DFB's Soap Shoot Out

[kilobravo]

D: I'm with you for 95 percent but, because of the very high average temperaturea and sinister sun down here in South Texas, I can't foam the car a second time for washing because the soap will dry too quickly. Otherwise, I would foam again for lube. Here's my OCD method.

After doing the wheels and tires, I rinse the vehicle in an attempt to dampen and loosen any grime. New buckets for rinse and soap then I foam, wait, and rinse thoroughly

From there I bucket wash the upper third and one end, then rinse. One side and the other front or back, rinse. Other side, rinse. Hook up DI rig and rinse one more time at low pressure (600) then blow dry.

Obsessive? Unquestionably. Necessary for a sparkling clean result? Perhaps not. BUT, is it most excellent self time and therapy? You bet. :-)

Finished her up yesterday with Elixir on the wheels, Perl on the tires, and Adam's Graphene on the black aero.

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[DFB5.0]

Obsessive? Unquestionably. Necessary for a sparkling clean result? Perhaps not. BUT, is it most excellent self time and therapy? You bet. :-)

Finished her up yesterday with Elixir on the wheels, Perl on the tires, and Adam's Graphene on the black aero.

Not obsessive in my opinion. You see, you have done what I have done in adapting to what suits you situation best. And yes, there is a therapeutic aspect to it as well.

Your car always looks killer by the way!

 

[kilobravo]

Your car always looks killer by the way!

Thanks, amigo and just so you know, I've never seen anything but sparkling beauties from you, either.

 

[DFB5.0]

I have asked OG a few times about what is the recommended dilution of Carpro Reset in a foam cannon, as I have not found anything official other than the 500:1 rate for bucket washing. Today, they posted this video in regards to both Reset and GSF.

The important part is at 2.06min where, and I quote, "....they (Carpro) recommend putting 90ml in your foam cannon...."

That means 90ml of soap to 910ml of water. That dilution equates to about 10:1 which is in line with a lot of other foaming soaps.



I have been using 80 - 90ml of Reset in my 1000ml foam cannon bottle for a while now, so it seems I was on the right track.

 

[kilobravo]

Many thanks for the info, D and, the clip. Copy all on 10:1, 90 and 40ml. Pretty sure I've been over-using it like maybe 8:1 for the foamer. Also..while I do my darndest to get my head around the metric system ALL THE TIME it seems, it's still like a foreign language that I have to translate first before grasping. <chuckling>

One of the few non-flying conversions I keep in my head is 30ml/oz. My primitive mathematic skills tell me that is 3oz in the cannon flask and an ounce and a half in the wash bucket. Close enough for government I figure.

BTW, just so you know I wasn't BS'ing about Reset or TMS... <smiling>

My only chem lab glass is out in the shed for measuring out herbicide, etc., so I also picked these up:

Pretty funny, right? <grin>

The BIG news however is I am taking delivery of a new single dose espresso grinder today. <bigger grin> Around here, coffee is pretty imPOHtent. :-)

​

Just got out of our little outdoor shower after four hours of mowing chores so I am chilling vigorously. :-)

 

[DFB5.0]

Many thanks for the info, D and, the clip. Copy all on 10:1, 90 and 40ml. Pretty sure I've been over-using it like maybe 8:1 for the foamer. Also..while I do my darndest to get my head around the metric system ALL THE TIME it seems, it's still like a foreign language that I have to translate first before grasping. <chuckling>

One of the few non-flying conversions I keep in my head is 30ml/oz. My primitive mathematic skills tell me that is 3oz in the cannon flask and an ounce and a half in the wash bucket. Close enough for government I figure.

BTW, just so you know I wasn't BS'ing about Reset or TMS... <smiling>

My only chem lab glass is out in the shed for measuring out herbicide, etc., so I also picked these up:

Pretty funny, right? <grin>

The BIG news however is I am taking delivery of a new single dose espresso grinder today. <bigger grin> Around here, coffee is pretty imPOHtent. :-)

​

Just got out of our little outdoor shower after four hours of mowing chores so I am chilling vigorously. :-)

I watch and consume a lot of US content. So I'm constantly doing conversions from inches, feet, miles, horsepower, ft lbs, OZ's and gallons to the correct ( ) millimeters, meters, kilometers, kilowatts, Newton Meters, milliliters and liters. I also write a lot of content for US readers in mind, so I have to convert them back into Imperial.

