The Best Snow Foam? Comparison with Bilt Hamber, Wax Planet 8 Below and Autobrite Magifoam
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- čas přidán 17. 07. 2024
- I’m comparing 5 different snow foams in terms of their cleaning power, thickness and dwell time, effect on last stage protection (using a wax and sealant) and the cost. The 5 snow foams are: Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, Bilt Hamber Touch-Less, Wax Planet 8 Below, Autobrite Magifoam, and Squid Ink Alkafroth.
Squid Ink kindly sent Alkafroth for review a few months ago and I was really pleased with how it performed so decided to include it in the comparison to see how it performed against some big names. I was not obligated to include it here and all my opinions expressed in the video are honest. All the other snow foams were purchased by me.
Here are the links to the products and tools used in the video. Some of the links are affiliate links to In2Detailing so if you make a purchase after clicking the link, then I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
- Bilt Hamber Auto Foam (www.in2detailing.co.uk/produc...)
- Bilt Hamber Touch-Less (www.in2detailing.co.uk/produc...)
- Wax Planet Eight Below (www.in2detailing.co.uk/produc...)
- Autobrite Magifoam (www.autobritedirect.co.uk/pro...)
- Squid Ink Alkafroth (squidinkdetailing.co.uk/produ...)
Equipment Used:
- MJJC Foam Cannon Pro (www.in2detailing.co.uk/produc...)
- Karcher Quick Release Short Gun (www.in2detailing.co.uk/produc...)
Testing Info:
Test #1 Thickness and Dwell Time
- 6 minute dwell time, applied using an MJJC Foam Cannon Pro V2 (rinsed through the pressure washer for 20 seconds between foams).
- Dilutions used: Auto Foam and Touch-Less 4% PIR (200 mL in 300 mL water), 8 Below 50 mL in 450 mL water, Magifoam 50 mL in 450 mL water, Alkafroth 50 mL in 450 mL water.
- Products were all applied to a clean car with fresh protection, to avoid changes in water behaviour affecting the test.
Test #2 Cleaning Power
- Dilutions used: Auto Foam and Touch-Less 4% PIR (200 mL in 300 mL water), 8 Below 50 mL in 450 mL water, Magifoam 50 mL in 450 mL water, Alkafroth 50 mL in 450 mL water.
- Demo shown on 3 cars on panels with even traffic film which were pre-rinsed and allowed to dry.
- Applied using an MJJC Foam Cannon Pro V2 (rinsed through the pressure washer for 20 seconds between foams).
- Over-spray was rinsed immediately with low pressure.
- 5 minute dwell time.
- Panel was rinsed with high pressure to remove the product. A stream of low-pressure water was used to rinse the panels to remove any beads and then the panel was allowed to dry.
- Photos taken at the same position of each section of the panel.
Test #3 Effect on LSP
- Dilutions used were all based on the PIR achieved if the following dilutions were used in the cannon: Auto Foam and Touch-Less 200 mL in 300 mL water, 8 Below 50 mL in 450 mL water, Magifoam 50 mL in 450 mL water, Alkafroth 50 mL in 450 mL water.
- Actual panel impact ratios: Auto Foam and Touch-Less 4%, 8 Below 1%, Magifoam 1%, Alkafroth 1%.
- These were based on the brands' recommended max concentrations.
- Products were sprayed onto the panel using the same brand of trigger sprays and covered evenly.
- Dwell time 5 minutes. Surface was wiped with a damp microfiber towel each time before application to ensure the products did not dry out, and they were coated in an even amount of water.
- Wax used was Dodo Juice Blue Velvet, sealant/QD was Garage Therapy Sigma.
- Both LSP’s were applied to clean, bare paint (prepped with GT decon shampoo) and left to cure for 24 hours.
- The testing using the sealant was done 2 weeks after the wax, and the paint was prepped with 2 rounds of GT decon shampoo to make sure the surface had reset.
Test #4 Price
- Prices based on each brand’s current price on their website at the time of making this video.
- Cost per use is based on a full 1 litre foam cannon.
- Cost per use for 8 Below, Alkafroth and Magifoam was based on the highest concentration you would use (100mL in 900mL). Prices for Auto Foam and Touch-Less were based on 200 mL of product in 800 mL of water. This is what I use to get a 2% PIR (what I usually use to clean the car), however to achieve the recommended 4% PIR used in the rest of the test, you’ll need more than this.
