Robere

I've been washing houses for 15 years and have never seen vinyl siding stained as bad as this house. The areas that never get rain, like the first three feet or so under the eves and under the porches are dirt stained brown. Of course it is white siding. I put almost straight bleach on it and it wouldnt take it off. Any ideas? Thanks

Thanks Rod. I have oxalic acid. I'll ty it. It was recommended to me by someone to try Barkeepers Friend. It took it off, but it takes scrubbing by hand with a sponge. I'd sure like to get away from that remedy. I didn't want to put anything on it that was too strong. I'll try the Oxalic. Thanks again.

Hi Rod. This is my Mother n Laws house. I washed it about 10 years ago and it came clean. This is definatley from dirt sitting on it so long. What type of mild acid would you use on vinyl? Thanks.

I accidentally got some citrus degreaser on some Bluestone while removing a rust stain on concrete next to it. ( ooops ) It wasn't totally dry when I left, but it looked like it discolered the Bluestone. If it did discolor it, is there a way to restore it? Thank you

Thank you Rod. I went by there today and it did not leave a stain. I was concerned. I did rinse it really well as soon as it happened. Maybe it is fake Bluestone. Thanks for your advice.

Did you even read my post? You are very insulting. How does that help me? Yes, I've cleaned windows for 30 years but I've also pressure washed for 15 years. Is it not possible for a person to do ( and know about )more than one thing in their profession? If you read my post, you'd see I was using the citric on CONCRETE next to the Bluestone and some ACCIDENTALLY got on the Bluestone. I KNOW how to get rust stains off concrete and that's what I was doing. I'm just honered to have someone like you on this forum that never had an accident while doing their job. Thanks for the info.

I've been washing houses for years. My main business is window cleaning. I work by myself. I've used the X-Jet for yrs using 3 gallons of bleach ( or less ), Simple Cherry, 2 gallons of water and no proportioner in the X-Jet. I can't buy the 12% bleach because buying 50 gallons of it would degrade before I used it all. It's simpler for me to just go buy gallons of bleach when I have a housewash job.. I've looked up ratios using the proportioners, but all I find is the mixing ratios with 12% bleach. My question is. What proportioner would be recommended if I were to not delute the bleach, but rather pour a few gallons of bleach in a container, mix Simple Cherry with it and don't add any water?? Any idea. Thanks..

Havent been on here in a while.. So because I've been pressure washing for 12 years, I should have advanced by now or what? My main business is window cleaning. I don't want to haul a big tank of water around with me and its not worth it for me to invest in a bigger truck, trailer, tank, pressure washer etc.I'd say pressure washing is maybe 25% of my business. I really dont even like pressure washing ( mainly working with bleach ), but it supplements my business quite well. I know I'd get done quicker, especially on concrete ( I do have a surface cleaner ) with a bigger machine, but its just not worth that kind of investment for me.

Did a search and didn't find anything on neutralizing the bleach in my sprayer after each use. Can't find anything on the net either. I've used Nutra-Sol. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Those figurs makes my head hurt . lol .. As the title of my thread states, I'm using 8.25 bleach. It's the ultra bleach....

4 gpm...

Ok, I've taken your advice and rigged me up a 2 wheeler to hold my chemicals and hoses. I'll try it out Monday. If it all works, I'll attempt to post a picture. Thanks.

Thanks. I've never used the proportioners. Using a 2 wheeler I'd have to get the X-Jet Pail so it doesnt splash around, which is fine. I've been using a 5 gallon gas container. I just may take your advice on the 2 wheeler. Just one more thing I have to fit in my little truck. I've found that on a nasty house, 3 gallons bleach to 2 gallons of water works well. I've never used just the trigger section but I have found that I like a 2 foot wand. I'll try just the trigger part and see how I like that. Thanks.

No offense, but how does this answer my question? I've stated that I'm not looking to change my method.I'm asking if anyone can help me on which proportioner to use with 8.25 straight bleach...

I've never had to use a brush on a house. I've cleaned houses for over 12 years with the method I described in my origianl post and it works great. What I'm trying to get away from is having to haul water around in my container along with my bleach and SC. My thought is, if I put just bleach ( household ) and SC in my mix, and use a proportioner, I could get around the house a lot farther before having to refill my container. I have to carry the 5 gallon container around the house with me. I'm not looking to change my method. I'm just looking for advice on which proportioner to use with straight household bleach. I've read that its recommended to use the 16-1 for 12% bleach. Since the bleach I'm using is 8.25% , should I use maybe a 10-1 ? 5-1 ? I use a 4gpm, 4000 psi cold water unit..Thanks

Looking to buy another Pressure washer. I have a direct drive 4000psi 4gpm now. I've done a lot of research and it's hard to find much feedback on the clutch/pumps. Would it be better to buy a belt drive with a clutch rather than a direct drive? I'm needing a portable unit, not a trailer mount. Something I can load up a ramp by myself. Thanks for any input.

I sometimes drive around during slow times and look for dirty houses to wash. I get a few houses this way. I always give them a discount price because I'm "hungry". I was wondering how many of you do this when things are slow. And when you do, how do you go about doing it? I don't want to walk on someones property and I hate to knock on doors and bother people. Ive put fliers on peoples door before, but hate doing that. One time I just looked at houses from the street then took down the addresses and mailed them bids explaining I was slow at work. Some people told me they admired the way I went about it and liked the way my letter was written. I got 2 or 3 houses out of 10 doing this and I did'nt have to bother anyone. Anyone use fliers and if so how do you go about distributing them?

CLASSICPW....... I know the houses you are speaking of. Some houses just stay that way. The people don't care. I hit the ritzy neighborhoods and find that the ones with just a little mold are the ones that respond. They usually say " Yeah I've been meaning to get to that".

Hot Shot, I didn't mean I put on the flier that I was hungry and desperate for work. I said I was offering a discount in my down time. I understand what you are saying tho and I have thought of giving discounts on neighbors..

I just posted almost this same thread a bit ago. Guess I should have looked closer before posting a thread.... anyway you can look at my thread titled "fliers etc" and see how I've been doing it. I dont like to bother people either.

I've been pressure washing for about 12 years now. I got me a surface cleaner last year and love it. I have a 4gpm,4000 psi washer. When I do concrete I dont use chemicals. The cleaner works good on its own. Maybe I'm not mixing the bleach strong enough , but I have'nt seen where bleach really does much to concrete. My problem is, if I do something like a driveway, I find myself doing part of it, then having to turn off the washer, take off the surface cleaner, put on the wand and rinse where I've cleaned ( before it dries) , then put the surface cleaner back on and repeat until done. If the sun is on the driveway I have to swap quite often. If I let the grime dry very long before rinsing, I loose all the time I should be saving using the surface cleaner rinsing all the grime away. I'm putting extra wear on my pressure washer stopping and starting it. What am I missing here? If I do a sidewalk, I just tilt the surface cleaner to rinse. But this doesnt work too good on a driveway. Thanks.

Anthony, Thanks, that makes good sense too. I already ordered the ball valve. The tee idea should have come to me. Where have I been? This site is wonderfull. Thanks for the info.

Wow! I didnt even know what a ball valve was. I Googled it. Thanks so much., This will change my life.......

Artillary fungus. I tell my customers it will not come off with pressure washing. I also tell them it's from their mulch. I clean windows also and saw this stuff on windows for yrs and never knew what it was. I have to scrape it off with a razor blade. Now that I know what it is, I charge extra to have to scrape it off.