Is pre-rinsing stupid? Let's find out!
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Is pre-rinsing stupid? Let's find out! In this episode, we test to see if rinsing your car first with water is better than applying a snow foam directly on dry paint. The results might surprise you!
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🇺🇸 For people in USA:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3MSWkNj
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
🇨🇦 For people in Canada:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3qduFgk
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
🇬🇧 For people in the UK:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3u3Q5xv
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
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#foamcannon #prerinse #snowfoam #detailing #cardetailing #cleaning #pantheorganizer #detailingtutorials #autodetailing
⬇️🔶 LINKS TO PRODUCTS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO ⬇️⬇️
🇺🇸 For people in USA:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3MSWkNj
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
🇨🇦 For people in Canada:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3qduFgk
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
🇬🇧 For people in the UK:
Bilt Hamber Touch-Less: bit.ly/36oJbe0
MJJC Foam Cannon Pro: amzn.to/3u3Q5xv
Kranzle 1122TST pressure washer: bit.ly/3d5kZeK
Mosmatic gun and wand solution: bit.ly/3ovIcPA
I like to rinse the car first with a regular hose sprayer to get any loose stuff off, then snow foam and rinse off with the pressure washer. Foam again and use mitts, pressure wash off.
Good stuff Pan its interesting this one. Heres the heart of it. When a dirt film layer is dry on the car. Then it has the ability to soak in a liquid. In the same way a dry piece of paper soaks in a liquid. Once the dirt film (or dry piece of paper example) is soaked with water it is saturated. It looses the ability to draw in more liquid at this point. So you then spray the dirt film thats saturated with water with your snow foam pre wash (which is a free rinsing non contact wash product) But the surfactant cannot be drawn into the dirt film because its saturated with water already. The water alone is a poor emulsifier of some types of winter road films we get in the UK. So the water rinse hampers the surfactant from penetrating and emulsifying the film. surfactants work by making materials which are not water soluable able to mix with water. But if they cant get to that material they cannot work. Dilution is also significantly lowered. Ive found on UK winter road film quite dramatic differences in product performance, AKA it works significantly better going on dry. Ive also been saying this for years but again Im not looking for universal agreement. plus wasting time, water and electricity or gas.
Counter arguments are cooling a car with summer dust only with the water can be useful (yes)
Extreme chunks of mud might be good to just blast off first (yes)
not all road films are the same constitution some do break down well with water (mud splatter for example) so you might find its not always a big deal either way
Or you might just feel rinsing with water first is the best way for you.
Viva la difference! ;)
Jon, now we need to know what the more alkaline or heavier detergent/surfactant concentrated pre-washes do the protection layer. Are modern coatings chemical resistant enough resist getting jacked up by these cleaners? I think we'd all be cool with a coating losing a few months of longevity, but what if it cuts the life in half? Also, what happens longer-term to plastics, rubber, and trim?
It’s always nice to exchange thoughts with you Jon! This is certainly a topic that gets people talking. I think people need to do some testing in their conditions, based on environmental conditions, what snow foam they use, which method yields the best results for them, and to use what works best after they do A and B testing.
What works for me, with the insane winters and road salt that we are exposed to in Montreal, might be different for someone living in sunny California for example, or a very humid climate in another country, etc.
I also think it’s important to use common sense while detailing. If your car is caked in a thick layer of mud, I would recommend pre-rinsing first.
But it was certainly nice to watch your videos on it and for me to show these tests in my conditions too. I think we essentially came to the same conclusions especially when it comes to the choice of a snow foam.
Cheers!
Coatings can typically resist to chemicals in pH ranges 2-3 all the way to 11-12 depending on the coating.
We’d have to do long term testing to see, but I wouldn’t recommend a pH 13 snow foam for every single wash (especially for guys like me who clean their cars twice weekly) as that could potentially harm the coating but more importantly it’s not needed that frequently.
For someone who only washes their car one or twice a month, I don’t think such a pre-wash will have a detrimental effect on a good ceramic coating. Many of my viewers, especially in the UK, seem to use Bilt Hamber snow foams all the time on their coated cars and even that doesn’t hurt their coating.
