Im a mobile detailer in Atlanta and for me, I do both (rinse vs. no rinse) depending on what's on the vehicle. For instance, for most normal dirt, traffic gunk etc I will just foam with my pre-wash soap directly. For trucks and SUVs with heavier mud or something like that, I will pre-rinse first, then hit it with a pre-wash foam. I also tend to let the pre-wash foam dwell a bit longer (5ish minutes) and that also seems to help a bit more.

These comments kill me. Everyone knows more than the next person. Imagine if everyone just did what worked for them? I never pre-rinse, only cause someone told me that pre-rinsing can cause loose dirt to scratch the paint. Foam, rinse, foam, contact wash with 5 or 6 wash mitts, no buckets works for me. Just do what works for you.

I think this also shows that unless you're willing to break the bank on pre rinse products and waste half a day foaming and dwelling multiple times, you're just as well off washing your car like you always have. I just pre rinse and use a two bucket wash process. No big deal. Simple green is a great spot soak product for anything stuck to your car. Sap, tar, bugs, whatever. It'll safely break it down - and it's cheap. "Extreme" Simple Green is $25/ gal. and you can dilute it 5:1 so you effectively get 5 gal for $25....and when you're done your whole car smells like Jagermeister :)

keep up the honest, hard work, and straight forwardness. I've been following you since covid started and got back into detailing my 11 year old car. Some companies just make stuff to sell more that we don't need.

Bilt Hamber Touchless or Auto Foam are my go to products, tried and tested and safe! Difference between pre rinse or foam is the change in PIR if you pre rinse. Also depends if it's road grime, dust or mud. Mud you want to get wet and then rinse off before any touching!

We’ve been testing and developing our product line with this idea in mind, Jim. Glad to see someone else is experimenting. Better results have been with a high pH foam (organic contaminants) topped with a low pH foam (inorganic contaminants) and then rinse. Topped with a foam drying aid and it’s 😘. I wish I would’ve gotten video of it, but I just put it to the test on a vehicle yesterday that has no coating, traveled from Illinois to Texas and was covered in road salt. Came out even better than I expected. Is it a timesaver? Debatable.

Thanks for the video ! I've wondered this before myself.

I've not used this - I do however use Purple Power Boat RV and Vehicle wash in the same way - as a semi aggressive "strip wash" about once or twice a season or about 4-6 times a year depending on how much road grime and "contaminated" the surface is - in those cases I make sure to rinse my wash mitt after each section and inspect it for things like bugs, grit crap like that and only use the mitt on one car before it gets washed. Like others have pointed out "touchless" really doesn't work except if the car hasn't been driven much and most of what is on the paint is just dust (no road grime)....

Yvan explained this method where water is an abrasive and water carved out the Grand Canyon. Personally I think applying a prerinse to a dry car is the safest method. A prerinse can be rinseless wash, a soap, or a stronger cleaner as long as the product offers lubrication when rinsing the product off the car. Thank you for this video over a controversial subject.

My opinion is that one should evaluate both the level and kind of dirt, and choose prewash products and methode accordingly. In the end it's all about being comfortable to start the contact wash after the prewash

Love watching the progression of your craft buddy

Great Information. I recently acquired a black pickup. The first black vehicle I've ever owned and for me, keeping it as scratch-free as possible has been the stuff my nightmares are made of 😄. I've watch a bunch of videos, including yours ( Thank You for sharing this info ) ! and my newbie method of touch-free maintenance washes has been: No pre-wash (I didn't want to dilute the product ) and meguiars gold out of a cheap harbor freight foam cannon and leaf blower drying.... This seems to remove enough rainy-day road film to freshen up the truck good enough for me. I also bought 6 soft wash mitts to manually remove dirt with. For those washes, I use the same Foam/Dwell/Rinse method, then add a second foam before hand washing. So far I'm happy with the results, but am still learning. I can't wait for spring to come, so I can try my hand at a ceramic job. I think that the Wash Chems Pro 100 Touchless Car Wash might be a good first step prep for that ( but will learn more before I jump in ).

I saw a suggestion on another channel about foaming the vehicle before the pre-rinse, and I found it works really well.

