COULD YOU RUN THAT SNOW FOAM BY ME AGAIN?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
K, I know you've used this product before and I've been doing so since 4th September. I cleaned the next door neighbours BMW yesterday and foamed it but didn't see the difference from the "before to after"? Apart from the obviouse fact the car had been rinsed. I used about 1inch of foam in the spray bottle and left it on the car for about 5-10mins before rinsing it off. There were quite a few bug splats on the front which were still there after I rinsed, isn't foam sposed to get em off....what do you reckon :eusa-think:

cheers
Greg
p.s. By the time I was finished doing both the polish and wax plus Jetseal 109 on all the bits that matter, she looked gorgeous, no, not the neighbour, the car. Neighbour was totally blown away, for an 8year old car, she looked like new!!! :thumbup:

 

[RCZ1]

Hi Greg

I'm pleased to read that you have been using the snow foam but sorry that you've not been getting the results you hoped for.

Firstly, I also add a small drop of shampoo into the snowfoam too before mixing with water. When I start to use it, I like to use it fairly thickly - almost like shaving foam (but not quite so thick - By the way, I don't personally use shaving foam :!: :lol: ). You do this by adjusting the knob on top of the foam lance. Just play around with it until you get the required consistency (the foam lance that is )

It doesn't tend to remove all the dead bugs etc all the time, but what it will do is soften and loosen them, as well as the dirt, so that when you come to wash, you don't have rub hard to remove them therefore not causing scratches. The idea is that once you've snowfoamed, fairly thickly, the dirt and foam will slowly dissolve and run off the car. Once its nearly all off, rinse off.

See this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&feat ... S7X0r7FjB0

You are getting as bad as me detailing your neighbours car. I did my brothers car at the weekend - full works including machine polishing. Its a black Corsa and it was in a right state. Scratches, swirls everywhere. By the time I'd finish, it looked like a brand new car and he was very, very pleased with it. :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi K hope you're good (and excited!!) not long to go now. :dance:

Thank you for your reply always appreciated. I will have a play on the controls of me foam gun and see how it goes, but not really disappointed as I know its working and yes as you say it seems that the muck comes off a whole lot easier, I will also add the drop of shampoo, good tip! As for the shaving foam, I'm an expert there and as a keen cyclist, I have been know to shave me legs too....what!!!.. moving on then.....

The machine polishing you done sounds well cool bet bruv was pleased, what machine did you use and which mop bit thingy was on the end, want one so I can play on the other car on the drive

 

[RCZ1]

Today, I cleaned my sister's car (she's left it at my house whilst she's on holiday). It looked a bit sorry for itself so I thought I'd better do it - you know what I mean :helpme:

I thought I'd do a bit of a test with the snow foam - just to help you out you understand :eusa-shhh:
So I added a little bit more than a inch of snow foam into the bottle, along with the usual drop of shampoo, then added the water as normal. Turned the dial on the foam lance to get a full mix of the water and as you would imagine it was very watery like. So I turned the knob a good half turn and it came out really thick - it really did look like shaving foam :lol: Left it for about 10 minutes by which time, most off it had run off the car. I then rinsed it off with the power washer and there were still some dead bugs on the front of the car. I then proceeded to wash it. As soon as I ran the wash mitt over the front of the car - they just came off. There was no rubbing, just one stroke - gone (keep it clean at the back there) :law-policered:

With regards to the brothers car. This is the machine I have.
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing ... d_519.html

I use Meguiars 105 and 205, Compound and Polish, respectively.

These are the pads I used - mainly the green, the blue and the white
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing ... at_82.html

Have fun :beer:

 

[Anonymous]

So in a word...is it REALLY worth getting one? It would cost me £50 for the lance for my pressure washer...then the cost of the snow foam.

Or.....is it just best to wash your car in the rain when the dirt has had a good soaking?

 

[RCZ1]

So in a word...is it REALLY worth getting one? It would cost me £50 for the lance for my pressure washer...then the cost of the snow foam.

Or.....is it just best to wash your car in the rain when the dirt has had a good soaking?