I’m sure there’s more to the chemistry than just pH. As there are stripping shampoos that are more powerful to remove waxes at a lower pH, compared to these BH pH 12-13 snow foams.
the lsp Deg issue is another interesring one Matt but it's different to this topic. surfactants are not very effective at removing modern lsp because they work through emulsifying. where a surfactant sits on the on the pH scale is not that important versus the specific properties of the chemical used. the biggest commen degrader of Lsp from a chem pov will be things like caustic soda and phosphates or use of other hydroxides.. some closer to pH neutral products can be more caustic than higher alkaline depending on what's in them. alkalinity alone is not a reliable marker in a products ability to degrade.
things like coatings can not really be effected by typical surfactants because of what they are chemically. so a coating tends to get mechanically eroded off the panel more.
want safe chemicals that have very strict regulations about what's in them, then buy European. specifically German. Koch are superb on this.
From my 30 yrs of experience, the UV is the biggest destroyer of clear coats. Also, the final chemistry result within any cleaner is key. Most soaps contain sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Why? Because that is how soap is made. Just because they are in the formulations doesnt mean they will kill the clear coat faster. Many surfactants have these as well.
The biggest factor to look for (in my opinion) is does the cleaner etch glass if left to dry. If the answer is yes, then use less often. If the answer is no, then the final chemistry made within the formulation is a safer choice for long term, repeative use. Also, some of the thicker gel soaps have high salt contents. Salt in and of its self can corroad over time. Most soaps dont have high ph. However it is loaded in salt. So...the final chemistry of the final product is really what matters in my experience of 30 yrs.
I think it would have been easier to see the results with a darker colored paint. Further, a wipe of 90%+ isopropyl alcohol with a white paper towel after drying might have shown which was more effective. All in all, I think we’ve reached a point of distinction with minute differences. Thanks, Pan.
A white paper towel will scratch your paint!
@@Cartec09 Okay… then a soft, white cotton facecloth. 🙄
Exactly! A contact wash is always needed after a pre-wash. So I will not drag a paper towel or even a microfiber towel on the paint after just the pre-wash as that could scratch the finish! If people want to do that on their own cars, they’re more than welcome to do their own tests. ;)
I rarely pre-rinse now (unless the car is exceptionally dirty). I was intrigued by Jon’s video, as well as a few others, so I tried it myself then decided to change my standard wash process 👍🏻
What is your standard wash process?
@@FullPcGamer same as always just without pre-rinsing most of the time. I have variations depending on time and how dirty the car is but the standard for me is;
>wheels cleaned
>body; pre-wash w/foam over for dwell time
> contact wash
>protection/dressings
>dried
What’s your standard?
I’m currently following your wash process from your, “wash your car like a pro video” from 10 months ago, where you pre rinse with McKee’s 37 N-914 or ONR before you snow foam the vehicle 😊
That’s what I do too, like a pre-pre-wash, 1 extra step doesn’t hurt!
Pan, How about switching it up,(from your “wash it like a pro steps”) how about snow foaming on Dry paint let it do it’s job and do it well ( and save on water) then do an ONR/rinseless application wait 1-2 minutes and then go immediately into hand washing. Thoughts on how that would get best results and be most efficient and effective?
I would love a good comparison of bilt hamber autofoam vs carpro reset on a really dirty car. Also how ironx, tarx, or even trix deal with plasti dip (parts) on a car. Great video as always!
CarPro Lift would be a better comparison surely?
I use reset only once to twice per year when my ceramic starts to fade, but I pre foam with car pro lift and and I can see dirt running down the side, that or tough mudder on my truck or SxS.
@@ItsRyan. yeah carpro lift sounds like a fair comparison tbh. What i cant seem to find though is enough info about the decontamination products i mentioned above. I have i fiat abarth which has a lot of contaminated areas, but also has some plasti dip parts and stripes on the side. I cant seem to find answers about those products, and im a bit scared to experiment on the car 🤷
Autofoam will beat reset any day as a pre-foam. But that’s not what reset is designed for. Carpro lift is the product to compare, but having all of these products, BH AF is noticeably stronger. As for the plastidip all these products including ironx should be safe. I’m guessing tarx might impact it. Best way is to dip some pieces to test with to be sure.
This sounds silly , but I went to carwash school... we learned to put only the presoak on, and always spray it on from the bottom up, the strong Ph can cause "cleaner" streaks running down the car... super vids man!!
Thanks Dougie! How did you discover my channel by the way?
Welcome to my channel. You discovered one of the biggest car detailing channels on RUclips as we surpassed 760,000 subscribers and are getting close to 100 million views! I have been detailing for 25 years and I love to share my knowledge and passion with my viewers.
