Well today I 'snow foamed' for the first time First, I rinsed the car with the Karcher then attached the snow foam attachment, gave the car a good covering, left it for a few minutes and then hosed it off.

 

Not sure what I was expecting but I was somewhat underwhelmed by the result. It still needed to wash the car down with a mitt - so what does snow foam do??? Or is it just an expensive gimmick???

You've misunderstood the product

It's a pre Wash product which aims to loosen and remove larger particles of road grime prior to washing with shampoo and two buckets

There is no Snow Foam yet made that will completely wash the car (the elusive touch less wash)

The other way to look at is that it's Stage 1 of a 2 stage wash regime

Well today I 'snow foamed' for the first time First, I rinsed the car with the Karcher then attached the snow foam attachment, gave the car a good covering, left it for a few minutes and then hosed it off.

 

Not sure what I was expecting but I was somewhat underwhelmed by the result. It still needed to wash the car down with a mitt - so what does snow foam do??? Or is it just an expensive gimmick???

You still needed to wash with a mitt?? What were you expecting...a completely clean car, ready to dry? Dream on...like the rest of us!

Apparently so! Never mind, they both came up really well in the end and I suppose it makes the second wash less abrasive so, over time, that will be a good thing

Apparently so! Never mind, they both came up really well in the end and I suppose it makes the second wash less abrasive so, over time, that will be a good thing

It's damage limitation if you want to be realistic

In the summer, when it's just dust on the car, a quick spray of snow foam can be fine

But

When the car is dirty from mud, salt etc...it will help to stop damage from a dirty wash mitt or pad

I have found no snow foam that really removes anything that a pressure washer wouldn't however it does soften the muck and flies on the car making it easier to wash with your mitt which means you are less likely to damage the paint

Well today I 'snow foamed' for the first time First, I rinsed the car with the Karcher then attached the snow foam attachment, gave the car a good covering, left it for a few minutes and then hosed it off.

Not sure what I was expecting but I was somewhat underwhelmed by the result. It still needed to wash the car down with a mitt - so what does snow foam do??? Or is it just an expensive gimmick???

I was the same as you first time I snow foamed.

Didn't expect a 'clean' car, but did expect to see some dirty soap suds running into the floor.

As in only using a cheap foam at present, I don't think I'll be getting anywhere near that.

If its very dirty...dirty soap suds do run off

Ive copied a section from the Polished Bliss 'Bible' for you:

Once a car has acquired a significant film of dirt and grime there is a much greater risk of inflicting sub-surface paint defects during the wash process. This is due to the greater number of contaminants present that may inadvertently be moved around over underlying surfaces as they are removed, and the tendency to scrub the paint more to get it clean. At the simplest level the first thing you can do to minimise this risk is to rinse off as much dirt and grime as possible using a hose or a pressure washer before washing the bodywork by hand. Ten to fifteen minutes spent carefully rinsing off in this way is time well spent, but may not always yield much improvement, particularly if two to three weeks worth of dirt and grime is present and has gone through numerous wetting and drying cycles. In such cases, the use of a pre-wash foaming solution can help tremendously.

The idea behind applying thick clinging foam to your car before washing is simple and the benefits are obvious. If you apply a generous coating of suds to dirty surfaces and allow them to cling in situ for many minutes at a time, the cleaning agents have longer to work and therefore dissolve and suspend a lot more dirt and grime. By the time the foam is eventually rinsed off much of the dirt and grime is simply washed away, leaving relatively clean surfaces behind ready for a careful wash by hand. Clearly, the major benefit here is that the bulk of dirt removal is done before a wash mitt is placed on the car, which greatly reduces the risk of inflicting marring and fine scratches during the hand-washing process.
 

 

 

Applying a thick layer of clinging pre-wash foam using a PA Foam Lance

 

Once applied the foam should be allowed to dwell for up to five minutes

 

Rinsing off the foam at pressure leaves the car far cleaner than before

 

 

Normal car shampoos can be used to produce foam with a reasonable degree of success, providing that the correct dilution ratio is maintained. However, this can result in a lot of expensive shampoo being used up quite quickly, so numerous manufacturers also offer specialised pre-wash foaming solutions (often referred to as snow foams) with much higher dilution ratios. In our opinion, the best such product currently on the market is Meguiar's Hyper Wash, as it produces thick clinging foam at an amazing dilution rate of just 400:1 (water:product). A further key benefit of using Meguiar's Hyper Wash is that it will not strip or otherwise degrade existing sealant or wax protection, unlike some other snow foam style products currently on the market.

Foam production relies on air being drawn into a foaming solution as it passes through an injector head into the main stream of water running through either a foam gun or a foam lance. The higher the pressure of the water, the thicker the resulting foam will be. Accordingly, foam guns that attach to hoses, like the PB Foam Gun, generate relatively thin, bubbly foam with limited clinging power, while foam lances that attach to pressure washers, like the PA Foam Lance, generate much thicker foam that clings very strongly, allowing more time for the cleaning agents present to dissolve and suspend dirt and grime. Consequently, foam lances tend to offer a lot more cleaning power than foam guns, and we recommend that a foam lance is chosen over a foam gun whenever possible.

In cases where for whatever reason a pressure washer cannot be used, a foam gun is still well worth having as it will remove far more dirt and grime than water alone and can also be used during the subsequent hand-washing process in place of a suds bucket (the idea here is to reapply a thick layer of foam to each panel immediately ahead of wiping it down with a wash mitt, as this ensures maximum lubrication as the mitt glides over the underlying surface). In all cases using warm water will produce thicker and more effective foam with greater cleaning power, to the extent that when using a warm water pressure washer touchless washing becomes a distinct possibility at all times of the year.

 

got to love the polished bliss guides 

 

pretty much covered above, but in summer its just a little more help avoiding scratches by lifting off and softening some of the dirt.  Unless you have been rallying you probably wont see much on the foam on the floor.

 

In winter though my car gets mucky quickly due a rural commute, and with a touchless wash of a citrus type prewash followed by a snow foaming and then a pressure washing I can get the car from "errrr that's horrible", to "I could live with that" .  Admittedly 9 times out of 10 I do follow it up with a bucket wash though.

 

As to whether snowfoam works so much better than other prewashes from spray bottles or pump foamers I really dont know, someone somewhere will likely have done a comparison, most likely on detailing world.  But while I have a working lance and 6 litres of snow foam left I'll continue.  Its great fun for the big kid in you if nothing else. 

 

 

edit: spelling