WashRite

Thad, You are absolutely right. Just never have changed. Sometimes it takes someone reminding you not to be stupid. Of course, I do have several part time helpers and will probably stay the velcro set-ups for them.

Adrian, I have seen a few people use a tennis ball but I have never tried one. I guess because it took me about one day to realize I wasn't going to hold that trigger all day, every day and I had a velcro strip in my truck and I liked the way it worked. That was even before I learned about ball valves. I guess I never tried anything else because the velcro works perfectly. I simply wrap it around the top of the trigger while it is in the closed position. Then just slide it down pulling the trigger to the open position. Push the velcro back up to close the trigger releasing the pressure. I dont have to keep up with a tennis ball or anything else. The velcro stays on my gun at all times. I do have to replace it every 2-4 months.

Big Mike, I appreciate the comments. That's what is great about this forum. Do you have a swivel on your whip hose? My Whip set-up also allows the high pressure hose to stay untangled especially if you are working around stationary objects. In other words, my hose never gets tangled or kinked because it rotates at the swivel. My swivel is at the end of my two foot whip hose which is also quick connected. I have tried several methods and I like having the ball valve at the gun because I velcro my gun in the open position and I can easily turn the pressure off/on with it. Both of my trailers are set-up with high a minimum of 100' high pressure hoses, whip hoses w/swivels, and a ball valves. I actually quick connect just about everything and I couldn't tell you the last time I changed a quick connect. I bet I didn't buy 5 quick connects all of 2009. I usually run 40-60 hours/week year round. Part of the reason I believe mine last longer than most is I don't pull them through dirt, grass, etc... when I wind them up on the hose reel I keep the quick connect end at the hose reel as I am winding the hose up. I also rinse it out by dipping it into my water tank and manually maneuvering the quick connect a couple of times. Of course, my set-up is probably backwards than most as far as quick connects go. When I first got started, I had a few guns and stuff stolen. When I replaced it, I decided to set mine up opposite that way the crook would at least have to do a little work to use it. Then I decided to just stay with my enclosed trailer when out of town or leaving it overnight.

For standard degreaser, I mix 16 oz of caustic soda beads with 10 oz of trisodium phosphate, and 5 oz of dawn in a 5 gallon plastic bucket. If I'm cleaning dumpster pads with heavy animal fats I will only use 8 oz of caustic soda beads and 8 oz of Potassium Hydroxide. I generally mix the caustic soda beads, trisodium phosphate, and borax in 1lb zip-loc bags and usually carry 10 or so bags with me. Just fill a 5 lb plastic bucket about a 1/3 of the way with water, then add the 1 lb bag as you continue adding water and stirring as you continue to fill the water. I add the dawn at the end and slowly agitate just to mix it in. Note: gloves and skin and eye protection are a must.

I, like others, have my own favorites for various tasks. As with all of my applications, I use a whip hose with a swivel and ball valve. I use a 12" wand with a twist type nozzle holder that allows me to screw in two different nozzles. One side is a 1/4" hose barb used for high chemical applications and the other is a standard hi-lo nozzle that you "push" for chemical and "pull" for pressure that also varies in fan width from 0 - 40. Also, by pushing the nozzle to fill the line with chemical, then releasing the trigger and pulling the nozzle back and rotating the fan to 0 degrees, I can easily hit 3 story homes. What makes this better than the other set-ups is I do not have to physically connect or disconnect nozzles. It's just a simple flip and/or push/pull. The costs for this wand set-up is very inexpensive. The gun, wand, nozzle holder, 1/4"hose barb and hi-lo nozzle can be purchased for under $75.

Does anyone have experience in removing asphalt from painted metal. What chemicals are typically used? Customer has two silo's and a catwalk that need cleaning. They had this cleaned two years ago and want it done again. Silo's have old paint and may well need painting in the next 6-12 months. Customer not concerned with paint. This is an asphalt plant. Asphalt is stored in the silo's. This is a rush job. Customer called today and wants quote tomorrow. Job starts Wednesday. Any help would be appreciated.

d-limonene mixed with a soap?

Please view Chemical and Safety Forum for more information

Does anyone run more than 100' hose with this type unloader? I understand anything longer than 100' seems to cause your unloader not to work properly. I'm thinking about getting one to try but I run 150' and somtimes 200' of high pressure hose. Also, can you run a bypass line to your tank?

My local pressure washer sales and service company did say they were finicky and I probably shouldn't buy one because of the varying lengths of hose I use. They also said I couldn't bypass this type unloader. Do you do it the same as pressure type unloaders?

What are the downfalls associated with running two independent 5 GPM pressure washers off of one 10GPM Hot Box? Other than the obvious reason of the hot box breaking leaving me in the "cold", I can't think of any reasons.

This roof appears to be a single layer "rubber type" roof. This roof has been cleaned by someone else a few years ago. Apparently, they pressure washed this roof using bleach only and allowed it to dry before rinsing. It appears they sprayed bleach from the top down and didn't rinse in time. There are many run streaks as well as big stained areas embedded in the roof. I did a few test patches using a combination of bleach, soaps, simple green, vinegar, TSP, etc. The stained areas were lightened but could not remove them completely. I even tried whitewall tire cleaner but no help. This project is huge and would love to be able to offer a solution. The roof is several hundred thousand square feet. See attachments below.

Appears to be a single layer EPDM roof or similar substrate. I will have the actual specifications in a day or so.