You found the right channel to help you learn everything about detailing.
@@PanTheOrganizer I found it using RUclips search.
great video...I snow foam first, let it sit for 5 min, then rinse. 2nd snow foam I then wipe with micro fiber mitt, then rinse. IMHO
Ive been pre rinsing all my life pan, my late father taught me to rinse with a shower hose before you start washing. 👍
Times have changed, better methods have been tried and tested. Its no harm to try a new way of thinking. You won't damage anything. I always snowfoam on dry paint then blast off the dirt. You'll 100% reduce paint swirls and therfore reduce the amount of cutting your clear coat back by polishing. You have infinite amount of soap and only a finite amount of clear coat. Always work with the lesser evil 👍
Although it may be a reflection, the lower door molding on the non pre-rinse door still seems dirty, whereas the pre-rinse door seems just as clean on the paint and cleaner on the plastic molding. Plastic being more porous, I think there's an argument for both sides here. I would imagine using a PH neutral foam could impact the results as well. Great experiment Pan! Thanks for the investigative content.
I also noticed that, however, we must consider that the dirt on those plastics comes directly from the front tire. Consequently, the back ones will get less dirt as they are further away from the tire. Also, I don't think those were the main focus of the test, cause Pan seems to focus on the painted surfaces.
Pan has guided me though my journey of proper car care since I bought my i8 1 year ago. It's been immensely helpful thank you!
I don’t pressure wash before snow foam anymore (since John’s video) however, will I cool the panels of a black car in summer before snow foam with a pressure wash first, you bet I will!
My point is, we pressure wash first depending on circumstances. Thanks for a great video Pan, love your content 👌🏼
John who?
@@AMP8424 his channel is Forensic Detailing. Lots of great content
To me it looked as though the pre rinse door was a little cleaner. Glad to see another video on this. I may give it a try during one of my washes to see it in person. Thank's for sharing 👍
Between yours and John's videos, I'm sold on skipping the pre-rinse for a daily driver that's not too caked up. However, I usually wash my car after work, and it's piping hot from the drive in the central Florida sun. I don't have enough time in my shaded driveway for the car to cool, so I give it a pre-rinse mostly to cool the paint down. Otherwise, the snow foam will start drying before a proper dwell time. That said, if my car was already in the shade (like the garage) and not hot to the touch, I will definitely test skipping the pre-rinse when I'm able. Mobile detailers have it even tougher washing in direct sun without much choice. I wonder what order they prefer. Thanks for the post!
Unfortunately I don't have a controlled environment. I live in Hawaii so we have summer and cooler summer. Pre-rinse is a must to cool down the car unless you start VERY early in the morning or are fortunate enough to have a shaded area.
Hi Pan. I’ve found that pre-rinsing my cars (4x white) gave a much better result than foaming first. I also found that this method allows you to do the contact wash without needing to rinse the foam off (rightly or wrongly). It’s more efficient.
I would prefer to pre rinse just to get larger material off before snow foam thanks pan
Definitely pre rinse if you plan on using wash mit with the snow foam to get most gunk of the paint. But I've always pre rinsed, just part of pots and pans now.
With the SiC ceramic coating on my car, the pre rinse takes off nearly all the dirt. I don't pressure rinse the car's surfaces during the pre rinse; I sheet a stream of low-velocity high volume water so as to not drive dirt particles into the clear coat with great force, said stream being nearly parallel with the surface. From there I lay a blanket of highly concentrated foam and let it dwell for several minutes, rinse it and then proceed with the contact wash. In the contact wash, I do add a little rinse less wash concentrate to the washing solution to increase the lubricity.
This has worked very well for me in the 4½ years that I've had my glossy black car, that I don't think has suffered any clear coat damage due to my washing and drying.
Yes! Thanks! I'm sold. I've been trying this for about a month now and I love skipping the pre rinsing step. I do feel the surface is slightly cleaner and maybe more lubricated. but if it's for nothing else the time and water savings is awesome.
I’m am tremendously glad you made this video, snow foaming or even using an apc pre wash first makes the most sense ever; pre-rinsing rubs the dirt on the paint, while using snow foam first makes best use of snow foam, thanks Pan
I use ONR in an IK sprayer first lightly on the car, then snow foam, then straight to contact wash with ph neutral soap on the mitt on top of the foam after dwell time. Works great.