Here's a link to my write-up: autocarehq.com/the-best-snow-...
My Instagram: / autocarehq
Time Stamps:
0:00 The Contenders
0:38 Thickness and Dwell
2:13 Cleaning Ability
4:18 Effect on Wax
6:06 Effect on Sealant
8:17 Price
I tried to keep this video condensed and focus on the results of each category as much as possible, but if you want some more info about the testing then check out the description as I’ve written everything I could think of in there! Also don’t forget to comment and let me know what’s most important to you in a snow foam. Is it cleaning ability, thickness, dwell time etc.?
Btw Squid Ink now have new labels for Alkafroth. I got it when it very first came out and it had a paper label which I ended up accidentally soaking in snow foam when filming 😂
Links to all the products are in the description as always!
I like this channel, your previous videos have been entertaining.
Although it’s nice to see you’re presenting this video similar to Jon at Forensic does, I can’t fathom how you came to these results.
I know people comment on here saying “ I’m glad this product done well” because they use it, but that makes no sense to me at all, I don’t believe in brand loyalty.
Bilt hamber Autofoam and Surfex are market leaders in their respective categories, using dwelling time as a points score is useless if they don’t clean as they cling.
I’ve detailed for over 10 years, BH foam was the first foam that actually done anything more than looked pretty. Magifoam isn’t bad, but BH does the job, which is CLEAN.
BH competes with Autosmart, which says it all really, the other brands belong on a shelf in Halfords.
Keep up the great videos👍🏻
Really thorough review and the production values of your videos just gets better and better.
Thanks Peter I appreciate it!
Great reviews thanks & amazing car ! Iv just purchased an RF myself so looking into detailing myself and these videos are very very helpful
Thank you! Congrats on the RF too, great cars!
Great video Heather, love my Bilt Hamber and Wax Planet. Ultimately for me it's all about cleaning power, and fine these hard to beat
Thanks very much! Cleaning power is a big one for me as well, those two are brilliant
Well done Heather. A lot of work went into this👍 I’ve used BH AutoFoam for over ten years and it’s still my favourite and find its cleaning ability excellent. Two others that are great at cleaning which don’t get mentioned as much are Sansom White Out and Labocosmetica Primus. Both strong performing alkaline foams.
Thanks very much! It’s definitely one of the most time consuming ones I’ve made but it was a very enjoyable one as well! I’ll give those both a look, cheers 😊
Great review nice work!
Thanks very much Josh! Big fan of your channel 🙌
Very informative video Heather! I was happy to see Magifoam performs well, however the cleaning ability wasn't the greatest compare to others. For me, the main reason I love Magifoam is its dwelling time and thickness. WP 8 Below performed very well overall, I haven't try that myself just jet, but that's on my agenda within a month or so and I really looking forward to it. Also, great information delivery, I know how much you like both BH products, but sharing these information, where they sort of "fall" behind on certain things shows: how good and valuable the information you always provide! Thank you Heather, I really enjoyed this content again. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much Vicktor, this one took quite a bit of time to make so I really appreciate the positive feedback! Magifoam has amazing thickness/dwell time, I really enjoy using that one. I’ve got a decent bit still left so I’ll be able to keep using it for a little while, and can always use a bit of citrus on some areas if I feel like I need a bit of a boost in cleaning but during summer it’s more than enough on it’s own. Wax Planet is well worth a try, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it!
Thanks for another informative video Heather, that must have taken a while to compile! I'm still using good old Autoglym Polar Blast but I'll have to try the 8 Below and see how it compares.
Thanks for watching! 8 below is a great all rounder, very good stuff
I'm currently trying the Autoglym Polar Blast too. For the money the cleaning power and suds are excellent! I'm very tempted to try the Magifoam next, but will probably top it up with a little bit of BH Surfex HD to fill the gap in cleaning ability. Great video, Heather - keep up the crackin' work!
Cleaning ability is more important to me in prewash or snow foaming stage. Good informative content.
Thanks for watching!
