Mike Williamson

I'll have to try the oxalic on tannin...I've read that others have tried, but to no avail. It is good for rust stains, but I've never heard anyone use it on tannin. So you belive bleach is no good, since someone else misused it and caused damage? I could use a "no water" approach, since I've seen damage caused by others with water. The point that has been made is that there's nothing wrong with using chlorine as long as you take the proper steps...anything misused can be dangerous and cause damage. So yes, you ARE using them as scare tactics, whether you recognize that or not. Used properly, chlorine is just as safe as any other chemical you use...in fact, I'd say there's more danger from the oxalic than there is from bleach... You never mentioned what you use on roofs. Just a suggestion...if you're using the d-Limonene cleaner from espec, try Steve Rowlett's citraclean....it works much better, still has the nice citrus smell.

You can get it from Steve Rowlett...Give him a call at 1-800-357-6295.

I buy it in a 55 gallon drum kit...it works out to just about $7.00/gallon...I use between 1/2 and 1 gallon for a typical housewash. The only way I'd suggest buying it in a lesser quantity is if you're buying it to try it out. I use 1/2 gallon of Citraclean, 1-2 gallons of 10.5% chlorine, and water in a 5 gallon bucket. Xjet it on, rinse it off with low pressure. 1-2 buckets for a typical single story housewash. 1 bucket costs me $4.50-$5.50, depending on how much chlorine I use. Sure, you can get the same end result using another soap in most cases...You just may not be able to get there as quickly, and you will likely have to use a bit more pressure. Either way, the customer will be happy, but if you're spending more time, you're losing money. I've tried quite a few soaps, and to answer your question, yes, citraclean is that much better. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Use a cheap soap, you'll get cheap results. Not saying you won't get the house as clean, but you'll have to spend more time to compensate for the soap. I know I talk about this stuff all the time, and no, I don't get anything for it...If I didn't believe in it, I would still be on the boards asking "What kind of soap do you use...I'm not happy with mine". I was a skeptic for quite a while about the things I heard about citraclean, but I finally tried it and I haven't looked back. I've never heard from anyone who's tried it that it didn't perform as advertised. Some don't like the price, but hell...If I can shave 1/2 hour off my housewash time by spending an extra $5.00 in chems, why wouldn't I do it?

Nathan: Your method is fine, if you don't mind hitting the siding with 2500 psi. I very very very rarely ever have use anyone even remotely approaching that. I'd be willing to bet that for every housewash you sell based on the "no chlorine" approach, I'll sell two based on the "low pressure" approach. I've found customers much more concerned about someone blasting their paint off, blowing their siding off, or otherwise damaging the siding using pressure than they are about chlorine. I've never had a customer tell me "no thanks, I don't want bleach used". I explain that all vegetation is rinsed before, during, and after cleaning. As far as being safe for the homeowner, I don't see the concern...It isn't as if they're rolling around in the plants while I'm cleaning...There's no chlorine left anywhere except extremely diluted in the soil. I'd much rather use chlorine and a good citrus based soap (Citracleen) to kill the algae and loosen the dirt so it can be rinsed off, rather than using high pressure to blast it off. How much water is being forced into wood siding this way? That alone would propogate further mold/algae growth. It sounds to me like your method is to cause undue concern over the use of chlorine, rather than reassuring the homeowner that there isn't a real concern at all. What do you use for tannin stains on concrete? Chlorine is the only thing I've found that will remove them...blast away with just water or soap all you want...they're not coming up without it, at least in my experience. Many who use the Xjet use it in conjunction with an extension wand on houses taller than 1 story. I'd say 90% of the houses I wash are 1 story, and there's nothing around here bigger than 2 stories. I've run into one this year that required an extension wand. Do you do roof cleanings, and if so, what do you use? From everything I've read, there are sodium hydroxide cleaners, and chlorine. My understanding is that sodium hydroxide, being a degreaser, isn't good on asphalt shingles. The only time I see water getting behind the siding as a concern is with vinyl siding. There are ways around that using the Xjet. You don't think you get any water behind the siding blasting away with 2500 psi? Your method may work for you, but I think you're crossing the line when you say the quality you provide is better than that provided by someone using the Xjet. I agree with citrus based cleaners, they're great, though I've not been impressed with d-Limonene based cleaners.

I use citracleen from www.rowlettpressure.com

Not sure which one that is...I've tried their red powder (I think it is a truckwash), yellow powder (concrete cleaner?) and brown powder ( housewash?)...I've not been impressed with any of them. Citracleen from Steve Rowlett has given me the best results by far.