One issue with father Hough is that you never got a chance to remove the dirt that the foam and ONR has loosened thus rendering it somewhat useless. If you've loosened upa lot of the dirt by using foam and ONR why agitate with a mitt, when you could rinse it all of, possible refoam with regular car shampoo and then agitate with a mitt?
I was spraying ONR before the initial rinse as lube. Am going to give this a go and see how it works
I split the difference, prerinse the bottom half and foam from top down doing the wheels while I wait for foam to work.
I live in a pretty dusty dry/arid climate in a rural area so both of my vehicles get ‘dirty’ hours after washing. One of vehicles is ceramic coated, 6 month into a ‘5 year’ coating and it’s holding up well. I think I’ll start adopting practice of not doing a pre-rinse and see my results on it. Other vehicle only has a sealant that I applied myself. I like to pre-rinse mainly because my pressure washer is a craftsman 1900 psi @ 1.2 gpm, so pretty low flow rate and for the sealant coated car I worry i won’t get enough grime/debris off with standalone snow foam. Thank you for doing this video!
Thanks for the vid. If the result is so comparable, it suggests that it works better without rinsing as when rinsing with a power washer already removes dirt. Following this, I will not pre rinse unless I have a lot of muck.
Not doing prerinsing helps to reduce water consumption in reality. But it is also true that only foaming the surface as start do not cleans the panels that well.
Hello Pan, from Panama city Panama.
My common sense is telling me that pre wash is better to do it without pre rinsing. Because the reason why we doing pre wash is to prepare the surface for the contact wash. The pre wash soap is liquid already and it will lubricate and drag the dirt, then with the rinse of the foam will help the dirt to fall off. And then the surface is ready for contact wash without that much of dirt.
If you pre rinse the car before the foam, the water will dilute more the foam without letting the pre wash soap to penetrate on the surface and drag the dirt.
Also remember you are using a pressure washer to rinse at the end of the 5 minutes for the soap to do its job.
Also I forgot. A friend of mine once told me water does not lubricate alone. When using soap is to lubricate for the dirt does not mini scratch the paint.
Really good and interesting video.
Another thing to consider: when you pre-rinse the car and apply your chemicals, you are basically diluting them even more.
So, if the car is extremely dirty (like covered in chunks of dirt), hot or cold, I lightly pre-rinse it: Hot car - just to cool it down, cold car - to heat it up, covered in chunks of dirt - just to remove most of the dirt.
If it's just dusty, or a little dirty (like in the video), I start with snow foam straight away.
I use to wash a car like this, preparing it for a compound, polish and coating.
A citrus diluted 1-10, from a pump sprayer, let it do its magic for 5minutes then rinse
A foam wash, and using the foam to further lubricate the surface, i do the 2 bucket wash, leaving the paint super clean after rinsing it. And of course i follow up with the chemical and mechanical decontamination if needed.
This way, the first citrus wash helps to get the majority of the dirt of so the next foam wash with the wash mitt doesn't scratch the surface even more. You should try it ☺️. Thanks Pan and keep up the good work!
Bravo, Pan! 👏🏻
I guess, from a water conservation perspective, no pre-rinse would be a consideration.
Great video. As always.
Yeah that's another plus point. I've been doing this method for years and its the best way, it isn't diluting the SF when it contacts the wet surface. When it hit the dry dirt its still 5% PIR dilution 👍
2/3 of the world is covered in water, and all water naturally recycles.
Thanks a lot Pan
Every time i think about anything about how to clean the car properly
I found the answer in your channel
No matter what I think about
Thanks for the positive feedback Orwa! How did you discover my channel?
Welcome to my channel. You discovered one of the biggest car detailing channels on RUclips as we surpassed 890,000 subscribers and we have over 115 million views! I have been detailing for 26 years and I love to share my knowledge and passion with my viewers.
You found the right channel to help you learn everything about detailing.
@@PanTheOrganizer hi Pan thanks for your feedback
A few months ago I bought a new car that i really like and started washing at home
I started searching youtube for detailing videos and found your great channel
Since am addicted to it
You’re doing an amazing serious job
Simply the best on the field 👍🙏
Not all of us can use a garage for car washing. I pre spray my car down to help bring the vehicle surface temperature down from being in the sun. I don't always get a chance to wash before sunset, and black gets Hot fast. But still a good video.