Some how my business has expanded to include light janitorial office cleaning. As I pressure washed offices and cleaned sidewalks for doctors, lawyers, etc. I was asked if I new of any good interior cleaners. Well as you may have guessed thats how I expanded into janitorial. I have one small doctors office that has eight (8) exam rooms with Linoleum flooring. Each room is approximately 10'x12'. The Linoleum is in very good shape but has not been cleaned and/or waxed on a consistent basis. I have never stripped, cleaned, and waxed Linoleum flooring. I do not own any flooring equipment but can rent what ever is needed, if anything. I plan to redo the floors this coming weekend. My thoughts are: Floor prep Open office windows for ventilation. Sweep floor. Removing old wax Spread ammonia on floor with dedicated mop head. Rinse mop head thoroughly. Wait 1/2 hour, remove ammonia with same mop. Rinse mop head thoroughly. Mix hot water and small amount of vinegar and mop to remove remaining ammonia. Rinse mop head thoroughly. Clean any soiled areas. Let dry. Apply wax Apply wax using microfiber mop head. Let dry to touch. Recoat applying wax in different pattern for better coverage. Apply other coats if desired. What are your thoughts?

I appreciate your quick response and assistance.

I need a product that will remove dried "bleach" stains. Apparently, someone has pressure washed this "special material" roof using bleach and allowed it to dry before rinsing. It appears they sprayed bleach from the top down and didn't rinse in time. There are many run streaks as well as big stained areas. The roof material is made of something similar to vinyl and it is white. I did a few test patches using a combination of bleach, soaps and TSP. The stained areas were lightened but could not remove them. I even tried whitewall tire cleaner but no help. This project is huge and would love to be able to offer a solution. The roof is several hundred thousand square feet.

I am quoting this commercial property for gum & stain removal as well as surface cleaning the concrete and cleaning the walls up to and including underneath the overhang. However, I have also been asked about the stains running down from the sign. See attachments. What is the best method and recipe to clean this with? The substrate appears to be a form of stucco and is off white. I have to respond by Wednesday. Any help would be appreciated.

didn't know if oxalic would brighten the substrate too much being that it is off white. Also, didn't know if there were other alternatives than oxalic.

I have been asked recently if I did roof cleaning. I passed on those jobs but I seem to be getting more and more requests for roofs. I did a search on roof cleaning and found just about everything I needed to know with the exception of discoloration. Most of the homes in my area are asphalt shingles. I've had another request for roof cleaning but only on two sides. The north and east areas have the algae growth but the other sides do not. Other than the two areas mentioned the roof is very clean. Will the water to chlorine (10.5%) mixed 50/50 and a cup of TSP applied by x-jetting cause any discoloration to BLACK asphalt shingles? Will there be a noticeable difference between the two areas cleaned compared to the other two? Will this mixture work on all colors of asphalt shingles? The technical bulletin from the Asphalt Shingles Manufacturers Association says some discoloration will likely recur. I am looking for real world applications - People that do this on a daily basis. Thank you in advance for your responses.

I just finished reading all 8 pages of the apple sauce thread. I believe I better understand the recipe now and the preferred set-up. I appreciate your quick response.

especially with that small of a set-up. When I first started a couple of years ago and before I decided to push commercial work over residential, I picked up a nice little job that had 140 vinyl houses built one beside the other. We only did 4 houses per day but that was in only 6 hours. We finished the job in 6 weeks. I had two guys working M-F and I worked on Saturdays. Of course I was new to the business so we may have been a little slow but we only had to move every other house. The killer was having to refill my 325 gallon water tank because we couldn't use the tenants water. Using those numbers I would have only completed 1200-1400 houses. I had a small Lowe's PW and a small 3 gpm hot water unit. One guy did the porches, pre-sprayed and moved hoses while the other one did all of the siding. The bad news is some one bidded the job for $65/house and I bidded it for $100/house. To get the job I had to meet them at $80/house. I guess they liked me more than the other guy or they were just beating me down. Either way it turned out to be decent money but I would have to rethink that decision now. In fact, this will probably be my last week as a part time PW. I plan on turning my notice in this week and begining my full time PW business.

I typically do not post but thought I would post a few pictures of my set-up which is very similar to Freshlook’s gear. I have been in the power wash business over two years and have downstreamed since that time. I still downstream in most cases but definitely like the x-jet (m-5) in certain applications. I have only x-jetted for a few months but when I started I realized there was probably a better way than using a 5 gallon bucket. First, I determined what applications my x-jet would be useful in. Once that was determined, I figured how much solution I would typically need for those applications. I came up with approximately 4 gallons. I searched for possible containers and came across the SOLO Sprayer (pictured below). This sprayer has worked very well for me. I mix a fairly strong house wash mix and can easily complete an average size house without refilling. Obviously each job is different but I was looking for something that works in most cases without having to stop. I also use it for high areas where I mainly used extensions or telescoping wands. It worked wonderfully this past weekend on a two-story home. I did have to refill it (3300 sq ft) but I was able to use the x-jet exclusively to clean the house. The pictures below show the SOLO Sprayer adapted to my x-jet. The first thing you will notice is there is no need to drill a hole in the top. This sprayer works from the bottom. Chemicals are filled from the top and the red cap has a seal inside preventing any spillage from the top. Next, I took my x-jet hose and cut it to enough length so I could reach the flow valve and stretch arms length. I removed the hose from the sprayer and put the x-jet hose on. This was easy because the hoses are the same size. I did put a QC socket on the end of the hose and replaced the barb from the x-jet with a QC plug. I plan to adapt the extra x-jet hose for use with extensions or telescoping wands if needed. I plan to put QC’s on each end of the hose. I proportion with the flow valve rather than the supplied proportioners. However, I may try the black proportioner to see how it works. I believe it may give me more consistancy. The SOLO Sprayer costs around $100.00. I've used it approximately 35 hours with no problems or leaks. My solution is basically chlorine (10.5), degreaser, and dawn. Their is very little chemical spillage risk but I suggest you have a fairly strong back. Once you get to two gallons its a breeze.