AF Avalanch

[mobiledynamics]

Is AF - Avalanch not ~imported~ stateside these days.
Can`t seem to find a retailer carrying it

[Bunky]

I assume it has lost favor (not enough sales). I have some Avalanche left but do not know where I could find it if I wanted it again.

[mobiledynamics]

Ordered up 10L.
PM if if anyone want`s to grab a liter or 2.

LOL. It`s been a looong time since I`ve ordered abroad.
Ahh. Back in the good `ole days when Menz. wasn`t even here stateside and good `old JGV.

[top189h]

It`s a shame it`s gone from here, Avalanche, Crystal and Finale are among some of my favorite products.

[Lonnie]

For those wondering what AF Avalanche is (Like me) it`s British-based Auto Finesse`s snow-foam pre-soaking soap designed for foam guns for vehicle washing. I looked at the web site (sorry, no links due to forum rules) and its claim-to-fame is it`s wax-friendly citrus-infused/based cleaners.

To the OP , I am just curious if this is "better" than the very popular Chemical Guy`s Citrus Wash-n-Gloss or their plain Citrus Wash (which is supposedly NOT wax-friendly because it`s designed as a LSP pre-cleaner wash) ???

FYI, Crystal is a glass cleaner and Finale is a quick-detailer.

[MattPersman]

I`m imagining people are lookin for soaps that help remove road film. Us based ones typically do not


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[mobiledynamics]

Lonnie -

I`ve only had a opportunity to use it once sofar on a DD that was driven in the rain. Still need to dial in dilution rates.
This is going to sound like a crazy statement, but sorta how hard water/soft water affects one experience with a product, I need to play around with AF recommended dilution rates, as dilution rates are not the same with ~us~ vs ~uk~ water fo sure ....I believe they actually use less if they are using US products, hence stateside, I may need to dither from their recommended settings

My go to soap is reset as it play`s nice with my coatings...
I do have CGWG in my stash, but have not touched it in almost 18-24 months...


Back to my experience with Avalanche.
Standard 32oz lance bottle with 4oz product.

I let it dwell for about 9-10 minutes.
Rinsed and just blew dry with the blower. No mitt or mechanical washing on this test run
It got the panels clean - aka, dirt clean. It did leave a film on all panels, and rear window, which just get`s grimey from the aerodynamics.
F and Side windows were clean.Top Rear bumper, some minor dirt was left on it.

Have yet to really form a consensus on it. LOL. I actually need to purposely let the cars get a bit grimier.

[Bunky]

I had contacted AF and inquired about the best dilution and they wanted it near 1:100.

[mobiledynamics]

Al -

What I was alluding to in the 4th sentence of that reply, when the folks over the pond use US based products/dilution rates, there was a thread that was in the general tone, to use less than the recommended US dilution rates for their local water quality.

AF Avalanch recommends 1-2 inches in a lance bottle.
The 1-2 inch mark measures out to 5-10 oz in my unscientific measuring.
So theoretically, if I was reading that dilution thread accurately, minimum I should have been using is maybe 7 oz ?
We got some of that northeast snow out our way. I try not to drive in the 1st - 2nd snowfall.....too many forget how to drive and figure it`s the apocalypse. Another test hopefully underway

I was chiming in with a Pro detailer down in FL. He was recommending 3-4oz.
Water is so subjective.

[mobiledynamics]

Washed both daily drivers today.....salt driven DD.
I like it - maybe love it
Might love it if I can get it dialed in down to film ---truely touchless

I did a wash with the intent of a mitt today.

AFA dry dwell about 6 minutes
PW rinse

I then did a usual 2 bucket wash.
I`d like to say I have golden hands, and similar to claying, I can feel how dirty or not I`m scrubbing against, even when floating my wash medium along just enough to get it clean.
Cars are coated....
All the panels just super slicked glided along .
It`s as if the panels were pristine, just short of film, in which I was removing.
All in in, fairly interesting wash today because it`s been a very long time since I`ve taken a mitt to a panel and not feel any ~pushback~ on a panel where I felt like I needed to do a double dunk soap foam, and follow up with some agitation/flushing liquids.