Hard to tell from the video. They do look very close. I go back to Yvan Lacroix often saying pressure washing dirt without lubrication can harm your finish. So for me, I would try to avoid pressure washing without lubrication first, unless of course as you said, there is just so much that the foam cannon won't penetrate. Another great video Pan.
That's what I was thinking too.
Pan, as usual great video. Technical note: "SPEED X5000%" is kind of tautology. There are two logical ways of showing increased speed. One is to show multiply factor ("x5 speed") other is to show speed in percentage ("speed 500%"). Mixing both is rather not too common and "SPEED X5000%" can be hardly understand.
This saves me Eight quarters at the self car wash. Thanks Pan. Now i can focus on spending that extra time to foam the car soaking wet
Thanks for watching Alisol! How did you discover my channel by the way?
Welcome to my channel. You discovered one of the biggest car detailing channels on RUclips as we surpassed 840,000 subscribers and 105 million views! I have been detailing for 25 years and I love to share my knowledge and passion with my viewers.
You found the right channel to help you learn everything about detailing.
I pre pressure wash before foaming, but this changes my mind. Can do the wheel wells and such while rinsing off the foam residue. Great video, short and sweet. Thanks
Definitely going to always snow foam from now on!
I agree with common sense. I can see saving 5 minutes as a professional detailer doing multiple vehicles by not pre-rinsing. For me, time is alloted per job and the cost is accounted for. My clients expect a certain result with the least potential of surface marring. It's a reflection of my methods, quality products and equipment. Great topic and points of discussion. Thank you Pan! Awesome as always.
Both tests worked really well - but not pre rinsing has saved time and water. Both valuable commodities for the world especially for detailing businesses. Superb video 👌
Great video Pan, I pre rinse , then spray snow foam and lastly I do the two buckets method. I alway use pre rinse just to be one the safe side.
I always pre-rinse my Telluride even if it's light dirt!
I use Griots Surface foam dry per the instructions. I typically pre-rinsed now that its crazy pollen season in Georgia. Once pollen season passes I go back to applying the foam to a dry surface. As always, great video Pan!
Thanks Pan for the comparison video. To me there is no right or wrong way to pre-rinse. The steps that I use which I picked up from yourself are: 1. Apply APC on a dry panel, let it dwell for a few minutes. 2. Apply snow foam and let dwell. 3. Rinse off. Some people will leave the snow foam on and use that as part of the contact wash. As I have to wash my car in the street which has plenty of trees, I don't use that method in case a leaf blows onto the foam and I don't see it before manually washing that part, and end up scratching the paint, even though ceramic coated.
Great content and professional presentation. Thank you! //// Had thought another (maybe primary) thought about "foam first'' vs 'rinse first' was that "ff' allowed dirt to be more effectively lifted and removed from the paint whereas 'rinse first' was pushing dirt across the paint w/o benefit of foam lubrication ?
I would like to believe that pre-rinsing introduces greater chances for scratches since plain water has less lubricity than snowfoam. What i mean is the water would drag debris on the surface w/o proper lubrication.
I always Pre rinse my car before I do any sort of washing or snow foam . If the car is dirty which living in the south with no snows& garage kept I’ll snow foam after I rinsed & wash the snow foam with the mitt. Then blow dry. Car is Graphene coated.
i respect all opinions , i prefer to pre-rinse always always.
Great pan. I use McKee's n-914 waterless wash let Soak for about 5 minutes then rest off the use carpro lift then hand wash
Hi everyone! I usually reply to all RUclips comments as you know, but there are so many comments in this video it’s a bit overwhelming so I won’t be able to respond to all of them unfortunately. Thanks for understanding. 👍🏻
Since Jon did his video I’ve stopped pre - rinsing. Rarely get heavy mud deposits in Uk. Really happy with the switch.
Good to see your test Pan! Thanks
Thanks Adrian!
I believe you would have had more clear results by using a more PH neutral foam soap which is what most people at home use. The Bilt Hamber Touchless is so strong it cleaned both panels by chemical strength alone which is why you had results that were not significantly different IMO.