I actually first read this post while I was in full caffeine deprivation waiting to have an operation this morning, the photo of a coffee machine was giving me a head splitting craving!

 

[kilobravo]

That cracked me up, amigo!

As for the photo, My sincere apologies D, but more importantly, I hope the "operation" was no big deal.

The grinder did arrive, BTW, and it's a beaut. Drinking a most delicious latte as I type.

 

[DFB5.0]

That cracked me up, amigo!

As for the photo, My sincere apologies D, but more importantly, I hope the "operation" was no big deal.

The grinder did arrive, BTW, and it's a beaut. Drinking a most delicious latte as I type.

Oh wow, that looks soooooo good! I just want to grab it out of the screen and taste it.

Was a simple operation, in and out before the end of the morning. Being a type 1 diabetic, I always get to be first on the list. I was knocked out for it, so had been fasting. I normally hate instant coffee, but the cup they gave me after the procedure was surprisingly brilliant!

 

[DFB5.0]

Three more soaps I have used over the last couple of months and can now rate –

Adam’s Ultra Foam – like the two other Adam’s soaps I have used, this a pH neutral maintenance product. I like how these soaps foam and then rinse away nice and clean, Ultra Foam is no different. The wild berry fragrance is fun too. All three of these Adam’s soaps are really good options.

Lubrication – 7/10
Cleaning Ability 7/10
Scent –Berries
PH Level – 7.5
Consistency - Thick
Overall Rating – 7/10

Gtechniq G-Wash – Like Gyeon and Carpro, Gtechniq make a number soaps, G-Wash being their pH neutral maintenance soap. I have only used this soap once, that is the telling factor here. In no way is this a bad soap, it’s just not a great soap. The foaming is ok, the lubrication is ok, the cleaning is ok. The scent is not unlike GSF, however is just doesn’t reach the heights of what it should for a quality brand like Gtechniq.

Lubrication – 5/10
Cleaning Ability 5/10
Scent – Cherry
PH Level – 7.5
Consistency – Thin-medium
Overall Rating – 5/10

Shine Supply Shift – I bought this soap as an afterthought and ended up being pleasantly surprised. I shouldn’t like this soap, it has slightly thicker consistency and a thinner foam quality than I like. But………I really enjoy using this product. The foam, despite being thin, clings to the paint for a long working time and the coconut lime scent is delightful. It’s wont clean as well as Reset or NV Snow, nor is it as slick as GSF, but as a workhorse soap, it’s a pleasure to use. I like it so much I have gone and bought a gallon of the stuff.

Lubrication – 8/10
Cleaning Ability 7/10
Scent – Coconut-Lime
PH Level – 7.5
Consistency – Slightly thick
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

 

[GT 550]

Thanks @DFB5.0 great info as as always

Harking back to the Reset vs GSF video, unless I'm missing something there's a huge difference in recommended concentration of Reset between foaming and washing. Any thoughts on this? Could it be the concentration threshold at which Reset foams/clings?

Just looked into purchasing GSF, a 1l bottle would cost around $70 delivered 230km from Sydney. In the UK a bundle of 1l each GS and GSF is about $35 but freight as much again . On the other hand, I'd use 1/3 of the amount in my snow cannon as I currently do of Snow Job (which based on your reports is as much in name as it is in nature) hmmm.

NV Snow on the other hand appears to be quite a cheap option at around $40/l including $8 delivery from Melb about 8 hours drive away and about half what it costs from Syd 2.5 hours away

I just want to grab it out of the screen and taste it.

With KB's noteworthy avatars in mind can you clarify that your quote is in relation to coffee?

 

[DFB5.0]

Thanks @DFB5.0 great info as as always

Harking back to the Reset vs GSF video, unless I'm missing something there's a huge difference in recommended concentration of Reset between foaming and washing. Any thoughts on this? Could it be the concentration threshold at which Reset foams/clings?

Just looked into purchasing GSF, a 1l bottle would cost around $70 delivered 230km from Sydney. In the UK a bundle of 1l each GS and GSF is about $35 but freight as much again . On the other hand, I'd use 1/3 of the amount in my snow cannon as I currently do of Snow Job (which based on your reports is as much in name as it is in nature) hmmm.