Carpro Reset is pH neutral, Carpro lift or descale are the alkaline and acidic ones 👍🏻

I'm no pro but i think this is text book and it's not voiced out enough. I found something very similar in a dishwasher guide where they say not to rinse off plates as there should be a rough surface for the soap to hang on to. Great job!

This is probably the same type of cleaner we use in our shop on our semi’s. we work mostly off-road and it does wonders when you’re muddy. You can literally foam the truck before a rinse and this stuff will get most of the grime off. I use it on my pick up but it can remove coatings if they’re not applied properly. I use turtle wax graphene and it hasn’t stripped it yet.

Reset is PH neutral, their alkaline soap is called lift which is made to be used as a pre wash. Other countries have been using pre washes for years in the US it just hasn’t seem to catch on as much. On extra dirty cars or even cars that I’ve corrected before and I’m trying to keep the paint as nice as possible I almost always use a high alkaline prewash let it sit for 5 mins then rinse, then either just bucket wash or foam again for the wash. Prewash also minimizes any chance of scratching in the rinsing process because it’s encapsulating the dirt that’s being forced off the surface by the pressure washer.

Hope to see a part 2 with this product washing with a mitt how well it works plus up in the northeast we are looking for something that will get the salt off alongside all road film etc. Trying to find a perfect recipe for winter in the rust belt . thanks for sharing and looking forward to future videos

Hey Jimbo! After watching a video on car wash foams from Pan, I tried a higher PH soap from G Techniq and used it without a pre-rinse. I would think with a pre-rinse it would dilute the product so I just shot it straight on the truck. I was amazed at how much dirt was removed from my truck that was filthy from the classic rain induced crude on the sides. I then foamed with my regular PH neutral snow foam and then did a contact wash. My other pre-wash I used from Ethos never cleaned that stuff off the side of the truck or cars. Was wondering the PH of this cleaner. Sounds like it will be pretty high with you comparing it to an APC. Enjoy your holidays

I own commercial self serve and automatic car washes and can confirm that pre-rinsing impairs the touch free cleaning process. The product has to be strong enough to break the bond of road film (never heard it called traffic film in my segment of the industry) and by wetting the surface before application you are essentially diluting the product. It appears what you have is the same or very similar product we use in automated car washes. You could buy the products we use in 5 gallon containers for around $100-$200 depending on strength. Many modern sealants can handle high ph wash products. I tested jescar powerlock and if I recall it still beaded well at over ten washes

I prefer to foam first and then after some dwelling time rinse the foam off before I go over the car with ONR and an MF mitt. At the end of the day, what works well for you is the best approach for you.

The soap used which is Wash Chems Pro 100 is high in alkaline, for the condition of the paint prior washing i would opt for a lower ph aka acidic carwash soap because the dirt is mostly inorganic.

Hello, thank you for the video snd sharing! If you could please maybe do a review on the new Adams Strip Wash? I heard some good things about it.

So what your test just taught me is the purpkse of pre-rinse is to remove heavy materials that could scratch the paint and clear coat. Straight foaming is fine, but you would need to do it twice to ensure you dont scratch the clear coat and paint. So either way, the time is the same. Just make sure you micromit the car, othwerwise a lot of dirt will remain.

I've been using this for over a year i spray it on dry from the bottom up let it sit as long as i can without letting it dry then rinse thoroughly also from the bottom up & it's safe for coated cars

I have stopped pre rinses and now use a pH neutral cleaning soap like Griot's Surface wash which after trying so many others, simply dwells longer than all the others and after rinsing is the cleanest. Then I apply an alkaline product (sprayed, not foamed) let it dwell for a minute and refoam. The foam I use as additional lubricant for my contact wash with TW Pure. If it is a weekly maintenance wash. I stop after the he single foam application and blow dry.

i use koch chemie super foam or active foam, depends on the vehicle... i apply it with the ik e pro 12 foamer so the product does not get so diluted with the foam cannon, it only use 1oz to 1.5 gallon... i try to not rinse first if weather allows it.. works great. specially with the super foam, you can see eating the bugs when its dwelling, my cars are not ceramic so i dont worry about the stripping much, but other cars i use the active foam, safer for the coatings and does a real nice job as a pre rinse also..

I NEVER rub anything on my paint after i wash it. I spray with foam cannon, wash with soft mitt, rince then blow dry.

