What Is The Best Car Wash Soap To Remove Dirt?

Car wash soaps have been a controversial topic (in this niche) for as long as I can remember. It’s been this way and will continue to be this way because we all innately have our own idea of what’s bad, good, or great. Much of this is directly related to our personal experiences with a product. I get it. I, too, have my own experiences with products and specifically what I consider to be the best car wash soap on the market. 

As time has passed, new products and technologies have been brought into the car detailing industry, where some are complete crap, and others are viable options. For instance, I used to use and sell Adam’s Car Shampoo in the store for quite some time. It’s a great car soap that’s pH neutral (won’t strip car wax, ceramic coating, or paint sealant) and produces thick foam. It contains much of what we car detailers want in a reputable car foam soap. But, just like every other solution I’m offering on this site, there will always be new and improved products I will personally test out to see if they make the cut. 

In this case, I’ve found my new favorite foam cannon soap - Koch Chemie GSF (Gentle Snow Foam). 

What I Love About Koch Chemie Gentle Snow Foam

Besides it being in a really cool bottle, I’ve found this car soap to pull dirt off the surface of my vehicles exceptionally well, along with mixing well in my car wash bucket. Here are some things I’ve enjoyed about using this car foam soap:

• Little to no residue left behind. Once I’ve rinsed the snow foam from my car, I haven’t had to go back over the paint’s surface with my sprayer and wand to get any additional car soap off. Using other car wash soaps, you can experience soap residue, which, if not addressed immediately, has the potential to result in swirl marks or, if in direct sunlight, can bake into your car’s paint, leaving a lasting mark.
• Soluble. Some of these other car wash soaps (like Adam’s) are really thick. They don’t mix as well as Koch Chemie GSF does. The denseness in some of these other soaps can be quite challenging when you’re filling and mixing it in your foam cannon. For instance, Adam’s soap has a molasses-like texture that degraded my user experience over time.
• Foams well and doesn’t reactivate. I’ve always liked my car wash foam to have a shaving cream-like texture. This stuff in a foam cannon produces the perfect amount of foam. It’s thick enough and does a great job sticking to the car’s surface, pulling off much of the dirt. Keep in mind you always want to do a thorough pre-rinse before applying car soap to the paint. I’ve shot several videos on our YouTube channel showing people how to wash a car. Another thing that impressed me about this car soap is it doesn’t reactivate. By reactivate, I mean once you rinse it off, the soap doesn’t sud up again - nothing more frustrating than rinsing your car off and having to go back over it repeatedly to rid of any remaining soap.
• Smells great. Some of these other car soaps on the market are very potent, which gives me a headache. I’m not a fan of fragrances in products because I’m not a baby, but Koch Chemie did a great job adding a subtle cherry scent to this foam.

Application

Koch Chemie GSF (Gentle Snow Foam) is best used in a foam cannon. I’m telling you, using a snow foam this way makes a world of difference. You will still have to make contact with your vehicle once it’s foamed with a car wash mitt after the foam is applied to get it fully cleaned. If you’ve never experienced any kind of car soap in a foam cannon, you will thoroughly enjoy it. Especially, with this soap.  

Here’s how I use this snow foam:

1. Pour 150 mL of GSF into your foam cannon. Over the years, I’ve found this to be the perfect amount to get the shaving cream-like foam I want to see on my car’s surface. Keep in mind if you live in an area that has hard water like we do here in Florida, you’ll want to have some kind of deionized water system to get better foam while also reducing the possibility of water spotting. Once you’ve poured the GSF into your foam cannon, you’d then add 750 mL of water to fill it to 900 mL.
2. Shake your foam cannon. You want to be sure that all that car soap sitting at the bottom of your foam cannon gets mixed in with the water or else when you spray, you’ll suck it all out. I place our quick disconnect cap on the foam cannon, so I don’t have to shove my finger in there and risk it getting stuck. 
3. Connect your foam cannon to your car washing sprayer and foam away. This is the part you’re going to love. First off, the sound you hear when you connect your sprayer gun to your foam cannon; I can’t describe it. It’s such a satisfying sound. It’s an even better sound when you’re using our OG Spec (swiss-made) swiveling sprayer. Perfection. Once you’re connected, foam your vehicle down, but do it like you’re painting a surface (side to side). Don’t be like some people, running around the car erratically sprayer car soap everywhere. That’s stupid.   
4. Add some car soap to your wash bucket. While my car is foamed, I’ll then go and fill up my wash bucket with GSF and water using my bucket filler. I don’t really have a specific amount of soap that I pour in the wash bucket, so I’ll just do a few pours. I’ll fill it with water about a third of the way and then use my sprayer and wand combo to fill the rest to the top. This will make the soap foamy/sudsy.

I am now in a position where I get several different types of car detailing products sent to me. Any car foam soap you can think of, I’ve probably had and tested it. But, hands down, Koch Chemie GSF is my current favorite car soap. As I’ve mentioned before, it foams well, mixes well in my car wash bucket, is super slick, doesn’t leave any residue, and smells great.