Its a sugar based cleaner with not nasty chemicals in it. Its a reasonably high PH to take care of a very dirty or stubborn dirt films. You can adjust the PIR ratio to 2% in the summer and back up to 4% in the winter. I adda bit of Bilt Hamber Surfex HD into the bottle when its really dirty for exceptional results. I guess it depends on your climate etc. I've got no problem against a PH neutral for the right conditions 👍
so close that you have to exam that close. but you save water and time by not rinsing first because snow foaming alone is great. do remember you used a ph 12 snow foam vs ph neutral snow foam. as always Pan you do a great job with info. I have seen forensic Detail do this test before i seen you and it saves time and water as well as better results
I sometimes pre rinse, other times not, and other times pre soak with ONR; the last one was because of a PAN vid. All work well if you are using the right products; right products thatnks to the many PAN vids. Keep up the great work PAN!
Thank you for doing this. Hopefully people will save water and time by cutting out the pre-rinse stage when it isn't necessary.
Thanks for watching Steven!
I see an ever so slightly difference, however the front does project a more clearer image. I have applied snowfoam both ways, but after seeing this I'm going to go back to the dry method 1st. Thanks pan 👍
It’s hard to see traffic film on that color. But from all the foam videos i’ve seen on black, both water rinse and foam left traffic film in place to a pretty good degree. The contact wash was going to have dirt moved around either way. Obviously heavy dirt and mud is a different situation but in general it seems like the car cleaning industry is doing pretty good for itself these days.
The goal of a pre-wash isn't to fully clean the car. It's simply mean to remove the loose dirt and debris, and get most of the "grit" off, so all you're left with is a softened road film (if you live in conditions where some has accumulated). This is in an effort to generate less marring on the paint for the contact wash. Over time, details like this make all the difference.
So of course the contact wash is what will bring back 100% clean results, but I still always do a pre-wash first, so when it's time for the contact wash, the mitt isn't moving heavier dirt, soiling and grit around if I can prevent that.
Really depends on how dirty the vehicle is. I think pre- rinse is best practice and the minimal standing water diluting the first foam is also minimal. I would just mix the pre-foam slightly sturdy to counteract. My son and I foam the car a second time so there is soap already on the car as we begin the contact wash. Lubrication, Lubrication, Lubrication. Excited for tomorrow. Sunday Wash Day. Received the new Microfiber Madness Wash Mitt . 😁
I use a waterless wash now prior to contact wash basically my philosophy on this thing is if I’m pre-washing with water then I’m still pushing the contaminants around the vehicle or into other areas that I may not be able to get to as easily so by me doing a pre-wash with a solution like a waterless wash that has the ability to encapsulate the dirt when I do Pre-raise it before I wash I’m encapsulating the dirt and contaminants and just not slinging them all over the car.
Adam's advanced graphene is definitely doing its job well. I love Bilt Hamber as I've mentioned before.
A very good tip- reduce your Touchless to 4% PIR then add around 50-75 ml of Bilt Hamber Surfex HD into your MJJC then top it up to 1ltr mark. This turns the cleaning power up to number 11. Also if your car is ceramic coated you'll find its just starts beading and sheeting like you just applied it for some reason (its just a super strong surfactant APC) but for that demonstration on that amount of dirt would be ideal. I've used the exact same equipment as you Pan today. 😊
You read my mind, I came across John's video earlier this week and wrote out the question on this topic to send to you. You beat me to it, lol. I saw the logic that foam on dry made sense not only for the dilution aspect but as in that video, the layer of water that will prevent the direct contact of the foam to the panel. In your result, watching on screen, I was putting my attention to the image of the background reflecting in the panel and to me, the dry shows to project a better image but yes ever so slight. Great comparison and yes using common sense. The question i had prepared was in two part. So you wonderfully answered the first, the second is if there is a true difference between a hose foam canon vs a pressure washer foam canon since both are available on the market. Thx Pan.
Try adding JetDry to your car wash bucket. Helps when you go to rinse the vehicle the water shed right off.
i think you could have taken a fresh new damp sham-wow and wiped the panel to see if any residue/dirt film was left on either one of them -- i enjoy all your videos !
I would never do that, as you risk scratching the finish. A hand wash is always needed after the snow foam stage to really get the surface clean.
Splitting hairs... i learned that that soap you use works pretty well
Hi Pan
Did a car clean with NO pre rinse that I normally do and to me it made no difference plus it is quicker and easier. The snow foam seemed to stay on the car longer too, so I’m converted👍👍
So long as you rinse properly I’m not sure it matter.
Good point.
How about testing it with a snow foam more people use. A lesser quality in other words. See if results are the same.