And timewise, I made out like a bandit. Only took me about 45 min per car.

[mobiledynamics]

I did another wash this morning...without avalanch.

As a test bed, I left both DD outside yesterday last night, soaking in the Noreaster rains.
Both cars were pretty grimey. No salt but a whole lot of rain/road grime/film/muck
Consider it one helluva presoak....
Pressure rinsed the car downs.

Usual 2BM mitt wash.
Same wash media as the prior wash.
There was definitely more dirt on the panels that without the pre-foam soak/rinse.
Between each rinse of the mitt in the bucket, I could clearly see surface dirt on the mitt that was not observed in the prior wash method with Avalanch as a pre-soak rinse. And the mitt did not ~glide~ like it had prior, aka, dirt surface tension.

To be frank, I don`t know how this affects my LSP.
I`m slightly addicted....I`m sorta overdosing on Hydr02 the cars at a 1:8 dilution rate ...

[mobiledynamics]

In Lieu of a impeding snowstorm, figured I`d get the grit off the cars...as one DD sit`s outside@ night.
Tested cleaning with a APC at 10:1 . This APC AFAIK is on the lower end of alkalinity as alot of other APC`s on the market - the last time I checked...

I`m going to try one more APC wash with this upcoming snowstorms salts/grit at 8:1 as the final baseline on APC wash just to verify/validate the comparisons.

Anyhow, sprayed, let it dwell for about 5-6 minutes and then HP washed it, followed by a blow dry.
Cars were not dirty but were driven in rain yesterday, so there was some level of road film on it.
As such, while this type of wash did produce semi-clean panels, it did not remove as much dirt as the over the pond stuff I`ve been messing with. It`s a different approach I suppose as their mindset is all about the pre-rinse and they Don`t Mind the extra LSP factor, post aggressive wash regimens.

Surely I can`t be the only one here going for a touchless wash.
It sure would be helluva interesting just for sch1tz and g1ggl3s if I could get my hands on the soap they use at the touchless wash, JUST to see how it would behave in my Residential Consumer Quasi Touchless Washing Setup.

Color plays somewhat of a role I suppose on how much film one sees after said testing. I`m testing on black FWIW...


If anyone else here over@Autopia is testing, refining your completely touchless routine, and OR as CLOSE as you can get, let`s hear it.

[Bunky]

What I was alluding to in the 4th sentence of that reply, when the folks over the pond use US based products/dilution rates, there was a thread that was in the general tone, to use less than the recommended US dilution rates for their local water quality.

I was just highlighting as you stated that using amounts of product and water (like 6 ounces in 32 oz water) does not give true amount since it depends on the foam cannon. It is the pick up rate out of the reservoir mixed with the rest of the water through the pressure washer that determines the actual dilution as it comes out of the foam cannon.

I actually measured mine (pressure washer GPM and amount picked up from reservoir) to determine what the dilution was getting on the paint. I then asked AF and their response was it should be around 1:100 which I think it stronger than most would use. I think (been a while) my dilution was 2 or 3 ounces in a total of solution of 15 ounces and I had to add more product to get to 1:100.

[MattPersman]

Any touch less wash I have tried I still had a film on the car when done. Frustrating after paying $ for that

Good ones that were effective would likely start with acid based cleaner followed by alkaline to lift the road film and be attracted to the acid before the rinse. I think TSP might be too hard on some trims or plastic and rubber to try as a presoak. I guess if you had a couple crappy cars or a door from the junk yard with the rubber glass and trim on it you could test it.


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[mobiledynamics]

I`ve slowly learning/appreciating how important a good pre wash shampoo is...

As I let this stuff sit, dwell and let it naturally fall off, one can see how much grime even before rinsing, is emulsified/removed just by this simple process.