Thanks for the info Jimbo! I saw this product on the internet recently and was wondering how well it worked or didn't work. Your video answered my questions! Thank you sir. That stuff looked like it foamed absolutely incredible! Nice and thick. I think you are right though, spray down the dry vehicle and let the product dwell on it for a couple minutes. The strip wash function is what I would probably use it for. Looks like it could really break down some dirt and road film. That stuff definitely seems to have some merit for certain situations. Not sure I would use it as a touchless wash because it would probably strip down whatever protection you have on it if it's not a full blown ceramic coating. It would probably strip wax and sealants right off so you could only use it in those situations when you wanted to strip off everything prior to a new product being applied. I had all sorts of hope that it would be a great product, but just from your short little test there, it didn't look like it did a very impressive job breaking down anything. Both sides looked almost identical. I'm sure it's probably a great soap, but it looks like it needs some agitation to work effectively as a soap anyway. I think i'll pass on this one and stick with something like Bilt Hamber Touchless.

Great video - I pre-rinse my cars with a low pressure tap hose first - not my pressure washer - then I use foam followed by a pressure wash. The logic being that if I pressure wash pre-rinse there is a theoretical risk that the water under pressure might act on larger dirt particles and damage the paint (a bit like sand blasting). I have no evidence for this of course but it seems logical!

I am mobile detailer in HK and I will do both (pre rinse or not) depends on the particular situation. First I think the pre-rinse step is mainly to cool down the panel if iam going to wash a warm car or just under direct sunlight. If so I will go for pre rinse to cool it down to slow the soap dry up in the foaming prewash process. If the car is cool or it isn't under sun light, I will foam up the car at dry for more cleaning power in the prewash stage.

Let the rinse vs. no rinse battles begin!😂 I am a pre-rinse washer most of the time but I dont use a power washer. I do have one to be honest. Not even sure my pre-rinse even counts as a true pre-rinse because I start by spraying it with a foam cannon, then rinsing it off before foaming it again. After that, I use mitts to wash it like normal. I don't use buckets. The main reason I dont use my power washer is so I can run a water filter because the water where I live has a high mineral content that tends to leave deposits when I don't use it. If you use a power washer, you need either expensive high-flow special filters or DIY your own, both of which can risk damaging your power washer if you're not careful. I understand some people claim that water filters don't work, and trust me, I was skeptical too. However, I conducted a very "scientific" test🤣 by washing one half of the car with a filter and the other without like Jim, and I could feel the difference during the drying steps. Also, it is possible that depending on where you live a filter wont help you as not all tap water is the same and might need different kinds of filters or processes to "clean" it. The second reason is that, although I have no evidence for this, I believe power washing turns the dirt and grime into a makeshift sandblaster, especially here in the desert where I live. I believe to just do what work best for you. I love detailing my car.

Hey Jimbo, what happened to the Cerakote ceramic coating review? I feel like I finally found an honest review and then boom it gets taken down. Did they make you do that? I love your videos btw keep up the great work!!

Simple but good test jimbo. What is that water sprayer. Thanks.

i spray Wizards bug release on my car while it’s dry.. let it dwell for a minute or two then rinse off.. garden hose foam gun with Wizards Max Foam Wash, a few different microfiber towels and one rinse water bucket with a grit guard that i’ll change out a few times depending on how dirty the car is.. works great no scratches or swirls

Great video! You may want to try the Chem X brand instead of the brand you used today. It’s been shown in numerous videos & in my experience gets better results. Appreciate your channel.

Avoid pre-rinsing for 2 reasons: 1- the existing water on the surface further dilutes the foam when it hits the car, 2- the pressure of water during pre-rinse digs the dirt further into the clear coat preventing the foam from encapsulating the dirt.

Hey man, at the end of video I think you were trying to talk about Carpro Lift? Car pro reset is safe on sealants! Carpro lift is not. Either way it was a great video man.

I’m really curious if there’s a water drain on that floor???

Obviously, there are multiple scenarios in which a pre-rinse might be effective or not. But in the case of the vehicle tested here, where it does appear to be a "wash" between the two, it also appears that it also might have helped to let the pre-rinse side soak for a minute. It looked very dry and giving the water a bit more time to soak into the dirt, thus making the pre-wash soak through the grime slightly more quickly (and possibly more thoroughly) before running off.

