Snow Foam Buyer's Guide

There are plenty of ways to wash and protect a car, but snow foam is becoming more and more popular as the first step of a deep clean.

In this guide, we’ll explain how snow foam works, the best way to use it, and our favourite snow foam products.

What is the best snow foam?

Our top two choices for the best snow foam are both perfect for achieving that professional quality finish at home. We love the Autoglym Polar range and its three-stage snow foam process, designed to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible to clean and protect your car.

We also recommend the Halfords Advanced Snow Foam, our best ever formula made to give you professional results without the premium price tag.

The Autoglym Polar range

Alongside your Autoglym snow foam, the other two stages of the Polar cleaning range make for a complete and comprehensive clean.

Autoglym Polar Wash is a safe and effective cleaner (typically used in place of a regular car shampoo) that’s applied using a pressure washer with the Polar Blaster foam gun after pre-washing. This impressive cleaner will cover your vehicle in a blanket of foam which, when agitated with the Polar Mitt, makes light work of dirt, traffic film and road grime.

Finally, the Autoglym Polar Seal is a protective, hydrophobic coating, delivering a quick and easy high-gloss finish. It has been specially formulated for application through a pressure washer with the Polar Blaster foam gun. It leaves a hydrophobic layer on your paintwork that causes water to bead on the surface, which reduces the time it takes to dry the car.

Simply spray onto a clean, wet vehicle, then rinse off and dry with the Autoglym Ultra Soft Drying Towel or InstaDry Cloth to leave behind a high-gloss finish.

How to use snow foam

Before you start, check that your car’s bodywork and wheels are cool to the touch and out of direct sunlight – this will reduce the risk of swirls and give you a better finish.

Make sure to dilute your chosen snow foam according to its usage instructions. Our two chosen foams are both highly concentrated, meaning you don’t need to use as much product to get great results, and more for your money.

Two key factors affect the amount of foam you’ll generate:

1. The dilution ratio on your foam gun (this controls the mix of water and foam solution in the foam)

2. The amount of concentrated foam solution you add to the foam gun’s bottle

Remember to follow the usage instructions for both the foam solution and the foam gun – and don’t assume that more foam necessarily means better cleaning!

Use the correct equipment your chosen product; the Autoglym Polar Blaster foam gun has been specifically engineered to maximise the effectiveness of the Polar snow foam range, so it’s worth making sure your equipment suits your cleaner where you can.

When you’re ready to apply, do a quick test burst of the foam gun with it pointing away from the vehicle. This’ll make sure you’ve attached the foam gun to the pressure washer properly (it can fly off if not!)

When spraying the foam, work from the bottom to the top of the vehicle, including glass and wheels. The wheels and bottom of the car are usually the dirtier areas, so they’ll need a longer dwell time (the length of time the foam stays on your surfaces) to remove all the dirt.

Leave the pre-wash foam to dwell and loosen dirt for up to 10 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t dry as this can leave streaks. Remember that drying time might differ according to the ambient temperature, the temperature of the vehicle’s surfaces, and whether the vehicle is in direct sunlight, so keep an eye.

For the best results, rinse the snow foam away thoroughly with a pressure washer from the bottom up. This is because the foam on the upper portions will continue to loosen dirt while you rinse below, and it’ll also be much easier to see where best to direct your pressure washer during the rinse phase.

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