Prewash alternatives?

I

Izula

New member
Hi guys
I want to buy a prewash solution to use before my hose rinse and 2bm.I tried car wash solution from pump sprayer, megs apc10:1 and they didnt shift dirt to be honest and dried too quickly.My car especially traps dirt at places like trim edges and places where bumper meets body.

So my options are limited here we only have Valet pro citrus pre wash which is kinda expensive.Also i heard some people use CG Citrus Wash &Gloss as prewash also mixing APC/soap.Any dilution tips ?
If VP citrus pre wash shifts dirt like nobodys business(and doesnt affect lsp) i might buy it otherwise im listening to your alternative solutions.
 
I am an avid user of Valet Pro Critrus Pre-wash - it performs much the same as Autofinesse Citrus Power but is a lot cheaper (well for me over here in South Africa anyway).

I will typically:
HP rinse
Apply VP Advanced Neutral Snow Foam via foam cannon, let it dwell
HP rinse
Apply VP Citrus Pre-wash via a pump sprayer, let it dwell
HP rinse

Then start with a traditional 2BM wash.
 
I've never had any luck with getting any kind of pre-wash or foam to really knock down the dirt. I recently bought a PW and that works the best to blast off the larger chunks of dirt, grass, bugs and other things flung up from the road. So now I do a good PW rinse around the whole car, then 2BM.
 
wdmaccord said:
I've never had any luck with getting any kind of pre-wash or foam to really knock down the dirt. I recently bought a PW and that works the best to blast off the larger chunks of dirt, grass, bugs and other things flung up from the road...
Click to expand...

That's awfully close to my experience, and note that I'm the Worlds Greatest Foamgun Advocate too.

I *have* done OK with a prewash using a siphon-sprayer that hooks up to my air compressor. But otherwise, absent a pressure washer, I just add more Regular Wash Process efforts, being more gentle than usual until I have the worst of it off.

I do use 1Z Anti-Inzekt as the penultimate step if bugs are an issue, but I try to get most everything off before I resort to that.

Cheapie pressure washers are (what I consider) inexpensive, especially if they save you from having to polish off clearcoat due to wash-induced marring. I mean....what..for the cost of some trips through the Tunnel of Swirls you can have a pressure washer that gets this particular job done just fine.
 
wdmaccord said:
I've never had any luck with getting any kind of pre-wash or foam to really knock down the dirt. I recently bought a PW and that works the best to blast off the larger chunks of dirt, grass, bugs and other things flung up from the road. So now I do a good PW rinse around the whole car, then 2BM.
Click to expand...

It's really amazing how much dirt a PW rinse (before washing) gets off the car. Even in the winter when the car is covered in salt, sand and road grime I find that after a PW pre-rinse my wash water is almost clean at the end of the wash process.
 
I wish there was some proof out there that foaming with regular soap and pressure washing it off removes more dirt from a surface than simply pressure washing it. I just don't know.

However, I'm guilty of being a frequent foamer with Honeydew snow foam. I look at it a few ways...

1. I clean the non marring surfaces of the vehicle like the cowl, convertible top, and some plastic trim with brushes after applying the foam. I can't say this is any better than doing it during a wash, but the dirt gets rinsed off instead of in the rinse bucket.

2. It always seems to me I will pressure wash the car much better to remove all of a high foaming soap of it. When your using HD soap, it takes a lot of pressure washing to get it all off.

Dunno. Could be a waste of time, water, and soap.

However, when I have real dirt or pre-polishing, I bring out the big gun - Bilt Hamber Snow Foam. This stuff does make a difference, as it's an APC higher pH soap, like AF Avalanche. However, I'm not 100% convinced it's simply not some APC mixed with soap, and if I was doing this as a business - that's probably what I'd be using.

So, to answer the OPs question, I think it's pretty safe bet that the BH stuff is likely the best stuff out there. There is also now a USA source for it.
 
I often do an ONR wash, but when I do a wet wash (and sometimes even before an ONR wash) I too use my pressure washer as a pre-rinse. It's especially unbeaten for tires and wheel wells. I just got an inexpensive (hose end) foam gun so I'll PW rinse, foam and then 2 bucket wet wash (I use the MF corn row mop). I'm using inexpensive OTC wash soap laced with a little ONR. Finish with Duragloss Aquawax or Megs Ultimate Spray.

Footnote: In winter I most often just do a coin-op pressure wash to get the crud 'n salt off.
 
pwaug- Yeah, on my FK1000Ped vehicles the pressure wash rinse really does get them clean enough for, well...non-autopian purposes. I do the final pass with DI water and either blow it dry or just let it drip-dry, looks great.

SwanicYouth- Well, there oughta be *some* kind of solvent-type cleaning benefit from having the foam on there to help loosen the dirt.

MiVor- I'd be even *more* inclined to use the pressure washer before ONRing. Great for getting off the big stuff that might overwhelm the ONR's encapsulation abilities. Even extreme-ol'-me can almost get things clean enough to do a rinseless wash that way.
 
A lot depends on the LSP. You can't have this discussion without including that. A properly prepped and coated car will be like night and day compared to a waxed car using the same PW or presoak step. My coated car practically washes itself by just leaving it, or driving it in the rain. A waxed car looks like crap after it's rained on and the beads turn to water spotted nightmares. I've not had a wax in my possession in years just because of this topic.
 
Usually, the only time I use my foam gun anymore is before a full detail. I use CGCW Red + Meg D101. And really the only purpose for that is to get some stripping action started on any LSP that may be on the car and get a deeper clean. So in this case I would PW rinse, Foam, PW rinse, foam each panel and wash with 1 bucket of rinse water with grit guard. Then IronX/TarX, clay...you know the rest...
 
Thanks everyone for the answers.So general idea is pre wash doesnt work that well and pressure wash is way to go.I might get one before winter.Winter months are especially bad as im driving in almost dirt roads but for now i will go with the nozzle i bought and be more gentle.
Swanicyouth , we dont have the bh snowfoam here( and i dont have foam gun) but you mentioned its apc with soap mixed.Wonder if i can do the same to tackle some parts of the car before wash.But it may degrade lsp
Silverfox you are right dirty car+rain really makes it looks like cr*p.I use sealant on my dads car and its way better.
 
For me Bilt Hamber Autofoam has worked very well. In the winter I don't even always bother with a regular wash after the foam, the car gets 90% clean.
 
silverfox has a point, as long as there is a solid coating (or even a good sealant in my case), often being in or driven in the rain "washes" a good portion of the debris off the car. I have noticed that as long as I keep up with maintenance on my car, the initial hose rinse easily removes most visible dirt & dirt water spots (the kind you get when your car is dusty and gets rained on, then dries).
 
silverfox said:
A lot depends on the LSP.. A waxed car looks like crap after it's rained on and the beads turn to water spotted nightmares. I've not had a wax in my possession in years just because of this topic.
Click to expand...

Huh, my waxed vehicles "self-clean" in the rain just like the ones wearing (synthetic) sealants (I only coat wheels). Guess it depends on what wax/sealant you use. I mean seriously, I can go for weeks on end without washing and they still look clean, a hard rain leaves them looking "just washed" and a pressure washer-rinse leaves them looking downright "just detailed" to any non-Autopian.
 
I use Auto Finesse Avalanche as a prewash in a foam gun and cannon. I feel like it removes some of the grime. There is a pretty good video on YouTube of it in action. Let me hunt it down.....
 
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