Why It’s Important To Pre-Wash Your Car With Snow Foam?
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The most common reason why scratches and swirl marks occur on our car is an improper car wash. If you really want to wash your vehicle the right way, then you need to keep reading to find out why it’s essential to pre-wash your car with snow foam before a contact wash.
Pre-washing a car with snow foam is important if you want to avoid swirl marks and scratches while washing your car. Also, you’ll get much better results when using snow foam first.
Because every car owner’s dream is a neat shimmering car paint in which you can reflect yourself.
What is Pre-Wash Snow Foam?
Pre-wash is a necessary washing procedure if you want to avoid scratches on your car. The main goal of the pre-wash is to clean as much dirt as possible, which makes it easier to clean the car later with soap.
In this washing process, the pre-wash product creates snow foam which dissolves stubborn dirt on your vehicle. In other words, prewash helps you to clean your vehicle better and more thoroughly without causing any damage.
Therefore, the first step in the prewash procedure is to rinse it thoroughly with water. After the initial rinsing, you need to spray the car with a foam sprayer product.
After we have sprayed the car, you need to wait a bit for the agent to start working. After a few seconds, snow foam will appear on the vehicle, making most of the dirt slip off easily.
Accordingly, as the last step of pre-wash, you need to wash the snow foam out of the car.
After that, you’re ready to do the regular car wash.
Is Pre-Wash Dangerous For My Car Paint?
The answer is simple: pre-wash is not dangerous for vehicles since the snow foam is pH neutral.
However, do not forget that if you do not want to make a counter-effect, you should also use a car shampoo that is also pH neutral. Since pH-neutral washing products are mild, they will not remove wax, seals, or even ceramic coating.
It is good to know that if your vehicle is heavily soiled with stubborn dirt, you should definitely use snow foam.
Why It’s Important To Pre-Wash a Car With a Snow Foam
If you have decided to wash your car by hand, it is crucial to pre-wash your car. That way, you drastically reduce the possibility of scratches.
Thanks to snow foam, pre-wash process dissolves coarse impurities that could possibly scratch the car later during washing.
Some people will say that it’s expensive to buy everything for snow foaming the car, but in the long run, it’s actually much cheaper than scratching the car and paying someone to polish it every few years.
The important information about car prewash:
- In order to gently clean the car and cause as few scratches as possible, you need to do a pre-wash with snow foam.
- You have a choice to use it either manually with a foamer or as an attachment for your high-pressure washer (my recommended pressure washers)
- Most foam sprayers work best with a pressure of 3 bars.
Related: How To Wash Your Car Without Scratching The Paint
What If You Don’t Do It
If you still decide to skip the prewash step for some reason, you need to know why you shouldn’t do it.
Since you have skipped an essential step when washing a car, there is a certain amount of stubborn dirt on your vehicle, which poses a significant danger to your car paint.
And when using a microfiber wash mitt or similar product for washing, there is a possibility of making scratches while rubbing the car.
Also, you need to be aware that a certain amount of stubborn dirt may remain on your wash mitt, which increases the risk of scratches on your car paint. Long story short, you should not skip the prewash step.
If you skip the pre-wash, it’s more likely for you to scratch the car, even if you use the three-bucket washing method.
Adams Ultra Foam Shampoo – Snow Foam Product I Recommend
Adams Ultra Foam Shampoo Gun Bundle (check the price on Amazon now) is one of the best snow foams out there, and it’s my recommendation for you if you need both snow foam and foam cannon. However, if you already have a foam cannon, check out my other recommended snow foams for you.
It is pH neutral, consisting of several mysterious additives that enable greater efficiency in pre-washing your vehicle. Since the Adams Ultra Foam Shampoo is pH neutral, it will not remove the ceramic coating, wax, or even seals from your car.
This snow foam protects your car and your wallet. It’s not like some other products that clean “too much” (waxes and sealants).
In my experience, it effectively but safely removes stubborn impurities without creating scratches. In addition to this, it is safe to use on all surfaces and is not as harmful as other similar products.
Using this product is actually very easy and can be used by anyone.
Namely, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, it is necessary to mix the product and warm water in the correct ratio by following the product’s instructions.
After that, you can start spraying snow foam on your car.
After the snow foam has been in contact with the car paint for a while, you can rinse the foam off and start with the final wash.
All in all, the Adams Ultra Foam offers amazing pre-washing performance but not the most affordable price.
Benefits of Adam’s Ultra Foam Shampoo:
- The smell of wild berries
- pH neutral
- Washes away spot-free
- Made in the USA
- The choice of professionals
- You get the foam sprayer in the package
If you’re interested in other snow foams, check out my article on the best snow foams on the market.
Other Pre-Wash Options
Even though snow foam is a great pre-wash product, it’s not the only option you have. There are two other options for you:
- Citrus Pre-Wash
- All Purpose Cleaner
Both of them will help you to remove as much dirt as possible before doing a contact wash. However, in my opinion, I’d go either with Citrus Pre-Wash, or with a Snow Foam.
I think that they are doing a much better job than some APC cleaners.
Is Snow Foam Just a Gimmick?
The quick answer is: absolutely not. There’s a common perception that snow foam is merely a clever way for car detailers to bump up the bill or for companies like Adam’s or Meguiar’s to cash in on dedicated car enthusiasts. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Let’s consider this. Professionals, those who make a living from achieving perfect car finishes, choose to use snow foam. If it were simply a pricey, ineffective ploy, would these detailers waste their time and money on it? The answer, quite plainly, is no.
Snow foam is an integral part of the car detailing process, and its usage is driven by its practical value rather than just its visual appeal. Its real worth lies in the pre-washing phase, where it loosens up the dirt and grime that sticks stubbornly to your car’s exterior.
If you think about it, isn’t it better to spend a bit more per wash to maintain the quality and longevity of your car’s paintwork? Plus, snow foam has the added benefit of making the subsequent wash more efficient.
So yes, you might be parting with a few cents more each wash, but remember, this small investment is ensuring your car stays in immaculate condition. Snow foam, in essence, isn’t a frivolous expenditure but a wise investment that enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the detailing process.
Conclusion
If you want to wash your car thoroughly, then you definitely can’t skip the prewash step.
Especially if you want to clean your car gently without making any scratches, all you need to do is choose the right product to make snow foam.
This should not be a problem because there are a massive number of products on the market. Taking that into consideration, I recommend Adams Ultra Foam Shampoo, which is, in my opinion, the best product out there.
Besides, this product’s purchase does not cost you too much in the long run, since the repair of car paint costs many times more.
For professionals, snow foam is basic equipment for washing vehicles. So if you want to be like them, then you definitely need to use snow foam regularly to pre-wash your car.
It is very wise to invest a small amount of money for snow foam now than to be very sad later when you get a repair bill for car paint.
Related:
- Best Colored Snow Foams – If you’re looking for a fancy car wash