Very thorough test on the snowfoam, I've had good results from touchless on a protected car and prefer it to autofoam myself but as you say the dilution ratios can be pretty high. I've not tried 8 below yet but I'll certainly put it on my to try list. I recently tried KKD blizzardforce which gave decent results.
Always use Bilt Hamber AutoFoam. Seems the best all round product for me. Keep up the good work! 👍🇬🇧
Thanks! It’s a great product, I’ve been trying it in a pump sprayer recently and it does really well in that as well
How do you find it on wax looks like it stripes wax pretty quickly
Good video Heather , was quite quick information overload so had to watch it twice (was that your intention all along to get multiple views? 🤣)
Loved the testing on LSP’s , great to see just how long they could potentially last and for Sigma lasting as long as 8 applications with some foams was brilliant !!
More testing videos please!!!!! 😀
Hahaha thanks Graeme! Definitely got plenty of testing in the pipeline! 😊
Koch Chemie GsF is my go to snow foam these days. It smells great, is thick, and super slick. I usually leave on for the ensuing contact wash.
perfect timing, just before the f1 hi lights.
Great information thank for your time helping us cleaning addict's 👍
Bilt Hamber Autofoam for me though the dwell time in the summer is a bit short. I found Magifoam incredibly thick and dwell time was outstanding but when it was still hanging about on the driveway a couple of days later it put me right off :-)
Very good points!
Great comparison Heather, I think you could've double the length of that video 😁 be interesting to see how the GT foam compares when it's released 😬👍🏼
Squid ink looks good compared against the reputable BH products and 8 below! 😊
Thanks Mark! Definitely, it’ll be great to try the GT one out, I’m looking forward to its release! Been very impressed with Squid Ink, it’s great stuff 😊
well done Heather, great video - AB Magifoam and AM Details Foam are what i use. Best results for me with high traffic film, grime etc and lots of summer bugs is APC+Foam bath, i use AM Details APC or Infinity Wax's Citrus Wash (diluted). This allows the APC to clean more, with the foam on top. Doesn't harm my existing ceramic coating/protection (AM Hybrid Sealant/Detailer).
Thanks very much for watching 😊 that sounds like a really good combo, I always like citrus in summer on the front especially if I’ve been on the motorway!
Does snow foam or citrus pre washes remove the protection already on the paintwork ie. wax etc
Last 2x5ltrs I've used was autofoam
But changed to magifoam and absolutely love it , can't see going back to bilt hamber now
Out of the products you've tested here, I have recently bought the Magifoam and I am quite impressed. I would say out of every foam I have tried, so far, it's done the best for me. I bought the smaller 1ltr bottle to begin with, but I already have my eye on the bigger 5ltr bottle. :-D
The 2 bilt hamber are the best imo I've tried so many over the years and for sheer cleaning power bh af and touchless are my go to products...touchless being the very best
Here here just watching forensic detailing Jon does a proper test on snow foams oh and no squid ink in site lol its no way better than bilt hamber auto foam or touchless no way not in a month of Sundays lol and I'm not a bilt hamber fan base either
I think it's always hard to say "the best" in general, but what they really do excel at, is consistency, and that's a big plus. Yes they do have their limits, but they are never "bad".
If you like the hardcore prewash stuff like Auto Foam, give Auto Glanz Trade Truck Wash a go. If there ever was a contender to the deep cleaning abilities of Auto Foam, its that. Just be careful, it will give you chemical burns in its undiluted form if you leave it on the skin. Just something to be aware of when filling the foam lance and you're working with the pure product. Diluted it's not an issue and equally as safe for the car as Auto Foam. I do suggest wearing goggles though, but that should also be done with Auto Foam when used in a 4 or 5% PIR.
@@AB-80X thankyou ill definitely give this a try....do you know of any good alloy wheel cleaner that's as good as bh auto wheels please ?
After testing so many good foams which ones do you typically reorder? I’m in the States and it seems BH is the easiest to get my hands on. Most of our foams are aimed more towards foam production but not much cleaning power. Just subscribed for the unbiased review 👍
Exactly. Foam production and bubble gum flavor. Foam does not necessarily mean cleaning power or an easy rinse with no water spots. When I use one of these mega framers there is so much residue left, even I rinse throughly, my air blower struggles to push water off vehicle. I switched to Carpro reset, and it’s problem solved. Clean car. Rinses off so easily. Dries with no streaks.
