February 13th, 2020 by Chris Chapman

Thick snow foam is something every car detailer loves to see. Like all good things, though, it only comes to those who wait and it does take a bit of practice to get right. If you’re struggling to get that thick, clingy foam, keep reading – these 5 quick tips will help you on your way!

Don’t Rinse Your Car

A lot of people like to rinse their car off before applying snow foam. The idea is that rinsing off some of the dirt makes your snow foam’s job easier, but actually, the opposite is true. When you pre-rinse your car, it will remove some of the dirt, but it’ll also dilute your snow foam. As your snow foam is already diluted twice before it even touches your car (once in the bottle, and once in the pressure washer jet stream), diluting it a third time is often too much.

Your snow foam is a pre-wash itself, so you don’t need a pre-pre-wash as well! Let your snow foam do the job of breaking down dirt on its own – when you rinse it off, it’ll take a lot of the dirt with it anyway.

Get the Mix Right

Getting the mixture right is the hardest part of any snow foam session, but once you’ve got it right, you’re set for life! As a general rule, you should roughly follow the manufacturer’s guidelines (for our snow foam, it’s 3 parts water per 1 part foam) as a baseline. However, don’t be afraid to change things up a bit if this isn’t working for you. Snow foam thickness is highly dependent on a number of outside factors, including water hardness and pressure, so you might need a stronger mix. Try mixing it with 2 parts water or even a 50/50 mix and see how you get on. It’ll take a bit of experimenting the first time, but after that, you’ll be sorted.

5L Cleenly Cherry Snow Foam

Price: £17.95

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Use the Right Lance

Not all snow foam lances are created equal! To get the thickest snow foam, you’ll need a lance with an aeration dial. This will allow you to adjust the mixture of foam, water, and air that flows through your lance nozzle. Inside every snow foam lance is a mesh which agitates the foam into… well, foam! The aeration dial squeezes and relaxes the mesh, enabling you to get the mix of air and water just right. If your lance doesn’t have one, you won’t be able to adjust your settings, so if your foam isn’t thick, you’re stuck!

Position Your Pressure Washer

Generating enough pressure is key for getting thick snow foam. More pressure means the foam liquid is pulled through the aeration mesh with more force, which in turn agitates it into a thicker foam more effectively. If your washer is too far away from your water source, it’ll struggle to generate enough pressure to do this, so you should keep it as close to your tap as possible. If your outside tap isn’t very forceful, see if you can find a way to up the pressure. This is more of an issue in remote or rural areas, where water pressure is usually lower.

Don’t Bother on Very Hot Days

There’s nothing better than a car washing session on a glorious summer day! If it’s blisteringly hot, though, don’t bother. If the surface of your car is too hot, it’ll make the bubbles in the snow foam pop as soon as they come into contact with it. This will make the foam seem much thinner, and it’ll drip right off your car before it can work its magic.