Last Updated on December 6, 2022 by
You don’t need to be a serious detailer to consider adding snow foam to your car washing process.
If you’re looking after your car properly, then you’re probably washing it at least once every week or two. During the winter months, you might even be washing it more often when the car is a magnet for all the salt and dirt that the roads throw up.
The question is whether you should snow foam the car with every full wash or just when it gets really bad with dirt.
If you are washing your vehicle on a regular basis, then you should look to add snow foam to every wash if possible. A snow foam wash every 1-2 weeks is recommended.
One of the main reasons car owners are put off using snow foam every wash is the cost of it all. Snow foaming every wash sounds expensive, and it can be. Providing you already use a pressure washer for your detailing, you then need to add a snow foam lance to it. A suitable snow foam solution will also be required so that you can actually shoot some foam from your snow cannon at the car.
The reason we recommended that you snow foam with every wash is because of how much of a superior and deeper clean it provides than using plain water for your car’s exterior.
A good snow foam has properties that help loosen up dirt, bugs, grime, bird droppings and lots of other nasty stuff clinging to your car’s paintwork or wheels. Once the snow foam solution is applied to the car, you simply rinse it away with water to lightly remove all the unwanted stuff that the snow foam has loosened up.
Snow foaming regularly also saves you from having to buy other solutions for your detailing, such as tar removers for bugs and bird droppings, as the snow foam solution will deal with it all effectively. It’s also less harsh than using a physical contact wash method such as a sponge or wash mitt and eliminates the need to remove swirl marks left on the paintwork.
If you regularly go through a hand car wash, then you can save yourself fuel and money by doing a snow foam wash for your vehicle at home. Providing you’ve bought a decent enough foam solution and used it correctly, it’ll provide as good a clean as you’ll get at any car wash.
Another major concern that detailers have about using snow foam on a regular basis is that it could strip away any layers of wax or polish that they use. This can be the case with some snow foam solutions and shampoos, as they can be quite harsh. The trick is to use a PH-neutral foam, as these are usually wax-friendly and won’t undo any of your other good detailing work.
Snow foaming a car is usually quite a fun and pleasant experience that most car owners look forward to doing on a regular basis. It sounds quite juvenile, but getting your pressure washer gun set up with attachments to shoot some foam at a vehicle appeals to that inner child in us all.
Overall whether you’re a serious detailer or a casual car washer, there’s no doubt that a snow foam wash is far superior to a manual hand wash or just using plain water. It leaves the car looking much cleaner and avoids any unwanted swirl marks. We recommend pre-foaming with every wash, but the limitations are that it can be costly, and you may be strapped for time. The benefits definitely outweigh the cons, and usually snow foam solutions you buy last a decent amount of time.