Seems it would be best to spray foam on dry, let dwell, pressure wash / spray off dirt ( that now has a slippery substance to slide on) thus less damage to clear coat, then spray foam on and do the 2 bucket hand wash. I always wondered how it could be good to blast off mud and rocks that would be scratching the paint.....
Imo, when snowfoam is applied to a dry vehicle, it seams like it sits on the panels longer than if the vehicle was wet already. That makes it better at cleaning
I think it also depends on whether you have a "greasy" dirty surface or just a dusty dirty surface (eg sand).
In the case of greasy soiling, it is my experience that applying the snowfoam directly is more effective ....
Also if you want to see if it is really clean, in the future it might be better to carefully rub the cleaned part with a white viscose cloth and see if there is still residue present.
Nevertheless, I find these kinds of discussions and tests much more interesting than discussing another new product.
Because honestly when I have something that satisfies I'm not going to change quickly (know what you have).
Experience is key, keep it up! Frank (EU)
Thanks for answering yet another somewhat debated topic bru.
Good video, I’m glad you did this test to match with Johns, just gives me even more confidence in the outcome.
One thing which may have slightly given an unfair advantage to the pre rinse stage, was you spent longer and was more direct with the lance(edit lance) position, rinsing the one side. But it didn’t seem to affect the test.
Thanks Pam for all of your fantastic content. Now that I know all that it takes to properly clean and protect my car, I’ve decided to trade off my car and replace it with a bicycle. 😝
Hehehe that's a good one! In the end, detailing has to be fun and relaxing. Once you get the basics, and see the awesome results you can get at home with your own skills, it's so rewarding.
Welcome to my channel. You discovered one of the biggest car detailing channels on RUclips as we surpassed 960,000 subscribers and we have over 130 million views! I have been detailing for 26 years and I love to share my knowledge and passion with my viewers.
You found the right channel to help you learn everything about detailing.
Imho while pre rinsing dry car, some dirty can scratch a paint, while shampoo on dry car can soften a dirt and give some kind of lubricant, but may be I am wrong. Good test will be to do polish for a car and make 3 washes on very dirty car, half car to wash with rinsing before and other side with foams before and then investigate a paint
Great video Pan! As a mobile detailer sometimes I have to watch how much water I’m using, specially if I’m not near water spot to refill deionize water so I tend not to pre rinse plus I don’t thinks it necessary.
Thanks!
Looks like you have quite a good topic here. Ph neutral next time and use McKees 37 Yellow sponge with their rinseless wash to determine the winner. Or that's how I do it here in Detroit 😎
Hey Pan , thanks for the video! Maybe there would be a bigger difference or easier to see, if the test was done on a white car. As well, we have to take into consideration that often the rear panel gets dirtier. I have found, over the years, that doing an APC Rinse really helps remove a lot of the dirt, road grime, etc. Then a snow foam is used, then a rinse. This makes the contact wash easier and more effective with less possibility of micro scratches. Again, thanks for the video...always informative 👍🏽
What APC and dilution if you don’t mind.
I'm glad to see someone else who likes to apc , then snowfoam before contact washing...
@@codyhamilton445 Super Clean at 4 to 1. This is done right after the first light rinse. Then do the APC Rinse to loosen major grime. You will see the difference. Again, to each their own method. This mine.✌🏾
what do you use to rinse the APC?
i started using rinseless in a foam cannon to be my prewash at the standard dilution. once i pre rinsed with the 256 to 1 ratio....i then foam cannoned which now doesnt leave water spots since the rinseless pre rinse tends to knock down water spots.
I also saw that your lens had a smudge or something in the upper right… took me a bit off guard…
That said: a great comparison review again Pan 👍🏻👍🏻
I’ll keep pre rinsing my car before foaming/washing it…
This is the video with the golden answer. Amazing work. Thanks Pan!
Thanks Joseph!
Once again, a very interesting and great video, Pan. My personal preference is to pre-rinse the vehicle. I don’t have a pressure washer snow cannon. I have a traditional hose soap canister from Adams Polishes. I’ll pre-rinse, shoot the soap on, let it dwell, rinse again. Then I’ll use the two bucket wash method and then rinse with whatever soap is still in the Adams canister. Obviously, I’ll finish up with plain water to rinse the entire vehicle.
Good comparison, I would have checked the surface wiping with a clean towel on each panel and compared the towels to support the final conclusion.
I wouldn’t do that as that could potentially scratch the surface. Snow foams alone don’t 100% clean the surface. A proper hand wash is always needed.
