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Thread: The Importance of Pre-Wash Foams..

  1. #1
    Section Mod Debo's Avatar
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    The Importance of Pre-Wash Foams..

    Overview:

    The purpose of using a foam pre-wash, is to help soften any heavily bonded dirt, flies etc and also suspend loose dirt, acting as a carrier to transport it away from your vehicle when you rinse it off. Most pre-wash foams are also ph neutral, so won't strip off any protection, but it is of great importance to check before purchasing. Some "Snow Foam" solutions, actually contain alkali's, similar to that found in Trafic Film Removers (TFR), and these will strip away any protection you have on the car.

    Sometimes you could use a TFR, if the car is very heavily soiled and you were planning on doing a full detail with new protection etc. They are chemically stronger than pre-wash foams, so just look out for which one you're using or which one you need to use for a specific job.


    The process:

    You can start with either a dry or a wet car, it makes little difference I have found. If heavily soiled I tend to spray the foam on dry, as it does seem to soften the hard bits better, I would guess this is because the water on the car if you rinsed first, dilutes the foam...




    From the point you fully cover the car, you want the foam to go on quite thick and cover the entire car. The picture you see was taken after it had been on the car for around 5mins, hence why it was starting to slide off (as seen on the floor). Leaving the foam to dwell for ~5mins is about the optimum time for it to work. During this period, you can take a small soft bristled brush and agitate around the window trims and all other details on the car to help remove excess dirt from the areas which collect it most.




    Once 5mins or so has passed, you can then begin rinsing the foam off. The foam will have collected the loose dirt (if you look at the foam on the ground it's likely to show such dirt), so be careful when rinsing, and methodically work your way from top to bottom..




    That's the pre-wash complete and the car will be wet from just rinsing the foam off. From this point, proceed with your wash phase, as provided in this guide.

    This should yield fantastic results, and takes car cleaning just one step further than the guy next door











    Recommended list of pre-wash foams:

    Stjärnagloss Red Snö
    Valet-Pro PH Neutral Snow Foam
    Meguiar's Hyper Wash

    And a good quality TFR if required:
    Autoglym TFR Multiwash


    Hope this helps.

    Matt.

  2. #2
    Punto Lover
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    Hope you don't mind me adding this.

    Having used Hyperwash I find it offers little grime shifting power and was very disappointing, for me at least.

    Autobrite Magifoam on the other hand works extremely well in removing traffic grime without compromising the wax/sealant from my experience.

  3. #3
    Punto know it all
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    great post Matt your work always look spotless very impressed

    im gona ask if you fancy doing a full valet on mine if you have time

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    Quote Originally Posted by B3NZARMY View Post
    great post Matt your work always look spotless very impressed

    im gona ask if you fancy doing a full valet on mine if you have time
    essex to manchester? will be ****ed by the time you got back home lol, plenty of local detailers who can do just as good a job.

  5. #5
    Section Mod Debo's Avatar
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    I don't know about just as good, because I'm very good but I do agree that Essex to Manchester is a long way to come to have some work done mate.. Thanks for the kind comments though, its much appreciated

    Nick, no problem at all regarding the Megs stuff - I have only used that a couple of times when working at the unit, using Shinearama's stuff, it seemed decent enough but was only used on lightly soiled cars.

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    Max Power Tuner Mr Hans's Avatar
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    You are giving me a hernia.

  7. #7
    Section Mod Debo's Avatar
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    Ahh, Hans, so nice of you to join us this evening. I might make a thread tomorrow specifically for you, when I have some time. Tying this from the BB so would take too long to post. It's a car you might like, and could perhaps open your eyes somewhat to this whole car care thing that you don't seem to have gotten into

    Anyway, please try and refrain from any further negativity - and we can then keep this on topic. Cheers!

  8. #8
    Max Power Tuner Mr Hans's Avatar
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    I wish I was you

  9. #9
    Section Mod Debo's Avatar
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    I bet you do

    Anyway, here's a pic of said car being foamed. This is just after its been applied - to those interested (obviously not you, Hans) this is roughly the sort of thickness you want to aim for.. It should cling for about 7 or 8 mins in total if you left it to dry out/fall off, we only really need it on for 5 though, by which time it should look more like the thickness shown above, on the A-Class..


  10. #10
    Max Power Tuner Mr Hans's Avatar
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    How do you know your not wrong Since all your knowledge is copied from other forums

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