Mike Williamson

If you find a magic concrete cleaner, let me know! I too use my housewash mix to coat the driveway when I'm done with the house. If I let it sit about 15 minutes, the driveway seems to clean up much easier, but not as easy as I'd like. On the other hand, I could just flip my burner on, but I HATE running hot water if I don't absolutely have to.

You typically use 1/2 gallon of citracleen for each 5 gallons of housewash. for a 2500-3000 square foot home, I'd use about 10 gallons of housewash. Used without proportioners, the xjet will actually pull between 0.8:1 (for a 2 gpm machine) and 2.4:1 (for a 6gpm machine). Like Ryan and myself, most folks I've talked to prefer to mix their own ratios and simply use the Xjet wide open rather than mess with proportioners.

Ryan:I didn't mean to come across questioning the quality of your work, I was simply quoting what you said, that your housewash mix did a decent job. I was not intending to degrade you or be unprofessional. It now appears that I misunderstood what you were saying....It looks like what you were saying is that you ALSO use your housewash mix to clean driveways and stone, and get decent results. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

tsp has its uses, but I wouldn't use it on a regular basis for housewashing, unless you're doing paint prep. My chlorine strength is between .75% and 1.5%, depending on how much pool chlorine I use. Pool chlorine will break down rather quickly, and is a hell of a lot cheaper than "outdoor" bleach. Purple power for gutters? Do you get the black streaks off, and if so, how much scrubbing is involved? I've been using Gutter Zap, and I've gotten fair results, though with too much scrubbing (When I bought my rig used in 2002, it came with 20 gallons of GZ). I just ordered some of Steve's Gutter Shock, and have been assured by many who use it that it will outperform the GZ just like Citracleen outperforms other soaps. tsp may be cheap, and if you satisfied with "decent" results, then I suppose that's what works for you. I wasn't satisfied with decent results, and now I'm getting outstanding results. A 5 gallon pail of housewash costs me about $4.50, and I use between 5-7 gallons for a typical 2000 sq foot ranch style house. If I have to use any GutterZap, add another $2.50 or so.

Warm water? Oxygen bleach is primarily sodium percarbonate, good for wood cleaning, not so effective for house washing. If you're serious about being a pressure washing contractor, get rid of the dawn and buy cleaners designed for what you're doing. I use Citracleen, and it is the best soap I've used by far. You can order it from Steve Rowlett at 1-800-357-6295. If you're skeptical, order a small amount at first and try it. As far as bleach, check with your local pool supply store and see if you can get liquid pool chlorine. It is typically twice as strong as bleach, and usually cheaper. Just be sure not to get the housewash mix on plants without pre-wetting and rinsing well afterwards. You also need an Xjet. It is the most valuable tool you'll probably ever buy. It allows you to apply chems at a stronger ratio, thus allowing you to clean more efficiently. Do a search for it on this or other boards and you'll see what I'm talking about. My typical housewash mix is 1/2 - 1 gallon of citracleen, 1-2 gallons of pool chlorine, and water all mixed in a 5 gallon bucket. I apply using the Xjet, and usually rinse with the Xjet or a low pressure zero degree tip. I can wash a typical ranch style 2000 sq foot home in about an hour to an hour and a half, including set up and break-down. email me at oneness@gator.net if you have any questions about anything I've said.

All my guns are set up exactly like that. The problem is, I don't use a gun on the surfacer. I don't mind the ball valve, and this way, I don't have to keep the trigger pulled on a gun the whole time I'm cleaning concrete. If I want to shut the surfacer off, I just shut the ball valve off. The way I have it configured the ball valve is right at the handle of the surfacer, so it is no problem.

Yet another reason to switch to a flow type unloader.

I have QC's on every high pressure connection on my machine, including the surface cleaner. I also use a ball valve at the end of my hose, to make it easier to switch between wand and surfacer.

I imagine there are far less injection injuries in women partly because there are far fewer of them in industries where injection injuries would occur. That, and they're not quite as deluded about their abilities and toughness as we men are. They're much more likely to take the longer, safter method than the quicker, stupid method.

TSP can be found at Home Depot in the paint section.

