Not enough 'soap' when washing car

[Coderedpl]

So I've been dealing with a weird "issue" of sorts. It seems that when I wash my car I get more of 'water' spreading then I do of actual soapiness. 

 

I put in a squeeze of car shampoo, on the mitt and in the bucket, fill it up with water and then blast the mitt to create suds. When the soap is on the pad itself, I get a nice soapy 'glide' and you can see the suds on the paint, but after rinsing, in the bucket and a panel or two, I lose that, even though I have a bunch of suds in the bucket. At times I actually re-apply more shampoo to the mitt, rinse quickly and go back to the paint I get it back again.

 

Part of me thinks I need to blast more car shampoo into the bucket but it already feels like its a decent amount. 
I also do use the gilmour foam gun with a hose (although I have the foam cannon i dont have the pressure washer now for it) 

One of my cars is vinyl wrapped, has the Adams coating applied, and I apply boosters every-so-often such as g&g, and others, so I know there would be some lack of 'stickiness' from the foam and soap but this seems a bit excessive.

Old mitt maybe? Too much water in bucket? I'm using the older ones that are not as tall. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[MikeSoFlo]

I believe Adam's recommends 3-4 oz of Car Shampoo for a 5gl bucket. Watch about 1 minute into the video and you'll see how much they put on the pad and then more into the Foam Gun. 

https://adamspolishes.com/adam-s-new-car-wash-shampoo-16oz.html

[rseward]

My (limited) experience with the car shampoo has been similar. Water turns blueish, and I get "some" suds at the top of the bucket, but very little on the car. When I use my foam cannon I get good suds that will sit for a bit on the car, but when I go at it with the wash mitt from my soap bucket, I kinda feel like I'm rinsing the suds away as I wash.

 

Even so... the car comes out clean, and I haven't noticed any issues with the results.

[falcaineer]

@MikeSoFlo has you covered. Need about 3-4 ozs in your wash bucket. A simple "squeeze" in the bucket and the pad won't do it.

[mc2hill]

I use 1 oz. of soap in 2 gallons of water and that works fine for me.  I don't put it on the mitt, but in the bucket, then put the mitt in the bucket and squeeze it several times to make sure it is well loaded. 

[ZMAN024]

Just a thought:  The hardness of your water will directly impact the amount of suds produced from equal amounts of shampoo.  Soft water will produce more suds than hard water will with an equal amount of shampoo.  If you have hard water in your area or if you draw from a well, you'll probably need more shampoo to get the desired amount of suds.

[GXPaycheck]

You could fill the wash bucket with distilled water. 

[ColoradoSHObro]

i’ve experienced the same issue somewhat. as mc2hill said you don’t need a lot of water in your wash bucket. 2-3 gallons is plenty and then 1-1.5oz of shampoo should be plenty. also you don’t need to fill your foam cannon completely. i usually fill mine up half way with 2oz of UF and it’s more than enough to foam my large sedan.

i think it’s a little bit ridiculous that adams expects you to use 6-8 ounces of shampoo per wash(3-4 in bucket and foam cannon). assuming someone uses 8oz per wash a 16oz bottle of UF will only get you 2 washes which equates to $7.50/wash! 

i do everything i can to conserve that expensive shampoo and have even started using it just in the foam cannon and use cheap store bought car soap in the bucket so i don’t feel wasteful if i wanna dump 3oz or more in my small wash bucket. 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2018 by ColoradoSHObro

[rseward]

 

1 hour ago, ColoradoSHObro said:

i’ve experienced the same issue somewhat. as mc2hill said you don’t need a lot of water in your wash bucket. 2-3 gallons is plenty and then 1-1.5oz of shampoo should be plenty. also you don’t need to fill your foam cannon completely. i usually fill mine up half way with 2oz of UF and it’s more than enough to foam my large sedan.

i think it’s a little bit ridiculous that adams expects you to use 6-8 ounces of shampoo per wash(3-4 in bucket and foam cannon). assuming someone uses 8oz per wash a 16oz bottle of UF will only get you 2 washes which equates to $7.50/wash! 

i do everything i can to conserve that expensive shampoo and have even started using it just in the foam cannon and use cheap store bought car soap in the bucket so i don’t feel wasteful if i wanna dump 3oz or more in my small wash bucket. 

 

 

 

update:

 I stand corrected, some manufactures recommend 1 oz "per gallon", others 1 oz per 3 gallons.  Looks like Adams is recommending 1 oz per gallon (3-4 oz) assuming your 5 gallon bucket is filled with 3-4 gallons of water. Still feels like a lot though, especially in the foam cannon.

 

Original post:

Ya... the 3-4 oz recommendation from the manufacture "feels" like sales tactic, especially when just about every other car shampoo only recommends 1 oz.

How good is a product that requires you use 3-4 times the amount to achieve essentially the same results? 

Edited September 12, 2018 by rseward

[cwp2016nd]

I use a foam gun and approximately 3-4oz in that as well as 3oz in my 3 gallon bucket. It has worked well for me and never have a problem with "not enough soap". I use an adjustable foam gun so I can turn the setting from very little foam to max foam which is overkill. 

[rrmccabe]

I don't understand everyone's need for suds. I personally would rather not have it.  I don't see the value.

 

I want cleaning ability and lubricity and something that does not streak or cause issues if it starts to dry. Adams shampoo does exactly that.

 

 

[cwp2016nd]

1 hour ago, rrmccabe said:

I don't understand everyone's need for suds. I personally would rather not have it.  I don't see the value.

 

I want cleaning ability and lubricity and something that does not streak or cause issues if it starts to dry. Adams shampoo does exactly that.

 

 

A lot of times suds = lubrication. Actually in most cases. That is why we use foam guns and foam cannons while washing; to reduce scratching and increase lubrication. 

 

While it doesn’t need to be shaving cream thick, suds never hurt anything ?

[rrmccabe]

51 minutes ago, cwp2016nd said:

A lot of times suds = lubrication. Actually in most cases. That is why we use foam guns and foam cannons while washing; to reduce scratching and increase lubrication. 

  

While it doesn’t need to be shaving cream thick, suds never hurt anything ?

 

Well  my reason for using a gun is to get soap on and let it soak. I cant see where it adds any lubricity.

[Adam]

On 9/11/2018 at 3:20 PM, ZMAN024 said:

Just a thought:  The hardness of your water will directly impact the amount of suds produced from equal amounts of shampoo.  Soft water will produce more suds than hard water will with an equal amount of shampoo.  If you have hard water in your area or if you draw from a well, you'll probably need more shampoo to get the desired amount of suds.

 

Thanks ZMAN024.   This is a true statement, quality of water changes soap performance substantially.  Our house has harder water than our shop, and therefore, the suds are substantially different!

 

As for quantity of soap, I typically use 2-3oz, as water spotting is an issue where we live/ work. (I also wash at least two cars at a time, so really, the soap used per car is in the 1-1.5oz/ car range.  Our soaps neutralize the minerals in the water, and the extra $ in soap used makes my life easier.   If your water isn't hard, and your need for suds is low, then use what works, by all means!

 

I'm just grateful to earn your soap business, and certainly, using more is good for business, and the kids love it!

[Coderedpl]

For some reason, the post was not showing up in my feed. 

Seems like the general consensus is to use a bit more soap, I tend to fill up my buckets more because I 'loose' plenty of water during the wash process it seems. I don't let the water fall or anything but rather scrub scrub scrub, and then just toss it on the car, mitt picks up a lot of water and drops a whole bunch between the moment it leaves the bucket to the car. Not a big deal, just need to use more soap. 

While sure its great for the business, my wallet, not so much ?