Most definitely YES !

Its not used just to remove dead flies / bugs - if used correctly it cleans most of the bad dirt from your car. Some people snow foam their car twice and don't actually do a "contact" wash.

 

[Anonymous]

It is a bit bizarre that of all the people I speak to about 'serious' car cleaning (including staff in car care retailers) have never heard of snow foaming.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi K
Soz on the delay for answering but thank you muchly for the info on the polisher, will be getting one when my feet touch the ground as buzy at mo.

Been catching up your babe being delivered via your posts so good luck on her getting to you asap

Ciao for now

 

[RCZ1]

It is a bit bizarre that of all the people I speak to about 'serious' car cleaning (including staff in car care retailers) have never heard of snow foaming.

Snow foam is not sold in car care retailers - its more specialised, sold on-line by detailing suppliers.
ALL professional detailers use it on EVERY detail that they do - its an essential paint prep stage.
There is a difference between someone who "valets" cars and professional detailers. Great attention is paid to preparing the paintwork, to get it to the best condition (amongst many other things). The process is :

• 
  snowfoam
  wash
  Tar removal (Tardis)
  Iron filing removal
  Claying

This is all BEFORE any proper washing, rinsing and drying is done before work can start on paint correction (if required) or polishing / glaze / wax (or sealant).

The best shine comes from the initial prep stage - paintwork should look and feel like glass - it should feel silky smooth - no roughness.
There is a definite difference between a clayed and unclayed car :!:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi K how you doin, :wave: you got your babe on the road yet? been looking out for the pickies, ain't seen anything yet.

Just to let you know, purchased the polisher plus the compound/polish you said and was a bit apprehensive on the first try (last night) but all went well. Thought I would try polishing out some cat claw like scratches on the other car on the drive and it worked! blimey... so then I tried it out on the neighbours mummobile and....SUCCESS that worked too!! Amazing shine so can't wait for the weekend when I can do my wife's car all over, (the other car on the drive).

Must tell you, the instructions said something like "make sure the polishing mop is in contact with the car before operating the polisher" which was all good til I forgot and all the polish flung off which covered me (it stings in your eyes doesn't it ouch!) and the car one side, and the cat got some :lol: and the garage door..o well won't do that again...actually I did, about 5 mins later

Ciao x

 

[RCZ1]

Hi Ironman

Sadly, not in receipt of RCZ - those DVLA people are using snail mail from Outer Mongolia :roll: ...... Maybe tomorrow :?:

Glad to hear you've tried the machine polisher and the polishes. Did you use the compound too or just the polish #205?
You may often find that you only need the polish, if the scratches or swirls are not too bad. Just vary the cut of the pad you use to get less cut / more cut, etc. The polish does give a lovely shine though. :thumbup:

You'll be setting up your own detailing business soon :lol: Not only doing your own (the wifes) as well as your neighbours - I hope you are charging

Well, see here Mr Ironman, I/b] read instructions and follow them so I've never splat myself in the eye with the polish - I'm a woman, I HAVE to be able to multi task. Whilst polishing the car, I'm thinking about what to cook for tea AND doing the ironing with the other hand :lol: :lol:

Are you going to use the polisher on your RCZ or do you have to feel a bit braver yet :?:

I can't wait to detail my RCZ for the first time. I've bought loads of new products to try out on it

Keep well
K

 

[Anonymous]

A question to all you expert detailers: never having used wax before (always just polish) I'm more than a little confused. :crazy: After washing and drying, then applying polish and finally wax to make the water sit above the paint, the next time I wash and polish, does this not cancel out the wax? :eusa-think: How often do I re-apply the wax? By the way, the bug has caught me now, too. As well as making my present Hyundai gleam I'm looking at other cars on the road thinking "that needs a thorough detailing to bring it back to life." Good job I don't have the urge to do my neighbour's cars!!! :lol:

 

[G81]