@@jpan7071 Foam means nothing. I really hope the shaving cream fad will die soon.
Yes, some cling is needed so that it does not just run off within 10 seconds, but a thick shaving cream has little to no effect - especially if it is the weak ph neutral stuff.
Stuff like the Chemical Guys Snow Foam etc. is utter crap from a cleaning standpoint. Yes I do use that very product, but only as a lube when doing the touch wash, and it also protect against the sun a bit on a hot day while washing.
The BH is hard to beat, and IF you feel that you need a bit thicker foam due to water hardness, temps etc. add 30 ml. of a snow foam like the Chemical Guys or Meguiar's Snow Foam per 500 ml of mix. They don't clean anything, but they do work as a foam booster.
Problem is that if the foam gets too thick, not only does it not come into contact with the dirt, there's also too little liquid to dissolve the contaminants.
@@jpan7071 Very true. Many of those foams leave a ton of crap on the car so that people think it feels slick. It's like washing hands in those nasty soaps with way too much moisturizer. It stays greasy and it gets impossible to know if everything is off. That's what makes them great lubes during a wash, but crap otherwise. I actually foam my cars with a 1% PIR after the handwash soap has been rinsed off, just to make sure the residue from the ph neutral "toy" foam is off.
I was well impressed with that mjjc foam cannon and gyeon snow foam it was like painting
That's the exact combo I use.
What consistency is recommended on a Karcher foam lance as I just get watered down crap with autoglym polar blast and was thinking of getting Autobrite magifoam would it be better or should I get a better foam gun with Karcher adapter
Great to see Squid Ink hanging in there with the big boys I think that’s my current favourite although hard to separate from 8below purely on opinion without going to the testing lengths you have.
I’ve been really impressed with that one, for me it’s between 8 below and alkafroth when I pick up a 5 litre bottle
Very interesting!
Great comparison video. I'd love to see Jenny Chem snowfoam against the winner. Never tried any personally but the videos make out it's the ultimate snowfoam for heavy traffic film.
Thank you! I’ll have a look at that one cheers 😊
Salut, M-ar interesa și pe mine un bidon de spuma activa pentru spălarea mașini, as dori ceva de calitate să nu am probleme cu coroziunea sau să îmi afecteze vopseaua etc...ce mi-ați recomanda?
I do love a snowfoam video! I think thickness is key for me. I use prokleen snowfoam as it's the 1st one I bought. It works for me but I don't ever see it on reviews tho🤔
I’ve not heard too much about that one to be honest but I’ll keep an eye out for it!
I use that as well sometimes, bought the strawberry milkshake flavour one so our daughter enjoys using it as well. Very, very thick.
@@sixtysecondsofstephens2386 ......I bought it cuz of value 4 money. Ive got the pink and yellow one's but find the white snowfoam thicker. Would love 2 see a detailer's product review 👍.
Does anyone know why the new magifoam recommends cold water (the old one said warm water)
I Love the Squid Ink range TBH
Completely agree, really enjoyable products to use
Never got the argument for thicker foam bring better. Simply not the case. Used 4 of the five products and for pure touchless cleaning (done on light car) it was WP, TL, AF and then MF. Personally prefer KC GSF or GT Decon Shampoo through the cannon at the moment. Results seems to be better and dwell for longer
Just found your channel. Subbed 👍
Thanks!
Bilt Hamber is half the price of autobrite and auto finesse. Is there a catch I.e need to use twice as much etc?
Yeah you need about double to be honest to get similar results with auto foam and even then the foam will be quite thin by comparison
Just try some touchless it's better for summer dirt yes you use a lot roughly 50/50 but it's still cheaper and better than all the others 8 below is very close second in my opinion both auto foam and touchless joint first but there a new kid on the block 🤔🤔 garage therapy snow foam 🤔🤔😁😁 enough said the number 1 now lol argue amongst yourselves 🤣🤣😏😏😏😝😝😝😝
Interesting that you recommend Bilt Hambler products, especially this snow foam in other videos, but rate it lower in comparison to these other ones. I guess the others are more expensive, and on the whole you're probably going to use less premium products if you're washing cars on volume.