NV Snow on the other hand appears to be quite a cheap option at around $40/l including $8 delivery from Melb about 8 hours drive away and about half what it costs from Syd 2.5 hours away



With KB's noteworthy avatars in mind can you clarify that your quote is in relation to coffee?

Haha, I note a previous post for some reason got deleted with regards to your second question there last night. No, I don't have a habit of grabbing and tasting random members of the opposite gender. (I had to think about how to word that so as to not trip the modesty police).

Koch Chemie GSF is an expensive product in Australia, not helped by the explosion in popularity of the product combined with the usual Covid delays in the supply chain. When it launched, a one-liter bottle was $39.95, on par with Reset. Now, the same bottle is a $53.95 proposition. The reality is, GSF is not a soap for everyone, it's too expensive to be used by a professional and hard to justify by the people accustomed to buying a bottle of soap for $12 at the local automotive chain store. But..................... it's just so nice to use that I think it's worth buying to at least once to experience it.

Dilution ratios get really hazy for soaps. In most cases, the manufacturer doesn't even offer one in their product listings. For GSF, Koch recommends 30ml per 950ml of water in a foam cannon, 30:1. Most will use WAAAY more than that, I'm at about 100-120ml. For bucket washing, 50ml per 10lt of water, 200:1.

With Reset, Carpro recommend 500:1 for bucket washing, which equates to 20ml per 10lt of water. Again, most will go beyond that, I'm at about 50ml. So yes, Reset goes further.

For NV Snow, I'm a big fan of this soap, and in Australia at least it's super good value. But.............if you have a wax or sealant, I would be skipping it for now. If your car is ceramic coated, then it's fine. Why? For whatever reason, NV's recent batches of Snow have been WAY above the 7.5 pH they quote in the product listing. I'm told by NV that this is not a concern but may impact weaker protection products like waxes and sealants. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by this as I love the user experience, but I just can't use it on the majority of my cars as they are waxed.

As for shipping, I never look at shipping costs because I make sure to order enough to get free shipping. I would rather pay the $22 towards product rather than shipping. Just think about what else you need to reach that threshold, or more like what you WANT to reach that threshold in my case.

In summary, and this if info specific to the Australian market, between Reset and GSF, Reset is the best value between in terms of retail price and more concentrated formula.

One more suggestion for you, and a way to remove the shipping costs from the equation without the need to spend up to a threshold.......................

Gyeon Bathe is available at Repco, a soap I also highly rate. It foams brilliantly and offers similar slickness to Reset and GSF. They only offer the 400ml size of Bathe, but it's often on sale, as it is now. At $32 for a 1lt bottle of Snow Job, that works out at 0.032c a ml while Bathe works out at 0.039c a ml.............price parity and Bathe is a way, way, way better soap than Snow Job.

Gyeon Q²M Bathe 400ml - 116024 - Car Washes | Repco Australia

 

[GT 550]

Haha, I note a previous post for some reason got deleted with regards to your second question there last night.

Actually I deleted it simply because the quote function stopped working and I didn't want to make a subsequent post .

I'm told by NV that this is not a concern but may impact weaker protection products like waxes and sealants. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by this...

Thanks for the reminder I do recall a reference to the pH in one of your tests. +1...not sure how that's NOT a concern for most people, seems crazy

As for shipping, I never look at shipping costs because I make sure to order enough to get free shipping. I would rather pay the $22 towards product rather than shipping.

Indeed, I'm too much of a tightarse to pay for shipping if I can even remotely justify buying more product to cover it. Ditto buying 4L at a hugely discounted cents/L rate vs 1L which often handily drives cost over the free shipping threshold . I don't use large quantities so invariably there arises the time when I need one thing - say something I initially just want to try a few times - and I'm potentially faced with outrageous shipping costs. But gotta pay to play I guess, I will find a way . The great thing about this thread of course is that your hard work and well written reviews point us in the right direction = many beer token$ not wasted trying bad products.

Gyeon Bathe is available at Repco, a soap I also highly rate.

Ah yes, I re-read the first page last night and saw that, thanks def on my list

 

[GT 550]

Bowden’s Snow Job – I started using this when foam cannons really took off. Initially, I liked how well it foamed. As time went on, I realised this soap lacks meaningful cleaning ability. It’s thicker consistency also made it harder to pour into the foam cannon. There are far better soaps than this, if you don’t want to purchase from a specialist supplier, then look towards Gold Class or Bathe instead.

