ONR + soap in foam gun?

[HellDemon]

Hey guys,

I'm not in a position to try this over here, since it's below freezing here in Toronto, so my hose is out of use for at least the next 1-2 months...

I've had a long-standing interest with the snow foams available in UK, particularly chemical guys no touch snow foam, autosmart actimousse, etc; the ones that legitimately clean WELL simply from foaming. Since none are available over here in canada or the US, and shipping is absolutely ridiculous across seas IF I can even find a site willing to ship (usually it's like, $30 just to ship like, a small 1L bottle...), I was wondering if people kind of make a DIY well-cleaning snow foam?

Regular soap that foams well doesn't do much in terms of actually getting contaminants OFF the paint, and I don't want ridiculous LSP stripping or else I'd just shove APC in there.
So I thought, since ONR's polymers encapsulate and to some extent, emulsify them as well, would mixing that with regular high-foaming soap like CG honeydew work? I understand that the ONR would make it foam less, but would it work on getting a cleaner surface?

If not, have you guys created your own foaming solutions that get a car spotless just from foaming?

[PiPUK]

The likes of actimousse works so well because it is extreme pH. To an approximation, it is rather similar to APC and not a million miles different to a regular soap/shampoo with a load of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) added. Now I well know that you guys have easy access to the soda so that would be my recommendation. Actimousse is about 2% caustic soda. Be cautious with your dilutions however, caustic soda is nasty stuff and I don't personally think it is the best (read it isn't all that safe) product for high end cleaning applications. If you were to make a solution with 2%, this would be equivalent to 'neat' actimousse. If it was at 1%, that would be equivalent to 50% strength actimousse (etc.).

I would be cautious mixing formulated product unless you know what is in them. For instance, most soaps will be based on what are known as anionic surfactants. ONR is an unknown - we don't have a data sheet which tells us what the ingredients are and it is quite plausible that some of the ingredients are cationic. The trouble is that if you add an anionic and a cationic, it is like adding a plus to a minus - they cancel out which can mean that the active ingredients stop working and potentially turn into a hazy precipitated mess.

All the best

[Baconz2012]

[QUOTE=Mr Megane;809640]The likes of actimousse works so well because it is extreme pH. To an approximation, it is rather similar to APC and not a million miles different to a regular soap/shampoo with a load of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) added. Now I well know that you guys have easy access to the soda so that would be my recommendation. Actimousse is about 2% caustic soda. Be cautious with your dilutions however, caustic soda is nasty stuff and I don't personally think it is the best (read it isn't all that safe) product for high end cleaning applications. If you were to make a solution with 2%, this would be equivalent to 'neat' actimousse. If it was at 1%, that would be equivalent to 50% strength actimousse (etc.).

I would be cautious mixing formulated product unless you know what is in them. For instance, most soaps will be based on what are known as anionic surfactants. ONR is an unknown - we don't have a data sheet which tells us what the ingredients are and it is quite plausible that some of the ingredients are cationic. The trouble is that if you add an anionic and a cationic, it is like adding a plus to a minus - they cancel out which can mean that the active ingredients stop working and potentially turn into a hazy precipitated mess.

All the best[/QUOTE

What a great response! I would've never even thought about this at all! I'm not going to question megane seeing as he knows his stuff, but I usually add about an ounce of onr to my foam gun soap for added lubricity. I guess the soap handles more of the cleaning power so I dont know if ONR is doing any work. But I do like how my mitt glides over the surface when ONR is added.

[DaHen]

Have been adding about an ounce of Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine to the foam gun and wash bucket as well.

[cleanmycorolla]

I've added ONR with CG foams before just for fun, didnt see any negatives to it. Car washed fine, looked clean after!

[WRXINXS]

Would the ONR reduce the foaming action?

[DaHen]

Would the ONR reduce the foaming action?

None that I've noticed. Still plenty of foam.

[PiPUK]

As a rule, shine adding products often are cationic so I would be even more cautious mixing one with a generic wash only product (almost always anionic) than with a product not designed to add shine/protection. The thing is that you are unlikely to cause a dangerous reaction and worst to happen is you compromise performance so it doesn't really hurt to play.