trouble foaming the car

[skyblues11]

After reading about it in the summer, i thought to try and foam the car white, kind of pre-bucket wash treatment.

So i went and bought a cheapo pressure washer from Halfords and some ph-balance foaming liquid ( ones you mix to a ratio).

since then and somehow, i just could not get it to foam up and to produce a white covering.

what am i doing wrong? i only used cold water and had filled the bottle with about 30% snow foam liquid.

also, could normal car shampoos be used in the lance bottle instead to produce more sud?

[trix]

Are you using a dedicated snow foam lance? (or just the one that came with the pressure washer..)

S

[skyblues11]

it was one of these Trix - Halfords HP1400 Pressure Washer.

it said 'vario' lance. is that not enough? Being a newbie to detailing, i thought to go easy to begin with.

[Ian_Mac]

You'd be better off getting a dedicated snowfoam gun to use with the pressure washer. I always use luke warm water as well.

Autoperfection have them on their website as do many others.

[skyblues11]

you mean Ian, one of these?
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... ments.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but wil they fit the Halford system? i can only access a cold water tap. could i fill the bottle with hot water to compensate?

[Ian_Mac]

you mean Ian, one of these?
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... ments.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but wil they fit the Halford system? i can only access a cold water tap. could i fill the bottle with hot water to compensate?

Yep, that's the kind of thing you need to get a good thick covering of foam.

The warm water does go in the bottle, normally an inch or so of the foam mixture then fill it up with warm water.

As for the Halfords question I can help there I'm afraid. I've never see the Halfords washer so don't know what connector they use.

There does seem to be a range of connectors on the Autoperfection website so I'm sure they could help.

[trix]

the Halfords pressure washers are just a rebranded something else so Taryn & Jim probably know off the top of their heads which fitment you would require, otherwise I think they have 'diagnosed' by photo before.
they haven't been on in a while though so if you want to find out give them a call

S

[skyblues11]

the thing is, the halfords washer comes with a yellow bottle. i guess smaller but it has no adjustment nob at the bottle top. I would adjust the spray pattern via the nozzle.

I'll get in touch with autoperfection and find out more.

thanks everyone.

[Buckster]

I go to the hand car wash once a month, anymore than that is overkill.

[juniorbanks]

I did the same as Buckster until they broke my electric seat so back to me doing it again !! SkyBlues can you post back here the answer from Autoperfection as i also have a Halfords pressure washer

[skyblues11]

call me wierd but i just like to detail the car myself. Its kind of theraputic.....

to the contrary, i thought foaming would be a lazy way of coping with winter. I use a sealant on the car and after rinsing with a pressure washer, its clean enough until better weather comes, when i normally do the hand wash.

i am more bothered about the salt, screen wash etc on the panels, the corrosive stuff during winter.

not asked them yet. will do it over the wkend!

[markwiggy]

I bought myself one of these babies (PA Foam lance from Polished Bliss) and used with my Karcher and Megs Hyper wash produces superb results. Looks as though it's been snowing in the road when i use it, all the neighbours think i'm nuts.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... -cat2.html

Mark

[skyblues11]

yeah Mark, it seems it is the one, but my problem is the connector. i still have not established which one of them fits my cheapo p.washer.

[juniorbanks]

yeah Mark, it seems it is the one, but my problem is the connector. i still have not established which one of them fits my cheapo p.washer.

There are only about 6 options and there is no definate answer as like Trix says the Halfords ones use a common adapter that they buy they don't make their own. For example mine is the Kew/Alto adapter but that doesn't mean yours is as they change adapters to whatever they can get cheapest at the time, it's a trial an error type thing, if you bought from Autoperfection give Jim a shout as he knows all about this problem

[andyd68]

I bought myself one of these babies (PA Foam lance from Polished Bliss) and used with my Karcher and Megs Hyper wash produces superb results. Looks as though it's been snowing in the road when i use it, all the neighbours think i'm nuts.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... -cat2.html

Mark

That's the same one as I have and my neighbours think I'm nuts as well

[skyblues11]

got it. its a Kew/ alto adaptor.

the next job is to get all the bits including the snow foam liquid itself

[3t3p]

foaming is really fun n all, but i'm just not convinced, I wouldn't buy the kit again, i'd invest in other areas of cleaning instead

it really doesn't seem to loosen anything up at all

you use the pressure washer in the same way anyway, to get rid of major grit before you wash the car at least twice with two bucket method...

[skyblues11]

i know what you mean 3t3p, it cannot replace the physical action of cleaning by hand.

this thing about contactless cleaning, its still a long way away.

my original idea was to use the foam to clean the salt and de-icer residuo that built up over the winter, as its too cold to handwash. Kind of interim wash against those desolvable stuff.

the mud/ solid dirt can be washed when the weather gets better.

[keith]

If you have a good coat of wax on the vehicle then using foams can help espec in the winter, check out valetpro on Youtube they have some good vids, look out for Orange pre-wash.

[skyblues11]

managed to foam the car last weekend successfully. was brilliant! Definately a solution for the winter days!