sprayed onto your car and left to settle on its paintwork. You shouldn't try and wipe off snow foam with a cloth or wash mitt as it doesn't have any ingredients to help it slide over the car's paintwork, which can lead to swirls or scratches.

You should use a (roughly) 3:1 mix of water and Snow Foam, with three parts of water for every one part of foam liquid. The exact quantities can vary, as the thickness of the foam can be affected by the settings of your lance as well as water hardness.

If it's too far away from your water source, or if your water source isn't putting out water at a high enough pressure, your washer will have a hard time generating the water pressure needed for thick snow foam. If the pressure isn't high enough, your snow foam won't be agitated into that thick, clingy foam.

For cars that are extra dirty, try a shampoo like Zip Wax Car Wash & Wax. Step 6: Take your wash bucket, and mix in 10 ml to 25 ml of Snow Foam per litre of water, adding a strong stream of water to help mix the product.

Mix 1 – 3oz of your favorite Chemical Guys soap and water into the canister of the foam cannon. We always use warm water because it helps the aerate mixture better. Reattach the canister to the head of the foam cannon.

All you need is a garden hose to attach it to. It works with any standard garden hose and produces a considerable amount of foam to lubricate your car's surface. The mounds of suds this Snow Foam Gun creates reduces the amount of friction, rubbing and scrubbing the paint surface is exposed to during a traditional wash.

Any car shampoo works, but seek out the proper stuff

“A proper snow foam formula will be design to cling to the car and work much better than a shampoo,” Lee explains, adding, “The chemicals need to be strong in order to soften and decompose the oils/bugs/general road grime”.

Using a pressure washer and a foam cannon can greatly speed up your car wash process. You can even just use foam soap and a pressure washer to clean lightly soiled vehicles, without any scrubbing with a wash mitt.

Snow foam thickness is highly dependent on a number of outside factors, including water hardness and pressure, so you might need a stronger mix. Try mixing it with 2 parts water or even a 50/50 mix and see how you get on. It'll take a bit of experimenting the first time, but after that, you'll be sorted.

Most people recommend to top the foam mixture with warm/hot water, so i would think using warm/hot water would produce better results.

What is the best foam cleaner for cars? ›

Ceramic snow foam

A ground-breaking innovation in the science of SiO2 coatings - an advanced high-foaming, spray-on formula that makes introducing 6-months of ceramic protection to every exterior surface quicker and easier than ever before.

The foam clings to paintwork longer than regular shampoos to gently loosen and lift dirt. This reduces the risk of scratches and swirl marks that can be caused by a sponge or wash mitt when agitating heavy contamination on your paintwork. Its pH neutral formulation will not remove any existing layers of polish or wax.

The ideal time to apply snow foam is in warm, slightly humid weather. You can use it in other weather conditions but there are a couple of things to bear in mind. Firstly, if it has been raining that day, make sure the car is fully dry first before applying (see item 2). Secondly, don't use it in very hot weather.

SNOW FOAM the car from top to bottom to remove or soften grit which is on the car. Leave for 5 minutes and then pressure wash off from top to bottom again. While the foam is sitting, clean the wheels. Use a wheel cleaner, wheel brush and separate sponge to clean the wheels correctly.

Some manufacturers estimate that it can take approximately 8 to 24 hours to cure for one component foam, typically available in 12 oz. to 24 oz.

Due to the drainage, coarsening and rupture of the bubbles, foam starts to collapse back to a liquid state. A foam's existence in space is marked by more equilibrium because drainage is suppressed. Bubble sizes are evenly spread and that makes it easier for scientists to study it in more detail.

Spraying a mist of water on the substrate or/and between layers of foam can speed up the curing process. Typically, it can take between 5 and 60 minutes for the foam to become tack-free. Full cure may be reached in a time range of about 8 to 24 hours, depending on the product and site conditions.

Snow foam is not bad for the paint, as long as you're using a product specifically designed to use on a car. The only problem you can run into, is letting it dry on the surface without rinsing it off.

An average car washing shampoo will often leave behind marks when it dries but a snow foam will not do so. You should leave the snow foam on your car for about 10 to 15 minutes. That is how long it takes for the foam to do its magic and ensure that the car's surface has no hard set dirt clinging on to it.

What is the difference between pre wash and snow foam? ›

Differences Between Snow Foam & Pre-Wash

Snow-Foam produces a thick foam blanket of clinging foam, with the use of a Snow-Foam Lance, which will sit on the paint work for several minutes encapsulating dirt. Pre-Wash is sprayed on paintwork with a normal bottle pump sprayer.

A: No, it won't.

Not only is it super satisfying to coat your vehicle with a thick layer of suds, but those thick suds have lots of benefits! Foam guns are worth it because foam helps the soap cling to the surface longer, giving you more working time before it dries or drips off of your vehicle.

Artificial snow on the skin can cause irritation, especially for people with sensitive skin. The product should be washed off well with soap and water to minimize irritation. Getting artificial snow in the eyes might cause mild pain and redness.

You should use a (roughly) 3:1 mix of water and Snow Foam, with three parts of water for every one part of foam liquid. The exact quantities can vary, as the thickness of the foam can be affected by the settings of your lance as well as water hardness. Which leads into our next tip…

With a dedicated Foam Cannon soap your car wash process is both quicker and more effective. The specially designed cleaners work to loosen and remove contaminants before you wash, so there is both less time and effort needed to clean your vehicle than before.

A Foam Cannon uses an electric or gas pressure washer, but a Foam Gun uses a regular water hose, which is the only major difference between the two devices. The water stream produced by pressure washers is much stronger.

Simply rinse your car from top to bottom with your pressure washer, then, proceed to foaming your car. Putting your foam cannon away full of water or full of soap creates calcium deposits which prevent the cannon from shooting the maximum amount of foam.