Don't feel too bad...I did something really similar a couple months ago...tried to flush my xjet hose with a zero degree size 20 (not 2.0) tip that I use for rinsing...Not thinking that I'm still running around 700psi...It shot the xjet hose off and gouged into the side of my hand...not a bad injury, but hurt like hell and did get a bit infected I'm sure due to the injection of crap into my hand. Some alcohol (applied both internally and externally :) ) and a daily dose of chlorine helped clear it up.

I just tell the homeowners that there's nothing I have that will remove them...they can try wire brushing them off, or scraping, but they don't wash off. Never had a homeowner complain about that.

As far as respiratory chlorine exposure not being as bad as exposure through the skin, I can only say this...I've read more than one post on the boards by guys who have developed severe respiratory sensitivity to chlorine after several years of daily use, to the point where they can't be around chlorine without a respirator without severe coughing fits. I don't know of anyone who has developed long term or permanent problems due to contact of chlorine to the skin. Maybe exposure through the skin is bad, but so is respiratory exposure. Why say that you need no respiratory precautions simply because other types of exposure may cause more severe problems long term? Rob: Here's an experiment for you...Stick your hand in 12% chlorine for 10 seconds, then wash it off. Then stick your head in a bucket of 12% chlorine and breath the fumes for 10 seconds. Which do you think is worse now? (and of course, I'm not seriously suggesting you do this, you wouldn't be that stupid....would you?)

I can appreciate the good jobs without the bad ones, thank you very much! :)

The only person I've had complain about anything this year was a middle eastern man, and it was a valid complaint (I'd missed some cobwebs and dirt inside the portico at the front of the house). I fixed it that day, and he called to say thanks. Most folks are appreciative, some more than others. On the other hand, I've never met some of my customers, so I don't know if they were appreciative or not...I assume so, since the checks always show up in the mail within a few days. You're right about the elderly...they can be picky, but they are so appreciative of a good job.

I ordered the blue non-marking 1 wire hose from espec, and have had no problems with it...much lighter than the 2 wire Goodyear I was using. $80.00 for 100'

sodium percarbonate is basically oxyclean. It is the primary ingredient....I've never known it to damage anything.

Just got my 4.5gpm Flojet this afternoon. Haven't finished hooking it up, but I'll post my opinion when I'm done. 40psi. We'll see how it does!

Chemical/cleaning supply companies usually sell 12.5%.

That's why I love the XJet M5...For fragile plants I just turn it to the wide spray pattern and stand back a ways.

Yep, that it is! When I read the first part of your post, I thought you might be talking about another guy I know of here named Mike Diaz who is a student at UF, and DOES have a partner. They're just getting started, assumedly doing the PW part time.

I know him...coincidentally, his wife and mine work together. He does the PW thing part time, and doesn't have a partner (except his wife). He does have a helper who he uses for larger jobs. He also does side work in a computer related field, but I'm not sure which...I beleive database development. Here's his website: http://www.mandrellconsulting.com/pressurecleaning/index.html

CCPC: I attended the community college here about 12 years ago.

Phil: So basically, you're here to tell us all that you've found the magic way to clean with efficiency and speed, but of course, you're not going to share it, other than to give some cryptic (though you say you're not) advice. No, of course it isn't a charity, though apparently you see us all as the poor inefficient needy, and yourself as the one handing out the assistance. I'm supposed to know "EVERYTHING" about my competitors? I really doubt I could get my competition to tell me everything, even if I wanted to. What do you mean by this? Put on my game face? Huh? If you're going to offer advice, be clear and specific. If not, just shut up. That's like telling someone that the problem with their pressure washer is that there's an adjustment that needs to be made, but not bothering to tell them how to do it. You say you don't intend this as a put down, but you sure come across that way. You've found THE way to be faster, more efficient, and to make more money...Something you're just SURE none of the rest of us have figured out. If I take two hours to do a roofwash, that's just ridiculous.

Nope, never used the Silo-wet. As far as changing the mix ratio, I wouldn't bother changing, it except maybe to lower the chlorine level a bit...You're drawing closer to 1:1 with your machine, so you'll end up with a higher concentration coming out of the Xjet. You could even get away with lowering the citracleen level. If it were me, I'd play with the ratio a bit to see what works best. I'm drawing 2.2:1, so I suppose you could lower the citracleen level to 1/4-1/3 of a gallon per 5 gallons of mix. What does the silo-wet do?