First time I've seen it, but it is possible someone has brought it up before.

That chart doesn't answer the question...It gives the size of the spray pattern at a given distance from the surface, but doesn't give any information about how much psi is lost at a given distance...If I have a 25 degree tip that gives me 3000 psi at the nozzle, how much psi is actually hitting the surface of whatever I'm cleaning if I hold the wand, say, 8" away from the surface? How much psi is lost? That'd be a good thing to know... For example, I clean roofs, and I rinse with a 25 degree size 10 tip, which gives me approximately 1200 psi at the nozzle, which is way too much for a roof. However, the nozzle is kept 12 inches or more from the surface of the roof.....I know I'm not anywhere close to 1200psi hitting the roof...I'd guess 500 psi or less...But it would be nice to know exactly what it is.

Interesting question...I wonder if anyone has any formulas for this...

Still wouldn't explain the variance in cost between Florida and NJ...

If the chlorine didn't affect it, it isn't algae.

Tony: Right, I agree. I was simply talking about the psi as it leaves the nozzle.

From what I've heard from those who have tried, no, you won't draw twice as much. I don't use the downstreamer at all...I find the Xjet easier. I use between .6% and 1.2% for housewashing, and it is just easier to mix it for the Xjet...

For cleaning what? I just tell my customers that I use commercial grade cleaners that are biodegradeable, and have never had any problems. I use a mix of Steve Rowlett's citracleen, pool chlorine, a rinse aid, and sometimes a foamer and a wax. My customers are more than happy both with results and price!

Pics would help.

Keep in mind that chlorine prices aren't related to pressure washing prices...this industry is a very small portion of the business that the pool places do. For every contractor who walks in wanting to fill 10 or 20 jugs of chlorine, probably 100 or more homeowners come in to fill their 2 or 3 jugs. The price variance doesn't make sense to me. I could see it being a little more expensive the further north you go, since you have less pools, and less time per year to use them..thus less demand for chems...but I can't see a difference between $1.00/gallon and $6.00/gallon (or more).

I get it from Pinch-a-Penny pools, and I pay $2.45 for a 2.5 gallon container.

Its hard to imagine that you can't fine cheaper pool chlorine cheaper than that in a place like Atlanta... You'd be better off to buy bleach from Walmart.

Try this...Keep a copy on your rig. The Angle of the tip doesn't affect the psi coming out of the nozzle.

The Xjet will help you with your speed and efficiency on roofs and building washing...If you do much of either, I wouldn't put off getting one any longer. It will pay for itself in a couple weeks easily. One thing I'd suggest is getting another 25' of hose or so and adding it to what comes with the Xjet. I set my bucket on the corner of the house, and can usually do two sides of the house before I have to move the bucket to the opposite corner. For roofs, I usually put my bucket on the edge of a roof vent and I have enough hose to cover the entire roof. That's the only drawback to Xjetting roofs...I don't get enough draw pulling chems to the roof from the ground, so I haul the 2.5 gallon containers up the ladder and fill the bucket on the roof. A typical 2000 square foot home will take 6-7 jugs of 10.5% pool chlorine. I'm paying just a hair under $1.00/gallon for the pool chlorine. Getting it in a 55 would be fine for downstreaming, but if you're using the Xjet, smaller containers would be easier, at least as I see it. I'm still looking at the flojet setup to see if I can get a better draw with it...I found a crack in the filter cover on the inlet line, so that may be part of the problem I've been having. If I can make that work, it'll be easier than the Xjet for applying chems from the roof. For those that can't be walked, I think the Xjet from the ground would be easier.

I don't think you'll get the strength through the downstreamer...If you're getting a 10:1 ratio, you'll be applying 15% (where do you get it this strong?) chlorine at less than 1.5%, about 1/2 of what I believe you need to get decent results. I would cut the 15% down so it is 10% (1 gallon of water for every 2 gallons of 15%) and then Xjet it on. Let it sit a bit and rinse from the ground.

Yeah, what's the method? I've not found another way besides a seperate chem pump (shurflo, roller pump, etc) or a sprayer to get chems on the house in the concentrations where they work best for me

It hasn't rained here in probably a month...well, 3 1/2 weeks. Horrible!!! We NEED the rain...if it doesn't start raining, everything dries out, mold stops growing, and no one wants their house washed next year!

Agreed...I suppose what I really mean is that the right chems and the right equipment have made me much faster and more efficient at washing houses!

The first pic is rust stain from the irrigation system. Not sure about the last two.