Snow foam soap - Stripping LSP

[Theostoubos]

Hi All,

Just curious. Have any of you noticed any reduction of durability of your LSP due to snow foaming the car?

I use either Meg's Hyper Wash or CG Honeydew Snow Foam, but I get the impression that my LSP is weakened. I'm not "religious" when it comes to dilution rates. Could that be a problem ?

Thanks.

[SRTSean]

I actually think foaming my car before washing has significantly shortened the life span of whatever LSP I have on it. Last time around I had two coats of WGDGS 3.0 on my car and the protection was gone after 2 months. I've seen way longer out of the Wolfgang previously, and the only change in maintenance was that I had started foaming the car before washing. This is using Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds II. I just switched to Megs GC soap for foaming to see if it's gentler on the 2 coats of Fuzion I just put on the car last weekend.

Now, I will still continue to foam the car before washing because it has all but eliminated wash induced swirls and scratches, but it is kinda frustrating to see a durable sealant like WGDGS basically stripped completely in two months.

[rider9195]

I believe the dilution ratio of shampoo to water is your problem here. Lets say you have the half gallon Foamaster. For every 2 gallons of water I use about half a ounce of shampoo(just my preference). So for half a gallon you would need very very little product technically. But If I were using a foam gun or cannon I would use about 1/4 oz. and the rest water.

[opie_7afe]

i agree with rider, you need the correct dilution for washing, but its kind of hard to know correct dilution with a foamer. too high of a dilution will weaken lsp's but gotta remember with foaming its not to manufacturers instructions so even if it says wont strip it can with high dilutions. now the foamer im talking about is the foam cannon not the gilmour foamaster, that thing just sprays sudsy water(IMO) with very little foam and pumps out more gpm then a pressure washer, so that one has less chance of degrading lsp's due to lower dilution. now with a pressure washer your using less water at a higher pressure so your dilution goes way higher and can degrade your lsp. so for the cannon i would use as rider said and about 1/4oz and the rest water, soaps can still foam a ton without a lot of soap so remember that... also play around with the adjustments on the top of the foam cannon as well to get a nice wash mix and just find that perfect setting for that soap. you can also not foam your car with every wash, can just do a standard wash with pressure and no foamer unless your car is loaded down with road grime, that will help with lsp's lasting longer. another option is use a good spray wax after every wash(i do this) and it really gives the car that just waxed look and that awesome slickness. i love my optimum car wax or xmt 360 spray wax...good luck!

[Theostoubos]

Many thanks for all your replies guys.

So it seems I'm not the only one who has a bit of an issue, so I will start getting very accurate with the dilution of the soap and I will only foam when there is a bit more grime.

Although I absolutely love snow foaming my cars, I love more the feeling and look of a properly waxed car. I do have two foam cannon. The all time classic Foam Cannon and the G Foam blaster. I use the Meg's Hyper Wash and the CG Honeydew Snow foam. I'll cut back on the soap as I have to admit I was way on the heavy side.

Once again thanks for the advice.

:dblthumb2:

[Bunky]

I'll cut back on the soap as I have to admit I was way on the heavy side.

Once again thanks for the advice.

:dblthumb2:

One of my to do's, is to actually figure out what the actual dilution is coming out of my foam gun. I will have to measure throughput of hose without soap pick up then with soap pick up to see what the real usage per gallon is to compare against soap recommendation.

[Theostoubos]

One of my to do's, is to actually figure out what the actual dilution is coming out of my foam gun. I will have to measure throughput of hose without soap pick up then with soap pick up to see what the real usage per gallon is to compare against soap recommendation.

This should be added to the "You know you 're an Autogeek when..." article

:dblthumb2:

[Bunky]

This should be added to the "You know you 're an Autogeek when..." article

:dblthumb2:

Guilty as charged.