Love your videos, I was wondering if you have used stars & stripes from ChemX

I am a professional car detailer / corrector.

I've often wondered if these products go against our age-old remark of saying that automatic "touch less"car washes are harmful to paint finishes because of their alkalinity. But now we are using, basically the same chemicals in our shops as "strip washes" Because, regardless if we want to admit or not, a touch less car wash can do a pretty darn good job of getting a dirty vehicle clean..

Jimbo - washchem pro is the bomb bro👍🏽👍🏽

Who are they? Touchless wash. Never works for people who drive 100km+/day and in shitty weather. Show me a touchless wash that can clean a car that has been driven 800km over two weeks in shitty weather. Love to be proven wrong!

What would be great would be to read out what the product manufacturer says on how to apply their product. I tend to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations rather than suggestions from other people unless they can demonstrate their result is better than what you get from the manufacturer’s directions - given that they should know how to get the most out of their product. Similar to what others have said, it often depends on what dirt I've collected, that will depend on whether I attack it was a jet wash before using the pre-wash Snow Foam. That said, Meguiar’s do advise to use a mit on the foam if the car is particularly or heavily soiled. So pre-rinsing is not required with their Snow Foam. I just pre-rinse the car for my own confidence, but only if my car is exceptionally bad. I've been using Meguiar's Ultimate range for years with excellent effect and fantastic finish. Initial cost of the bottles may be a bit pricey, but not the most expensive, and as for price per wash in terms of cost, very minimal, so it doesn't break the bank. Washing every couple or four weeks depending on what I've picked up, topping up the wax isn’t always necessary, the bottles last well over two years. The wax is in its 3rd year, and wash and wax is in its 4th (you only need 4 caps full to a gallon of water). I know it is a trend to use the wash and wax with a cannon, but to me that is just an unnecessary waste of product, after all it is formulated and designed as a contact wash. The beauty of their Snow Foam is that if you don’t use it all, you can store it in a jar for next time, though you have to give it a bit of a shake before use, as the product can sometimes separate depending on how it is stored. The soaps don’t always strip away the protection to any noticeable degree. I use the one bucket method - always have, no scratches, but there again I don't reach to the bottom of the bucket to get to the grit. I have found that using the same manufacturer for the pre-wash and wash works best as they often formulate their products to complement and work with each other. I appreciate that this may be subjective, particularly where some who have found products from different manufacturers have made good pairings, which produce excellent results - whether it is a maintenance wash or a deep clean, with little effort at little cost per wash. Bilt Hamber products are getting a lot of attention and good praises, so I will give them a try, to see if they can give Meguiar's a run for their money in terms of cost per wash, final finish result and longevity of protection. Bilt Hamber’s corrosion protection products and underbody sealants are absolutely brilliant. I just hope that their washes and waxes are as good. In your swipe test I was interested in the difference in dirt left behind, but for a pre-wash what is important, is how much it prepares the dirt for easy removal in the contact wash stage (or contactless wash for Touchless). That said, I have seen that many think that contactless mean no contact, this isn’t always the case, if often just means that you have to make less contact and thus less effort when washing. As you allude to in your presentation, personally I sometimes find that a pre-wash is not always necessary, I suppose some would call this a maintenance wash, but to me it is not mandatory. This probably explains why I have had my current bottle for the 2 years. I always use a pre-wash before going into the winter, then again at the end of winter to wash all the salt, etc. off the car. It would be interesting to see what was left on the car after the contact washing stage, or how easier it made the contact washing stage before being waxed/coated.

Great video!👍🏻

I just bought that MJJC 3.0 foam cannon and it did pretty good for how it came stock but I’m going to try the other orifice out to see how foamy the soap gets. I noticed if I dump in a lot of soap it will foam good but like in your video it calls for a lot of soap but yours sprayed really nice. I’m also using a gas pressure washer with the required 2.4 gpm. I always prerinse but I wonder if that breaks down the soap quicker and reduces the shaving cream look.

Ive used Wash Chem on my Tesla before and although it’s a great touch-less soap, it negatively affected my protectants especially graphene ceramic coating and discolored plastic, paint and metal parts of the car. Made my red caliper looks really faded and left streak residues that wont come off.

Awesome video. My foam cannon would have ran out of soap... i wish mine lasted like yours.

