Recipe for foaming with a salt neutralizer?

S

Surly

New member
Hi there:

I`ve just decided that I`m going to try things out with a salt neutralizing/removal product. I`ve acquired 32oz of "Salt-Away" which has many mixing ratios on the bottle but boils down to 500:1 for "hose end" applications.

I have the feeling that for my purposes foam action might help me (wheel wells, undercarriage, under hood). I have a typical Gilmour Foam Master II hose end foam gun (not power washer cannon). I have viewed some videos on these salt products on YouTube and they have not shown a good foaming action with a foam gun.

I am unfamiliar with the dilution ratios for the different Gilmour settings ("A" through "E" IIRC) and haven`t done a lot of experimentation with the Gilmour at all.

Does anyone happen to have, or wish to help me figure out, a good foam gun recipe that would give me a reasonable foam of effective dilution?

LSP safe soaps I have on hand to combine with are Meguiar`s Gold Class, PB Slick`n`Suds and CG Wash`n`Gloss. LSP is FK1000p (nods to Accumulator, who made me do it :D)

I am probably overthinking it, but I`m open to advice on getting a good mix for this. I want enough to ensure it`s effective without using my entire bottle goofing off (and still never being sure it was right).

Thanks, all
 
That`s a good idea, mixing it with soap for foam! The only problem I see with that is that a lot of shampoos use salt thickeners, not sure if that`s going to diminish the salt-eating property of the Salt-Away. I believe the dilution settings for the Foammaster II are the same as the I, let me look that up and come back and edit it in.

I dunno I have some other-branded II which I thought was a relabled Gilmour...but it`s got numbers instead of letters and it has 6 settings instead of 5...I guess that`s why it was $25 less than the Gilmour (I bought it as a backup and haven`t used it yet).

Here`s the Foamaster II data from Gilmour:

• A: 1-128 for 1 oz./gal.
• B: 1-64 for 2 oz./gal.
• C: 1-32 for 4 oz./gal.
• D: 1-20 for 6 oz./gal.
• E: 1-10 for 12 oz./gal

It should have that stuff on the bottle like the I does, but maybe not. I believe those are the same ratios as for the I.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
That`s a good idea, mixing it with soap for foam! The only problem I see with that is that a lot of shampoos use salt thickeners, not sure if that`s going to diminish the salt-eating property of the Salt-Away.
Click to expand...

:angry: Of course they use salt based thickeners. Ugh. Any ideas out there on how to make a foam out of this without possible interaction? I wouldn`t mind if it also had some degreasing qualities as well since on the undercarriage it is spray on, swell, spray off. I don`t have Accumulator kind of time to polish the underside. ;) I don`t really want to just throw something like Dawn in there.

I believe the dilution settings for the Foammaster II are the same as the I, let me look that up and come back and edit it in.

I dunno I have some other-branded II which I thought was a relabled Gilmour...but it`s got numbers instead of letters and it has 6 settings instead of 5...I guess that`s why it was $25 less than the Gilmour (I bought it as a backup and haven`t used it yet).

Here`s the Foamaster II data from Gilmour:

• A: 1-128 for 1 oz./gal.
• B: 1-64 for 2 oz./gal.
• C: 1-32 for 4 oz./gal.
• D: 1-20 for 6 oz./gal.
• E: 1-10 for 12 oz./gal

It should have that stuff on the bottle like the I does, but maybe not. I believe those are the same ratios as for the I.
Click to expand...


So then that means, for example, C is 1:32 mix of hose water and bottle contents, which will then itself be a ratio of water:product so that it can be sprayed at all. Multiply the two ratios and you get your overall ratio. So if I was aiming for let`s say 512:1 for easy base2 math, I could set for C (32:1) and mix in the bottle at 16:1 for a final result of 512:1... Right?

I`ll have to see if I can find some recommend soap foaming recipes too. I just kind of wing it whenever I use the Gilmour
 
The Optimum car soap isn`t supposed to have any thickeners in it, FWIW. As far as the math, that sounds right...but my brain is not in the mood to crunch those numbers. I always aim to have the nominal dilution as a starting point, so if I have a 1oz/gallon soap, the middle/C setting is 4oz/gallon, so 1/4 of that should be soap...so I fill my 1 qt. bottle with 8oz soap/24oz water.
 
Can anyone explain what a salt thickener is? There`s a ton of us just now thinking about spring and getting our cars cleaned up from the winter. I`ve been thinking about picking up Whips salt away, but if any soap will do the same thing. ....
 
Britsdaddy said:
Can anyone explain what a salt thickener is? There`s a ton of us just now thinking about spring and getting our cars cleaned up from the winter. I`ve been thinking about picking up Whips salt away, but if any soap will do the same thing. ....
Click to expand...

A lot of dish soaps, car soaps, apparently to give them that "thick, rich" feeling, use various salts as thickening agents as a cheap way, as opposed to doing the expensive way by adding a lot of active ingredient. If you`ve ever used the Optimum soap, it has incredible suds that just don`t break up.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
A lot of dish soaps, car soaps, apparently to give them that "thick, rich" feeling, use various salts as thickening agents as a cheap way, as opposed to doing the expensive way by adding a lot of active ingredient. If you`ve ever used the Optimum soap, it has incredible suds that just don`t break up.
Click to expand...
I have Optimum soap, and like it. Does this mean the thickness are there for only the "feel" of the soap, and not the performance against road salts?
With that being said, is Salt Away the best anti-salt soap, or is there a better option? Doesn`t Ammo have some sort of soap or booster that is effective against salt or corrosion?
 
The first thing that comes to mind is Blackfire Foam Boost. It only ads foam to your product. Don`t know what it`s based on though.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/blackfire-foam-booster.html#.XJYgCKRwE1I

I have not used these salt away products. But would think a citrus based degreaser/APC would do a great work. As salt is water soluble and it`s what it`s mixed with on the roads that is most problems to desolve. If you have the time when doing your spring cleaning to the undercarriage. I would just rinse it thoroughly with a lot of water. Let it dry to the next day or blowdry it with a leafblower or a car blowdryer. Then on a somewhat dry surface apply your citrus degreaser and let it dwell and then use the brushes to aggitate. And finish off with a thorough rinse. If you would see that the citrus degreaser don`t rinse clean only then would I use a car soap that you could get the residue off from it. Otherwise if clean enough you are good to go otherwise maybe retreat it once more with the citrus degreaser.
 
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