Spoke to Bowden's today and as ever they were approachable and up for a balanced and straight discussion. Over the years I've never been able to fault their customer service. I asked about the cleaning strength of SJ noting that I'd personally observed better results with NV Snow, and that due to its viscosity SJ was a PITA to dispense into their small aperture cannon. I also asked if I could buy a squeeze bottle the same as their Mega Snow comes in to address this. Firstly, they're kindly going to just send me a squeeze bottle gratis. Secondly, they said the new SJ formula was a vastly different beast in terms of the formula albeit still with mid level pH, and is also quite easy to pour.

Having picked up a 1L bottle of the new stuff at $31 I can confirm that its viscosity is much less than the old stuff. Its effectiveness is tbd.

 

[DFB5.0]

Spoke to Bowden's today and as ever they were approachable and up for a balanced and straight discussion. Over the years I've never been able to fault their customer service. I asked about the cleaning strength of SJ noting that I'd personally observed better results with NV Snow, and that due to it's viscosity SJ was a PITA to dispense into their small aperture cannon. I also asked if I could buy a squeeze bottle the same as their Mega Snow comes in to address this. Firstly, they're kindly going to just send me a squeeze bottle gratis. Secondly, they said the new SJ formula was a vastly different beast in terms of the formula albeit still with mid level pH, and is also quite easy to pour.

Having picked up a 1L bottle of the new stuff at $31 I can confirm that its viscosity is much less than the old stuff. Its effectiveness is tbd.

I literally just finished typing a response to this very topic on another forum -

The new formulation of Snow Job states this -

https://www.bowdensown.com.au/blog/l...oam-thiccafoam

"Having our own in-house chemists means we’re always working behind the scenes on new products and updating current ones. Our latest Snow Job formula has been the culmination of a couple of years' work of in-depth testing with hundreds of different combinations of surface active agents, making it a totally new custom formula that we believe to be the perfect blend for a great Snow Job."

"THE LATEST UPDATES -
As you'll read below, there are quite a few cool upgrades to our Snow Job formula;

-New ThiccAFoam technology, because no matter what anyone says, thicker foam is really quite epic and satisfying.

-A more sophisticated detergent blend concentrate (all custom-made in Australia for us) that cleans better, thanks to the new thicker, wetter type of foam - something our chemists identified in rigorous testing as being the best for this job.

-Less dwell time is needed on the vehicle now, just 4 to 5 mins, so it's quicker to use, making it faster and more efficient with your time. You can only take so many snow foam images for Instagram, right?

-Market-leading anti-rust additives as well as proper salt removal ingredients, making it perfect if you live near the ocean, or have just had a trip to the beach. Also exceptional as a one-step wash after a day on the water for your boat or jet ski.

-It’s totally free rinsing, meaning there is no residue left behind by the detergents. This chemistry is unique to our snow foam and quite a huge one to accomplish - as it instantly reveals that beautiful bead porn when pressure rinsing it off from super hydrophobic or true ceramic coated surfaces, like after using our Bead Machine spray sealant, Beaut Beads wax, Happy Ending foam or the Wet Dreams instant protection spray. Free rinsing also means it rinses the soap residue out from those hidden nooks and crevices you cannot reach with the hose either.

-A less viscous, thinner blend, to mix faster with your water in the cannon bottle.

-The new refreshing fragrance, that's not overbearing or sickly like a cheap toilet spray. For us, products need to smell great if you are going to enjoy using them. (Our apologies to those users of the very first Wheely Clean formula here!).


Two things that catch my eye are the free rinsing and thinner consistency, both issues I had with the original formulation. And it does seem to show that they knew the cleaning ability needed addressing. I was all set to say no, I won't be trying this product, but it does seem to be completely new product that at least set out to improve the issues I had with Snow Job.

 

[GT 550]

Thanks I didn't get to their site as the conversation and my observations of how it behaved in the bottle convinced me it was worth a try. And lol I was typing this as you posted:

"Oh and PS, IMHO since a number of us have spent a far greater number of beer tokens on detailing gear than we ever intended - due mainly to poor self restraint but also posts by a certain individual on M6G - I humbly submit that you should now do the honourable thing and get some to try . For team and science "

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