The one reason I think you got more dirt on the pre-rinsed side was that because you put down a lay of water onto the paint surface and then the foam cleaner is not actually 100% touching the dirt on the paint it has a layer of water between the dirt and the foam. Not pre-rinsing it you put the foam directly onto the dirt and actually clinging to the dirt that is on the paint giving you a better result with not pre-rinsing.

I timed the amount of time each side was foamed. The non-prerinse side was from 3:12 to 4:08 (56 seconds) with a bit of foam going over to the pre-rinse side. The pre rinse side was foamed from 4:08 to 4:41 (33 seconds), then there was more foaming on the non-prerinse side from 4:41 to 4:52 (11 seconds). So essentially the non-prerinse side was foamed (about 67 seconds, but take a bit away for hitting the prerinse side a bit) almost twice as long as the prerinse (side 33 seconds)

@autodetailingpodcast i can say with experience and trial and error that pre-rinsing does dilute anything you apply afterwards and depending on what chemical it is it can severely reduce its effectiveness. Ex: for years ive used formula 21 for cleaning wheels and tires, it is extremely potent and if you spray it on plastics such as trim and let it dry in the sun it wil discolor it. However its excellent at cleaning tires but if you spray it on dry and just rinse it, it actually works better than pre-rinse, applying, and then scrubbing with a tire brush. Thats a significant difference.

Very interesting looks like a great product I have one question though can you use this as a contact wash as well? What do you think?

That's my go-to love it foam let it sit rinse off foam again contact wash and my mitt is 75 % clean always real dirty cars tho have that last layer of dirt so that's the other 25 percent also works great if you mox in another soap works great , to save product if you want to got that way oh and I don't pre rinse lol

it takes very little time to power rinse a car before it is foamed and washed if you have a pressure washer. You should always do this to the wheels as they get the dirtiest along with the under carriage of the car. And always do your car in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the sun. I also have a pro air cannon with an air squeegee attachment which leaves an absolute mirror finish. I also layer Bead it up after every few washes or you can use any of the really good ceramic coating enhancers. This will enhance the color of the paint job and deepen the mirror finish. Ive done this to our wrapped Y and it makes the finish almost a true mirror finish. Its incredible. The products they have today are amazing and you should never ever bring your car to a car wash if you possibly can. I use the best of everything on my cars and it really shows. My S is a 2016 and the finish is an absolute mirror finish with depth and looks better than a new Tesla S and its not close. Look if you are going to do it, then do it right. Period.

What this video suggests to me is the product does not remove road film and thus what’s the point, since contact cleaning is still needed, and that is best served agitating soap with a hand mitt before rinse and dry via blower and towel.

With winter approaching and sticky road salt and other road grime I decided to do a full touchless wash using Bilt Hamber Touchless. I used a pump sprayer on half the car and a foam cannon on the other half and NO pre-rinse on either side. Pump sprayer won, I believe foam cannon dilutes the soap too much or does not put enough of it on the car to eat away the road grime. Used leaf blower to dry it off. Overall, contact wash takes me 30min to complete and give me the 100% result I want, pump wash will take me 1/2 the time and give me a 70% result - good enough for winter results :)

Also carpro reset is PH neutral, LIFT is barely alkaline, descale is moderately acidic.

I’ve come to the theory that if you have water down (pre rinse) it’s going to have a hydro layer between the paint and the cleaning solution, if you spray the solution on a dry car, you have the solution easily encapsulating the dirt and grime on the paint.

I’ve been detailing cars since the early 1970’s. I find all of this very interesting.

Good to see a video like this go semi viral or definitely viral for jimbos channel. was surprised to see over 300,000 views for a pre rinse vid. Nice new shop man?!

A normal characteristic of an APC is you should see it cling to the paint.....but they honestly all that really means is, the more it clings, the dirtier that paint is. The APC will not cling like that if your vehicle is totally clean. And in other words, you always need a contact wash to remove everything.

I may be wrong but I believe that pre-rinsing your car will just lubricate it and thus the soap is going to "attack" the grime less. Ask any dentist and they will tell you that you should not rinse your toothbrush before putting paste on it because then the paste is not going to cling that well and your brushing is going to be sub-par.

I don’t worry about infinitesimal scratches on my car. I spend my energy worrying about whether the engine or transmission is going to continue to operate as needed.

