Product Overview
Actichem Foamex Powder is a professional powder defoamer concentrate that prevents and collapses foam in wands, hoses and waste tanks. It is a powder silicone compound.
Why foam is a machine problem, not a cosmetic one
Worth being clear about, because defoamer is one of those products people buy after the damage rather than before.
- Foam carries over into the vacuum motor or blower. Vacuum motors are not designed to pass liquid, and foam is the mechanism that gets liquid past a waste tank that is nowhere near full. This is the expensive failure — a motor is a considerably larger bill than a container of defoamer.
- Foam destroys suction. Foam build-up in the recovery path is one of the most common causes of a machine that has “lost power”. Operators chase seals and filters when the actual problem is a tank full of foam.
- Foam hides the tank level. A waste tank reading as full of foam is not full of water.
The foam usually comes from residual detergent left in the carpet by previous cleanings, not from the product you are using today — which is why it turns up unpredictably on other people’s previous work.
Benefits
- Fast defoaming action.
- Will not affect pH or alter cleaning performance — it does not interfere with the chemistry you are actually using.
- Protects vacuum motors and blowers from foam ingress.
- Restores vacuum performance at the source rather than treating the symptom.
- Verified non-hazardous — see the safety section.
Powder or liquid?
CCW carries both forms and they do the same job. The choice is practical:
- Foamex Powder (this product) — a 10 kg concentrate. Suits high-volume operators and anyone who would rather store a dry concentrate than made-up solution. Powder does not freeze, does not separate, and takes up less room per dose delivered.
- Foamex Liquid — a 5 litre liquid, diluted 1:4 to 1:10 and poured straight into the hose. Faster to deploy mid-job, because there is nothing to dissolve.
Many operators carry the liquid on the truck for immediate use and keep the powder in the workshop as the economical bulk supply.
How to Use
Follow the dosing rate on the container label. We have deliberately not published a dilution here, because Actichem’s published material for the powder does not state one and we are not prepared to invent a figure for a concentrate. We have asked Actichem for the dosing instruction and will publish it as soon as we have it — in the meantime, if the label is unclear, call us before you dose.
It is a fine powder. Dispense it without creating airborne dust, and keep it out of your eyes and away from your face while handling.
Add it at the first sign of foam, not when the tank is full of it. A small dose early does the job; a tank already foaming over takes considerably more.
Safety
Verified non-hazardous — and we checked.
Actichem’s safety data sheet for AP436, version 2.2 issued 11 August 2025, records Foamex Powder as a non-hazardous chemical and non-dangerous goods. No signal word, no hazard statements, no poisons schedule.
We are being explicit because we have been correcting a great many pages in this catalogue that claimed “non-hazardous” when the safety data sheet said otherwise. This one is correct.
Non-hazardous does not mean careless. It is a fine powder, and any fine airborne dust is a respiratory and eye irritant regardless of what it is made of. Dispense it without raising dust, and wear eye protection and a dust mask when handling a 10 kg container.
One practical caution that is not about hazard
Silicone defoamers and carpet protectors do not get along. Silicone residue left on equipment can interfere with the application of a fluorochemical protector. If you use the same machine for both, rinse the recovery path thoroughly between jobs, and be particularly careful before a protection job.
Specifications
| Product code | AP436.10 |
| Pack size | 10 kg |
| Product type | Powder silicone defoamer concentrate for extraction equipment |
| Appearance | White powder |
| Odour | Mild |
| pH | Not applicable |
| Key components | Methylated silica (CAS 67762-90-7) and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (CAS 556-67-2), both under 1% |
| WHS classification | Non-hazardous chemical |
| Signal word | None — not applicable |
| Hazard statements | None |
| Poisons schedule | None applicable |
| Dangerous goods | Non-dangerous goods |
| SDS referenced | Version 2.2, issued 11 August 2025 |
Related Products
- Actichem Foamex Liquid — the liquid form. Faster to deploy mid-job. Also verified non-hazardous.
- Actichem Rinse Pro — low-residue acid rinse. Using a low-residue rinse is the upstream fix for foam, because residue left in carpet is what foams on the next clean.
Safety Data Sheet
Actichem Foamex Powder safety data sheet (AP436, version 2.2, 11 August 2025)
SKU: AP436.10
Not sure whether the powder or the liquid suits your operation? Call us. If you run one truck, the liquid is usually the practical answer; if you run a fleet, the powder is the economical one.
