For the toughest car cleaning jobs, you’ll need to rely on the best traffic film removers (TFR). While snow foam is undoubtedly the coolest pre-wash in your car washing regime, it’s also the gentlest. This is good news for your paintwork, delicate trim and rubber seals, but does mean snow foam sometimes can’t remove heavy contamination.
You’ll often see TFR sold in giant 25-litre bottles and often advertised as the perfect cleaners for lorries and other suitably industrial vehicles. Put simply, TFR is designed to clear grime aggressively without a whole lot of care for protecting the paintwork. As such, we recommend it for vans and other commercial vehicles, but we say stick to snow foam for your car.
Another warning for TFR, too. While the extra cleaning power is welcome, the majority of TFRs are acidic and can pose a threat to rubber seals, strip the colour from plastics and dull clearcoats over time. As such, make sure you follow dilution ratios strictly.
The best traffic film removers (TFR) at a glance:
Best traffic film remover (Editor’s choice): CarPlan Trade Valet Super TFR – Buy now from Amazon UK
Best gentle traffic film remover: Pro-Kleen Traffic Film Remover – Buy now from Amazon UK
Best traffic film remover for heavy-duty cleaning: Jennychem Industrial Chemicals TFR – Buy now from Amazon UK
The best traffic film removers:
Best traffic film remover (Editor's choice)
Rrp: £18.99
Rrp: £18.99
Pros
- PH neutral
- Long-lasting
Cons
- May produce an allergic reaction
Best gentle traffic film remover
Pros
- Kinder to rubber and plastic
- Good value
Cons
- Not so good on tough grime
Best traffic film remover for smaller cleaning
Pros
- Pre-mixed
- Safe on rubber and plastic
Cons
- Not enough for larger jobs
Best traffic film remover for heavy-duty cleaning
Pros
- Heavy duty cleaner
- Good hydrophobic qualities
Cons
- Not so kind to paintwork
Best pre-mixed traffic film remover
Pros
- Spray applicator
- Pre-mixed solution
Cons
- Must be removed before it dries
What is traffic film?
Traffic film is that horrible layer of grime that builds up on your car as you drive around that ordinary car shampoo can’t shift. It’s most noticeable on lighter cars and is made up of various oils, mud, grease, grit and any other containment you can think of. They’re most prevalent on commercial vehicles because of the industrial areas they’re often used in and the fact that most aren’t cleaned regularly. If you’ve ever seen a van with ‘clean me’ scrawled on the back, it’s probably been written in the traffic film.
It’s also quite difficult to remove, pre-washes like snow foam simply aren’t strong enough to dislodge heavy, baked-in contamination, which means you’ll need to make use of stronger cleaners to properly remove it.
A good traffic film remover will easily break down this grime and remove it, often without too much effort on your part. TFR is designed to remove tougher substances that car shampoo would struggle to shift. Once you’ve cleared the traffic film barrier, you can then get down to the finer points of detailing your car and get rid of other bothersome stains, like bird poo and similar natural residues.
Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tools Editor for Parkers and CAR, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. With an MA in Automotive Journalism, when he’s not testing buckets, he can be found looking at old Porsches.
Sign up to the Parkers Newsletter to keep up to date with more of the latest reviews, news, and recommendations from the Parkers team.
Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections – read why you should trust us.
