January 9th, 2020 by Chris Chapman

As one of the UK’s best-selling snow foam brands, one of the questions we get asked a lot is “how do I get thick snow foam?” It’s not always as easy as you might think and it takes a bit of practice to get it perfect. When you’re experimenting, there are some common mistakes that are really easy to avoid – cutting these errors out of your snow foam game will help you get that satisfyingly thick foam every time!

Rinsing Your Car Before Snow Foaming

A lot of people like to rinse their car before they apply snow foam. The idea is that it cleans away some of the dirt and makes it easier for the foam to work its magic – but in reality, the opposite is true! This is because it dilutes the foam and causes it to run off your car. If you think about it, your snow foam mixture is already diluted twice by the time it reaches your car – once in the bottle and once more in your pressure washer’s jet stream. Diluting it a third time is often too much, so it could end up running off your car before it has the chance to break down the dirt. As you’ll probably jet wash the foam off anyway, there isn’t much point in pre-rinsing your car!

Placement of Your Pressure Washer

When it comes to pressure washers, location is everything! If it’s too far away from your water source, or if your water source isn’t putting out water at a high enough pressure, your washer will have a hard time generating the water pressure needed for thick snow foam. If the pressure isn’t high enough, your snow foam won’t be agitated into that thick, clingy foam. Try and keep the washer near to your water source for the best results.

Contact Washing

You should only ever rinse snow foam off, never use it as a contact wash! Car shampoos and waxes will contain agents that help your washcloth or mitt glide over your car’s paintwork without scratching it. Snow foam doesn’t contain these agents as it isn’t made to be a contact wash, so you shouldn’t use it as one no matter how good your washcloth is! Rinse it off using your pressure washer and follow it up with a proper car shampoo for a spotless shine - our best-selling Carnauba Wash and Wax is a great way to do this!

5L Pro-Kleen Wash and Wax Shampoo

Price: £17.95

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The Mixture

We can give you what our recommended snow foam dilution rate is, but it’s not always an exact science. This is because there are a massive number of different factors that can affect foam thickness, so the strength of your mixture may vary. These factors include water hardness, water pressure, the quality and condition of your lance, your lance’s settings, the temperature outside, and more. We recommend mixing three parts water for every one part foam in your lance bottle when using our snow foam as this works for most people, but it may be slightly different for you. If it doesn’t give you the foam you’re looking for, try a stronger mix as it could be that other conditions are affecting it.

Using Snow Foam in Very Hot Weather

There are few things more satisfying than washing your car on a glorious, sunny day. Warm, slightly humid conditions are the best for snow foam but don’t bother snow foaming your car if it’s roasting hot. If the car’s surface is too hot, it’ll cause the bubbles in the foam to pop, so it won’t cling to your car for as long. Make sure your paintwork isn’t too hot before applying snow foam for the best results.

2 x 5L Pro-Kleen Cherry Snow Foam

Price: £27.95

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