*Disclaimer: The products reviewed in this article/video were sent to me free of charge by Autoglym*
Have you ever looked on social media, seen those glorious photos of a car covered top to bottom with snowfoam and thought “I wish I could do that, but I haven’t got a pressure washer, and I haven’t got a snowfoam lance”? Fear not, as Autoglym may have the perfect solution for you with its new Polar Foam Sprayer.
What is it?
The Autoglym Polar Foam Sprayer is a pump-up sprayer bottle that is an alternative for those who do not have access to a pressure washer and/or a snow foam lance. At £29.99, it’s also considerably a lot cheaper than a pressure washer as well as being much more portable.
It has been designed to work with the rest of the Autoglym Polar Series, which is made up of Polar Blast, Polar Wash and Polar Seal. Polar Blast is the snowfoam, which I’ve been using for some time now, before this collaboration with Autoglym came about. The snowfoam is an important part of the wash process as it will help loosen dirt and grime before you make contact with a wash mitt.
Polar Wash is of course the shampoo, which gets applied directly on to the car as opposed to being put in to a bucket. Polar Seal provides protection post wash and also gives the car hydrophobic coating, meaning the car will offer that lovely ‘beading’ when it’s wet.
The Sprayer
First impressions of the sprayer are positive; it feels well made and robust, which is handy for me as I often knock things over when I’m cleaning my cars. It finished with the purple hue, which has lent iteslf to the Polar Series range and overall, looks pretty smart. The sprayer may have a capacity of 1.9 litres, but bear in mind usable capacity is 1.25 litres to allow space to build the required pressure to spray the product on to the car.
Considerations
There are some aspects you need to consider in order to manage expectations when using the sprayer otherwise you may be disappointed. For starters, if you’re using this expecting the same coverage/results as a pressure washer, you simply won’t get that. This is a sprayer you pump by hand, as opposed to a powered pressure washer.
Because of this, the dilution for the sprayer is different compared to the Polar Blaster, which is an attachment for a pressure washer. I have the Blaster (again, purchased with my own money before this collaboration ) and I think it’s fantastic, a vast improvement on the snow foam lance that Karcher can offer. For the Polar Blast for example, the Blaster has a dilution of 5 parts water, 1 part product, whereas with the sprayer, it’s 10 parts water, 1 part product.
This means the snow foam will not be as thick or rich when applied to the car, so it won’t look as appealing on social media. However, as much as it won’t be as thick, it will still be effective. If you really want a thicker application you can do more than pass, but that will take more time and will use more product, which I think negates the point of this product if you ask me.
Application
Polar Blast
Of course, we start with the Polar Blast and as mentioned, it won’t be as thick compared to when applied via a pressure washer. Another thing to consider is not to stand too close when spraying, otherwise that will affect your coverage of spray and will decrease your chances of getting around the car with one bottle load. Speaking of which, you should be able to get around a medium sized car – such as a VW Golf for example – without needing to top the bottle up. Autoglym have proved this by getting around a Dacia Duster with one application.
With the Polar Blast mixed with the correct amount of water it’s simply a case of pumping up the pressure and a-spray you go. Note, there is a valve on the top of the sprayer, which will stop you from over-pressuring it. Another thing to note is that as the sprayer gets lower on fluid, it will need more pumps to build up the required pressure, but it’s not a hardship.
The car used for this review is my Mazda MX-5, which is of course, a small car. Therefore getting around it was easy, especially as you consider none of the polar series can be used on the soft top, which saves product. The Polar Blast is left to dwell for 10 minutes and although it’s not as thick compared to when it’s applied with a pressure washer, I was still happy with the coverage. Once the time was up, I rinsed the foam off with a watering can to show you don’t even need a hose to get good results.
Polar Wash
Next stage is to apply the Polar Wash, in which you need to use a dilution ratio of 20 parts water, 1 part product. Once more, application was easy and fuss free, and one advantage of this process is that you only need one bucket, not two. There is no need for a wash bucket as the shampoo is applied directly to the car, so it’s just one bucket for rinsing.
Although the dilution was strongly in favour of water, I was pleasantly surprised how foamy the suds were. Moving the Polar Wash Mitt over the surface was pleasurable and the suds were thicker than I had expected – top stuff! Once more, I rinsed the product with a watering can, ready for the next and final stage.
Polar Seal
Now ‘Monique’, as my MX-5 is affectionally known, was clean and gleaming, it was now time to protect the clean with Autoglym’s Polar Seal. You’ll need very little of this product – so much so that you need 1 part product to 25 parts water, a little will go a long way. It felt a little peculiar apply so little product in to the water and I was not sure what to expect.
I needn’t have been concerned, though. As soon as I sprayed the Polar Seal on to the car, the beading was almost instant – and very satisfying. As with the other applications, it was quick and easy, with just a little elbow grease to pump the pressure in the sprayer.
With the car covered it was a case of rinsing it off once more – with the watering can, of course. Then it was time to get the drying towel. It’s important to do this as A) you’ll be making sure that the car is dry (obviously) and B) it will remove the water marks that would have been left behind after rinsing the Polar Seal off the car.
Final Thoughts
For those you that don’t have access to a pressure washer, or access to a power outlet (for example if you live in a flat) the Polar Foam Sprayer is going to be a great alternative, especially at it’s price of £29.99. Having said that, it’s still useful for me because although I do have a pressure washer and the Polar Blaster, it was nice not to have lug the Karcher out the garage.
It was also pleasant for my neighbours. This is because the wash was carried out relatively early on a Sunday morning before I was due to attend a car meet. I’m sure the noise of a pressure washer would have been a little bit annoying. Not only was it quieter, but it required less equipment, and no electricity.
Want to know more about the Polar Foam Sprayer and Polar Series? Head to this link: https://www.autoglym.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=polar