A question to all you expert detailers: never having used wax before (always just polish) I'm more than a little confused. :crazy: After washing and drying, then applying polish and finally wax to make the water sit above the paint, the next time I wash and polish, does this not cancel out the wax? :eusa-think: How often do I re-apply the wax? By the way, the bug has caught me now, too. As well as making my present Hyundai gleam I'm looking at other cars on the road thinking "that needs a thorough detailing to bring it back to life." Good job I don't have the urge to do my neighbour's cars!!! :lol:

It depends on the wax. If its the soft runny easy applying type, washing would remove most of it. However, If you use a harder wax such as Dodo Juice products, its good for a long time. I normally apply 2 or 3 coats over the space of 2 months before winter and again in spring. I also make sure I clay and polish the car before the 1st coat.

So twice a year I do the following:

Wash, clay, wash again, polish, wax

with a couple of waxes afterwards and normal washes regularly throughout the year.

 

[RCZ1]

As G81 says it does depend on the wax you use. Some lasts a month, others can last up to a year. In general the Dodo waxes last anything from 2 months to 4 months.

You don't polish everytime you wash. If you washed your car correctly and preferably clayed the car, then once you've polished and then waxed you won't need to do the polish/wax process again until 2-4 months later ie once the water beading on your car is not as "tight" as it was when it was first done.

What you can do after washing your car (once you polished and waxed it) is apply a Quick Detailer to add a bit of extra shine to your car. Once you've washed and dried your car, you just spray a couple of sprays onto a panel, then buff it with a good quality microfibre cloth, then do the next panel and so on. If you use a Dodo wax, this would be a good spray to use. It comes in two sizes but a couple of sprays per panel is all you need so even the smaller one would still last quite a while.
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/dodo- ... d_540.html

I'm always pleased to hear when other people have also caught the bug - keep up the good work :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all who have replied with their tips and suggestions. :thumbup: Regarding claying, I've read the posts and also looked it up on some detailing sites but how soon would you realistically need to do this on a new car? :eusa-think:

 

[G81]

You'd be surprised. I've seen pics on various sites of the clay bar after claying a new car, and there was plenty to see. If you decide to do it though, look for an ultra fine clay bar.

 

[RCZ1]

Thanks to all who have replied with their tips and suggestions. :thumbup: Regarding claying, I've read the posts and also looked it up on some detailing sites but how soon would you realistically need to do this on a new car? :eusa-think:

Most new cars still require claying as they can be full of contaminants etc on the paintwork. The good thing about the RCZ though is that because they are not built in great numbers they are not stood around for months on end somewhere out in the open. They are built, then shipped directly to your dealer so the time between build and delivery is a month tops (or there abouts). You may find therefore that there is very little contamination on the RCZ but it should still be worth doing. And if this is the case then it won't take very long either :thumbup:

Its best to get your paintwork in tip top condition before applying any polish or wax to it.

Hope this helps

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the responses. :thumbup: I guess it's a personal preference. I'll see what the paintwork is like when I get my mitts on it! Stockpiling my detailing products while I wait and even bored the socks off a friend this morning over coffee as to what 'detailing' entailed. :roll: As far as she's concerned a car is a box on 4 wheels to get her from A to B :shock:

 

[RCZ1]

Thanks everyone for the responses. :thumbup: I guess it's a personal preference. I'll see what the paintwork is like when I get my mitts on it! Stockpiling my detailing products while I wait and even bored the socks off a friend this morning over coffee as to what 'detailing' entailed. :roll: As far as she's concerned a car is a box on 4 wheels to get her from A to B :shock:

:lol: Yes, I've had similar "chats" with friends of mine - their eyes seem to glaze over........................ :sleeping-yellow: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Blimey, I can make people glaze over without speaking!! just imagine my potential talking about detailing

Come on then K, time to fess-up girl on all the products you've bought for your new babe Think we would all be interested.

With regard to the electric polisher, yes I used both the cutting compound and the polish, but a quick question....the different colours of the polish mop i.e. green, white, blue etc, which one should I use for cutting compound and which one for polish, tried looking on the web site but couldn't work it out derrr :eusa-think:

Greg