Bilt Hamber Touch-Less Pre-Wash Snow Foam 1L is a touchless snow foam for the pre-wash. You dilute it to 0.5% to 2%, apply it to a cool car in the shade, let it dwell for 1 to 5 minutes without letting it dry, and rinse it off with the pressure washer. The worst of the dirt is gone before the wash mitt touches the paint, which means less risk of scratches.
Touchless snow foam: what does Bilt Hamber Touch-Less do?
Touch-Less is made from sugar-derived surfactants and is biodegradable. The current v2 formula (pH around 10.5) is twice as concentrated as the older version, so you need very little product per wash. The foaming texture clings to the paint and stays in contact long enough to clean thoroughly. Corrosion inhibitors in the formula protect metal parts while the foam dwells.
The pre-wash is free of phosphates, solvents, NTA and caustic soda, and it is suitable for paint, glass, PPF, ceramic coating, wax and sealant. You can apply it with a snow foam lance, pressure washer, pump sprayer or trigger sprayer. You will find more snow foams in the snow foam and pre-wash category.
Key facts about Bilt Hamber Touch-Less
Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
Content | 1 litre (also in 5 litres) |
pH (v2 formula) | Around 10.5, alkaline |
Dilution | 0.5% to 2% (PIR) |
Dwell time | 1 to 5 minutes, never let it dry |
Applied with | Snow foam lance, pressure washer, pump sprayer, trigger sprayer |
Suitable for | Paint, glass, PPF, ceramic coating, wax, sealant |
Working out the right dilution with PIR
With Touch-Less you calculate PIR, the dilution relative to all the water that leaves your equipment. So it is not about the volume of the bottle on your lance, because that is topped up with water from the pressure washer while you spray. Bilt Hamber gives 0.5% as the minimum and 2% for very dirty cars. Measure how much water your lance or sprayer delivers first, then multiply that by the dilution you want. A worked example with 10 litres of water (the 1% is our own middle step, not a manufacturer figure):
Situation | Dilution | Product per 10 litres of water |
|---|---|---|
Light dirt, washed regularly | 0.5% | 50 ml |
Normal grime | 1% | 100 ml |
Heavy dirt, not washed for a long time | 2% | 200 ml |
How to use Bilt Hamber Touch-Less, step by step
Measure your water. Fill the bottle or reservoir with clean water, set the detergent feed to full and discharge everything into a bucket. Measure what you collect. Tip: do this once per piece of equipment, because each delivers a different flow.
Calculate your dose. Multiply the measured water by 0.005 for 0.5%, by 0.01 for 1% or by 0.02 for 2%. Tip: start at 0.5% for light dirt and only go to 2% when the paint is properly filthy.
Fill the reservoir. Add the calculated amount of Touch-Less, top up with cold water and shake briefly. Tip: keep the neck and lid clean.
Apply to cool paint. Work in the shade and cover the car with the lance, we prefer to work from the bottom up so the foam does not run off in streaks. Tip: include the sills and wheel arches.
Let it dwell for 1 to 5 minutes. If you see the foam drying at the edges, rinse earlier. Tip: in warm weather choose the short dwell time, and never let the foam dry on the paint.
Rinse and carry on washing. Rinse from top to bottom with the pressure washer and go straight on to the contact wash, preferably with the two-bucket method. Tip: the paint is much cleaner now, so there is no need to press the mitt into the surface.
Common mistakes with a snow foam
Dosing by eye. Thicker foam says little about cleaning power, so calculate the dilution with PIR.
Working in the sun. Warm paint dries the foam too quickly, so find shade or wait until the paint has cooled.
Exceeding the dwell time. Stay within 5 minutes and check that the foam stays wet.
Treating the snow foam as a full wash. Touch-Less is a pre-wash and the contact wash always follows. Read our general guide to using snow foam as well.
Ignoring a dirty lid or neck. Residue from an earlier fill can upset the dosing, so rinse the reservoir after use.
What do you combine with Touch-Less?
To apply it you need a good lance or cannon. We like the D-CON Snow Foam Lance V2 for the pressure washer, and if you want a wider spray pattern you can choose the Chemical Guys TORQ Big Mouth Foam Cannon. More options are in the foam cannons and lances category, and you can read how to fit a lance in connecting and adjusting a foam lance.
After the pre-wash, reach for a pH-neutral shampoo such as Koch Chemie Finisher Magic Shampoo. If you would rather work with a different pre-wash, read how to use Bilt Hamber Auto-Foam.