Just saw the forensic detailing video about this yesterday and planned on asking what's your opinion about it in your next video.
Instead, your next video is exactly that.
Small world :D
G'day mate, i powerwash the ute first, as not to rub around even 1 grain of sand etc and scratch up the dew coat.
With pollen season in full swing I pre rinse to get it off prior to snow foam 🤷♂️
Yes. Again, the use of common sense is always important while detailing.
Hi Pan and thank you for the video. Perhaps if you snow foam first the soap gets soaked up by the dirt encapsulating it thus power washing makes it slide off easier. This is as apposed to prerinsing first which could possible cause microscopic damage to the clear coat as the dirt is struck by the jet of the power washer sort propelling it on to the vehicle prior to pushing it off. My thoughts. Best
Pre-rinsing first potentially prevents the shampoo from perfectly clinging to the surface to do its emulsifying action. Less efficient fighting and encapsulating dirt. That’s the theory.
Great video. Can you try doing a different video with a standard snow foam for example gsf. That built hanger one has a higher ph and better cleaning ability.
GSF will do basically nothing.
Basically what I figured
This was a nice comparison to see. Most of us don't have the luxury of doing our wash in an environment out of the way of direct sunlight, so I think that's a factor, too. This does motivate me to skip a quick rinse before just blasting it with foam, letting it sit, and rinsing it off.
One thing I struggle with is the amount of product that fits in the foam cannon reservoir; I don't have enough to spray the car with foam twice. It always seemed to me the best way to avoid scratches was lubricity. So if I could foam/rinse/foam/wash (with a bucket that also has soap and a grit guard), my contact wash risks damaging the paint less. Do better-known foam cannons like the MTM tend to more efficiently preserve the amount of product used?
In my experience the cheaper foam cannons and better ones use about the same amount of product. I use MJJC Pro v2
Griot's Garage has one where you put a restrictor in the solution tube that makes it so you can use straight soap. It works well
Like an earlier commentor said... pre-rinsing takes very little time. I see no reason to stop pre-rinsing.
Great video, Pan. I almost never pre-rinse before applying the snow foam. The only time I pre-rinse is when there are bird droppings or something caked on the vehicle.
My idea is spraying water doesn’t provide enough lubrication to keep the the dirt from micro scratching
Hi Pan. It looked to me that the snow foam was sliding down both doors at the same speed. As you said there's not a great difference. CHEERS
I use the waterless rinse product you referenced in your updated car wash video then I apply the snow foam. Seems to prep the surface quite nicely.
Wow. I've always pre-rinsed prior to snow foaming. I'll save some water from now on and prolong the life of my CR spotless unit.
From what I've gathered from watching your videos and doing google searches, snow foam lubricants, and grab the dirt from the surface. So I stopped pre-rinsing (Since I never have layers of mud as you mentioned in the video) because it felt like a waste of time and water 😅.
In my case scenario, I use the double foam cannon method that you've used in one of your older videos. I use a snow foam and let it drip for a while, then I rinse it off and apply my wash (The same wash brand I use in the bucket) with a 2nd foam cannon, then start cleaning the car.
It only makes sense as to reduce dirt that would potentially scratch the paint , as of course with a muddy vehicle .
Very interesting demo. I usually prerinse before contact washing, however, I will try without and see for myself. Thanks again Pan for your demonstration! 👍
Its always been dry paint for me. Wheels first, then degreaser (3-5min) dwell, foaming with foam cannon over the degreaser (5min) dwell, rinse off thoroughly and over with the touch wash, rinse thoroughly, apply your choice of protection on all the wheels and paint (some protectants might be applied before the drying process and then dry after).
Not only have I always thought pre rinse is less time effective but also very much unnecessary when you have all these types of chemicals doing the work for you and lets be honest its always more satisfying seeing chemicals actually going to work rather than rinsing off the dirt with water
Another video that first showed up on John's channel. Pan's production quality is better but credit to John for being first with these tests.
Hi pan… I like to use a snow foam on dry paint just to loosen the dust/ light dirt before I hand wash on my black car, since that color shows any in perfections a little more than most colors do. Plus I’m retired so I have nothing but time on my hands! Lol.
I wash my car twice a week and do use a blower also as not to add touching by a towel to a minimum.
pretty much the same results but you save water by skipping the pre-rinse. Clear winner here