Just bought some white pearl and it get out barely just clear. I shaked and shaked and it started clogging so i shaked and heat it on the heater inside and shaked it... Worked again but still clear. Very pissed cause the store is at a 40min drive. I think the can was on shelf for to long idk.

I would just re foam the car regardless if i pre rinsed or not. Especially if the vehicle is really dirty.

So i guess if your pre rinsing, your pushing the dirt and stuff around with no lubrication in theory, but if you foam first your letting the soap encapsulate and lubricate the surface lessening your chance of scratching, in theory.

If the car has sand or cement from construction areas, and you pre~rinse with a power washer (no soap), isn’t that inducing scratches?

Hey Jimbo, what happened to the cerakote video from a few days ago? It looks to have been taken down. Im concerned about the lack of durability your test showed , as i recently purchased a few packs . Thx

Of course you should go straight to foam on a dry car. Water alone is not a great solvent or surfactant. The soaps are far better at being surfactants & solvents. Also; just a waste of time & water to not go for a foam bath, pressure rinse, one bucket+ grit guard + 3 towels.

When would you add in a iron remover spray into the process?

Isn't that orange pressure washer nozzle too narrow to be using on paint? I typically use the much wider white nozzle on paint and the medium width green nozzle on wheels so I don't risk damaging the paint or lifting up the edge of vinyl wrap stripes on my vehicle.

even if pre-rinsing cleans more ill still just foam it straight away , saves so much time I don't care much about pre rinsing it lol

Great video. I think you were suppose to foam from the bottom up according to the directions.

If that chemical must be put in a special bottom because it can eat through some plastics. What does that do to your clear coat?

I 1. foam first, 2. pressure wash off and then 3. hand wash with a sponge then 4. pressure wash final time. 5. Use a wet ceramic wax spray and go round the car with dry cloth. Job done, sparkles!

Seams a bit mad washing inside the floor will never dry is that a grat floor?

😂 a Cancoat towels love these

I have a classic Corvette that I only drive when it's nice. Using a foam cannon is a total waste of time if you are going to hand wash it anyway. When I'm finished hand washing my Vette, you can wipe it with a white cloth and there will be no dirt. Total waste of time and money. I'm never going to use a harsh chemical on my car. A good friend retired from his position as a coatings rep and he said the worse thing you can put on a car is dawn dishwasher soap. It dries out the clearcoat which eventually flakes off.

to start with i would never direct water at the paint in a pressure manor like thst.

Bro please let me know what is the foam cannon you use as well as the pressure washer because I’m using an MTM cannon and my cannon bottle the goes so quick that it’s only enough for one car as a full bottle please help me i must be doing something wrong

As a Car Wash Attendant, I see this as an absolute win. 🥹

No matter how you use active foam, anyway you need to use soft sponge to get good results...

What pressure washer are you using?

High ph soap with some degreeser

Can it be used on matte paint ? like BMW's frozen option.

What does it do to paint protection ?

Would this be too much for a ceramic coated car. Would it break down the ceramic coat?

Wait, I was told by a carpro salesman that carpro reset was ok to use weekly on a ceramic coated car. Is that not correct?

What was the PH Level of that mixed product?

I use a touchless carwash never touch the car i also have paint protection so scratches just don’t happen

Have you ever tried foaming simple green? I’m going to try as a pre rinse. Then foam. Maybe try 5oz simple green in a 32oz bottle. Simple green is no where strong apc like purple power

You only need to pre-rinse to get the heavy bulk of the dirt off. Rinsing purely because it's got a light traffic film layer on is a waste of water, time and money. Also, the sheer amount of snow foam you put on that car, that car should be registered as a glacier, iceberg or something. You said you had a 'couple of thoughts' while you were foaming the car. Just a couple? I've heard debates go on for less time.

I hear no electric pump when you use your power washer. Is it outside or what?

Curious, when you fill the foam cannon with thr 22oz water to 10oz soap, how many washes does it last for or do you have to keep refilling for every wash?

Soooo, is the high pressure rinsing removing the loose grit? Just another product made, not to clean the car but your account

I've always pre rinsed when washing. I really expected more difference. Looks like I'm just wasting time really.

Can you demonstrate using the same product but this time outside.

I think the reason for pre-rinse is to remove big and loose dirt like after going off-roading.