Car wash soap not sudsy

A

audio1der

New member
I've switched to bucket-washing at home since joining this board, using Meg's GC soap.

Unless I fill my bucket with a pressure washer (what a sight that was...) I can't get the darned stuff to be sudsy. Not even a little.

I'm using a clean Turtlewax wash mitt in a clean bucket, and I've tried filling with warm, and tepid (lukewarm) water, with no success.

What do I have to do to get it foamy?

TIA,

Audio
 
Usually if I just wave the water back and forth with my hand, it will suds up a bit. I find squishing the sponge/mitt a lot foams it up too. Mainly, make sure you are using enough soap for the amount of water. I try to use about an ounce for each gallon. This usually means using 1.5-2 ounces of car wash because I actually fill the bucket up with 1.5-2 gallons of water. Don't just pour an ounce in there then fill the bucket up. Just a thought.
 
audio1der said:
I've switched to bucket-washing at home since joining this board, using Meg's GC soap.

Unless I fill my bucket with a pressure washer (what a sight that was...) I can't get the darned stuff to be sudsy. Not even a little.

I'm using a clean Turtlewax wash mitt in a clean bucket, and I've tried filling with warm, and tepid (lukewarm) water, with no success.

What do I have to do to get it foamy?

TIA,

Audio
Click to expand...



Hmmm,



That's weird, I had that problem with the Pinnacle Car Wash, no suds, and I swithed to Meguiars GC and Mothers California Gold or Trigger Wash since all 3 give great suds. I wonder if different soaps are formulated for hard/soft water. It seems a lot of people love the Pinnacle soap and get good suds but here in hard water LA, the stuff was worthless. Meguiars and Mothers are both based in CA, so maybe the testing was done with local water.:nixweiss
 
I'm using the Mother's California Gold right now and it suds okay. I fill the bucket 2/3 of the way, add the soap and fill the rest. I sometimes have to churn it a bit (like beating eggs) to get the suds going.
 
Isn't Calgary water on the hard side? That could be why it's not sudsing up. Other than lack of suds though, does the solution work well or are you otherwise happy with it (good lubrication, cleans, etc)? I'm just asking because suds are a nice thing to look at, but do zilch really. QEW doesn't suds up, and neither do dishwasher or washing machine detergent.



I actually try NOT to make suds anymore personally because it's just making the water hard to see and uses up a tiny bit of the soap in the foam.
 
Yes, our water is VERY hard.

It seems to clean well, I'd just like more of a layer between the mitt and the paint.

I put the soap in the bottom, and use the sink-rinsing nozzle (higher pressure than tap) to try and foam it up, to no avail.

Thanks for all the replies!

I guess I'll finish this bottle, and switch to Z7 next.(good excuse to order more stuff ;) )
 
Another Calgarian! All right!



I feel your pain, I'm using the rest of the Simoniz car wash that I picked up last year (works really well). But I find I'm not getting the suds that I expect unless I really let the bucket have it with a blast from the hose or (like you said) :o using the pressure washer.
 
4DSC said:
Isn't Calgary water on the hard side? That could be why it's not sudsing up. Other than lack of suds though, does the solution work well or are you otherwise happy with it (good lubrication, cleans, etc)? I'm just asking because suds are a nice thing to look at, but do zilch really. QEW doesn't suds up, and neither do dishwasher or washing machine detergent.



I actually try NOT to make suds anymore personally because it's just making the water hard to see and uses up a tiny bit of the soap in the foam.
Click to expand...



Brian:



It's true that having lots of suds is not indicative of a soap's ability to clean (eg. QEW); however, for traditional soaps, sudsing ability is an indicator of how effective a soap is at cleaning. Ever try to use the same amount of water to shampoo your hair away from the coast, say in Prince George, or on the prairies? You have to use twice as much almost, because otherwise your hair feels dirty. Same principle in car soaps. The minerals in the water load up the water so that the soap cannot form suds, which hampers a soaps ability to clean. It's another story if you try not to make suds by keeping the water still. The cleaning ability is there, but you are just not making any bubbles.
 
2wheelsx2 said:
Brian:



It's true that having lots of suds is not indicative of a soap's ability to clean (eg. QEW); however, for traditional soaps, sudsing ability is an indicator of how effective a soap is at cleaning. Ever try to use the same amount of water to shampoo your hair away from the coast, say in Prince George, or on the prairies? You have to use twice as much almost, because otherwise your hair feels dirty. Same principle in car soaps. The minerals in the water load up the water so that the soap cannot form suds, which hampers a soaps ability to clean. It's another story if you try not to make suds by keeping the water still. The cleaning ability is there, but you are just not making any bubbles.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's true and I forgot about that. Kind of like when you're washing dishes and when you notice the suds runs out, the (filthy) solution you have in the sink is pooped.
 
Anyone use warm water to wash their car?

The comment about dishwashing got me thinking. (Bad)

If you wash dishes in cold water, it is not easy to get them clean. Wash them in warm water and the grease and dirt come off easy.

Would this hold true for car washing?



Charles
 
CharlesW said:
Anyone use warm water to wash their car?

The comment about dishwashing got me thinking. (Bad)

If you wash dishes in cold water, it is not easy to get them clean. Wash them in warm water and the grease and dirt come off easy.

Would this hold true for car washing?



Charles
Click to expand...



Warm water or tepid water helps but dont use hot water.



Steven
 
I tried again yesterday, using much more soap, and got a few suds, but they didn't last.

I like using warm water to wash, but will probably order some Z7 soon anyway, so the GC can go to heck. (okay, its the hard water's fault, but I hate soft water showers...)
 
Too much soap, ,and you won't get suds. There is a fine life between too much, and too little.



Too much and the water is "heavy" and air can't support it.



Too little and your trying to make suds with plain ole' water.
 
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