Can't believe the auto foam didn't clean as well as that magifoam have you looked at forensic detailing Jon testing the snow foams ? That auto foam is the best and it's great value closely followed by wax planet 8 below the only ones you really need only my opinion though lol 🤔👍👌
Auto foam cleaned better than Magifoam, it was alkafroth by squid ink which did the best for cleaning here. All are good ones though!
@@AutoCareHQ still can't believe that squid ink cleans better that either bilt hamber auto foam or touchless no way lol i tried that squid ink didn't rate it at all its still on my shelf it's a house for my local spider lol 🤣🤣🕸🕷
hi could you test garage theropy snow foam?
I’ve got a full video on that one, if you search it on the channel it’ll come up
Your results with the Magifoam surprised me. Especially the cleaning ability, as I've always had outstanding results with it.
In terms of outright cleaning, it's the best I've used, second only to GT Zero Decon. And I've tried A LOT of snow foams over the years.
Baffled.
Magifoam did still clean well, I reckon all these lot are so similar that none of them are much safer to use than the others. It’s only when I put them all next to one another could I see any changes and even then they were all still close
@@AutoCareHQ weird isn't it? Stick to using GT Zero decon. Sure its more expensive when used as a snow foam but by god does it clean!!
I use a quite a few snow foams. If you had a choice for cleaning power between a foam and say a citrus pre wash which one would opt for?
Keep up thr good work, great chanel, 👌👌👍👍👍👍🍻
Thank you! That’s a tough one, I’d say with these lot they’re as good as citrus products I’ve tried but if it was a ph neutral foam I’d definitely say citrus would beat it for cleaning
@@AutoCareHQ
Thanks for the reply. I fabcy trying a pre wash, think valet pro is decent?. Out of sheer interest and always wondered. Do you just keep the endless products you have? Or sell them on etc. Curious, lol.
Yeah valet pro is good stuff I use that very often. I’ve given a few things to friends but I hoard a lot to be honest 😂
@@AutoCareHQ
Yup guilty. Take it easy 👍👍
@@AutoCareHQ how about the new garage therapy snow foam ? It's got citrus pre wash already in brilliant snow foam if used with the mtm p f 22.2 snow lance 🤔 the mjjc just produces to much foam and as we know to much foam only good for Instagram shots lol
I have never cared for Bilt Hamber Auto Foam. But in all fairness, my car never really gets that dirty to have to use a pre wash. But I do it anyways. I am now using Gyeon Foam. As I am in the states, I probably should give Bilt Hamber a better test period
Agree with the Gyeon foam. All Gyeon products work amazing in my opinion. I have the cquartz ceramic on my car, so it’s recommended to stick with CarPro products, however Gyeon seems to work best.
@@dsvillalva We are in the same boat lol. I too have Cquartz ceramic on mine, I have switched to Gyeon Restart for shampoo, followed by a foam and rinse of Gyeon Bathe+. Carpro reset was starting to leave a dull film on my paint, so I am switching it up now and then. I only foam (pre-wash) once a month or so
@@Knards have you given Bilt Hamber another try? Any updates on CarPro Reset? I just bought myself some Reset and Touchless as my first “high end” products and haven’t heard that about Reset.
Lol Mr Mr Wilson your car never gets that dirty to use a pre wash are you insane man pre wash very important stage unless you want scratches all over lol oh and try bilt hamber touchless you can thank me later 👌👍😉
@@SUPERSID1968 No, it doesnt. It gets washed weekly and prewash is not necessary
This is odd. In our testing Touchless cleaned far better then Auto Foam.
Used touchless today . Very disappointed & absolutely stinks in smells . Such a over rated product
Requires a ridiculous concentration
The test is all wrong .
Honestly any of those soaps aren’t good for touchless wash we have a better touchless wash soaps here at USA
Erm that's because they aint actually touchless washes, despite one of them actually being called touchless.
Their purpose to to remove the loose dirt and soften the ingrained dirt.
Everybody knows if you want the best touchless cleaning then you use a TFR.
@@AntEloftheHouseofEl TFR? Pardon me, what is that
@@Pedroluvslupe Traffic Film Remover :)
@@mag1vl OK I get it but what brand what do you guys have on UK what’s the best soap film remover?
@@mag1vl when you say TFR are you talking about using an APC for presoak?