rick77

Yeah, for me the red one seems to be the best for making the chem go far and results in a really good house clean. I've ran the machine without the proportioner and I just don't see any advantage in blowing out so much chem so quickly. I can see where the ball valve on the soap line could work well once you get used to it but I can't understand using no proportioner and no ball valve on the soap line. Why would you want your soap line to be full blast? Is there an advantage to it other than not having to buy/keep up with proportioners?

I see why they call you Lightning Gene. That's really fast work there man! LOL So do you use the X-jet without proportioners? If so do you use the ball valve to control flow of soap?

I use the X-jet 5 gallon pail with the shut-off valve on the soap hose. The shut-off valve seems to be either on or off, no in between. I guess I could just replace the shut-off valve with a ball valve huh? That sounds like a viable solution. Thanks!

I've been using the Xjet and Xjet pail for about a year now. I'm wanting to get a longer hose for the Xjet soap pail but need some advice. Is 50 feet too long for the soap hose? Will my chems still draw at this length? Another question......have any of you fastened the power washer hose and the Xjet soap hose together along it's length to make it more like one single hose? It seems that this would work but I've yet to try it. I'm thinking of maybe having a small bracket welded to my power washer to hold the 5 gallon Xjet pail so I don't have to carry it around. The pressure hose and soap hose would be braided together as one single hose and there would hopefully be no tangles to deal with. I'm thinking why have a second hand truck for the bucket when you can just mount the bucket to the power washer frame which is pretty much a dolly. The pressure hose and soap hose would be 50 feet and braided together as one. I would have 50 feet of working distance from the power washer itself with just one double hose to deal with. Any feedback and/or advice on this matter greatly appreciated. Thanks! Richard Crocker Ultra Clear Window Cleaning Greenwood, SC

You're correct, I am pulling my pressure washer around the house with me and it's a royal pain. I need to get the reel and hose so I can leave the machine on the truck. I've already got 2 cox reels on my truck for my window cleaning with water fed pole. One has 150 feet of garden hose and the other 300 feet of water/air hose for my pure water system. If I had the right quick connect adapters I might could double up the use of the 300' air/water hose for both water fed pole and power washing. But it's probably best that I get a seperate hose for the power washer. It sure would be nice to leave that thing on the truck! I'm just about 30-40 miles down the road from you. Do you know of a place around here that has good prices on the long high pressure hose? Or did you order yours? Thanks for the info!

I'd like to try downstreaming in time but for now I'm set up with Xjet and like it just fine. But I feel that even the Xjet can be made easier to use with the ideas I mentioned in the first post. I'll let you guys know how it goes if I do these mods to my rig. Thanks!

FWIW I have a friend who has a teenaged daughter that used to work at the local Sonic. She quit working there because she felt guilty serving food that was prepared in such filthy conditions. I took her word for it.......I no longer eat a Sonic. Before I heard this inside info I thought that their food was just "so so" at best anyway.

I left my X-Jet connected to the gun after the first two uses. I disconnected it prior to the third use and noticed there was quite a bit of corrosion between the connections. It's obvious to me now that I need to take the X-Jet off of the gun after each use and dry it. Should I also put something like WD-40 on it to prevent corrosion? The corrosion makes the quick connect hard to disconnect.

Ooops, I forgot to thank you Lightning Gene! You were the first in the thread to suggest that I switch to stainless. Great advice! Thanks

I got the stainless QC's the other day. Zero sign of corrosion after 7 hours of use yesterday. No need to rinse with acid, just a quick rinse with straight water. These stainless QC's are so much better than the brass QC's! Thanks for the tip!!!!!!

What kind of acid do you use for this?

I found a site that has the stainless fittings. Xterior.com I've emailed them to get the part #'s so I can place an order. Do you guys that have X-Jets use stainless guns as well as the fittings?

Yeah man......the brass corrodes quickly! I've looked for stainless fittings for my X-Jet at the local box stores but no dice. Anybody know of a good online source? I've looked at several sites but could not find the stainless fittings. Thanks!

I might add that I'm at a stage of being very very cautious with the strength of chemicals in my house wash mix and my gutter mix. Being fairly new to this game I would rather have to go back over the surface a second time instead of doing irreversible damage on the first try with a mix that is too strong. I'm having great success at not burning plants yet getting the house/gutters clean. On down the road when my technique is much more improved I may be able to clean safely with a stronger house wash mix that may even clean some or most gutters as I power wash the house. I feel more comfortable cleaning them seperately with seperate chemicals at this point.

Hey MudDuck, I'm on the same page with you concerning this matter. I won't brush the F-13 on gutters without protecting any painted/stained surfaces below. I use an 8:1 ratio of water/F-13 in a spray bottle and spray it directly on the brush. I use this method in hopes of avoiding excess dripping of chemical off of the brush. I'm actually thinking of omitting F-13 from my house wash mix because I'm finding that I have to do most all of the gutters seperate anyway. The bleach, Simple Cherry, and shot of dawn are probably all I need for the main house wash mix. Bottom line, that F-13 is some strong stuff and can do some damage in a blink to painted surfaces. I'm realizing the importance of starting out weak and going stronger only if needed. Got to be careful with that stuff huh! Thanks for all the great advice and input!

The house I'm power washing tomorrow has two decks that were stained about 3 days ago. The wood stain is a darker red color sort of like cherry wood. Will a typical house wash of bleach and Simple Cherry do damage to stained decks? Will the deck spot up from the house mix that splashes onto the wood stain? I'll check with the owner to make sure the deck has been sealed before power washing the house. It appears to have been sealed but I'm not absolutely sure. What are some precautions that I can take in order to prevent damaging the deck stain? Water it down really good? Anything else? Thanks!

MudDuck, Please let us know how the results of using the red proportioner compares to not using a proportioner at all. So you don't usually do the gutters seperate with F-13? The house wash mix (via X-Jet with proportioner) doesn't remove the black streaks well enough for me. I don't mind brushing the F-13 on the gutters even though it does take a good bit of time and effort. When the customer sees the results its worth the extra time and effort. Still though, I may tinker around with the mix (more F-13) to see if the gutters can be cleaned without brushing. I have concerns about too much F-13 in house wash mix damaging the house surfaces. Thanks!

I think I read on one of the power washing forums that Dickie makes work pants (maybe shirts too) that will not get bleached out while power washing. I bought a pair of Dickies shorts that have "Stain Release Finish"". I'm hoping that this is the Dickies shorts that will not get bleached out. I'm stuck using regular 6% bleach for my gig tomorrow so the mix won't be too terribly strong anyway. I'll probably mix 4 gallons of 6% SHC with one gallon of water, 4 oz F-13, and 10 oz Simple Cherry in a 5 gallon enclosed X-Jet pail. I'm using the X-Jet M5 so the mix ends up being pretty darn diluted huh? I've got these nice royal blue hats and t-shirts with my company name on them. I've been wearing them to the gigs and while doing the interior window cleaning and non power washing stuff. Before I start power washing I put on an old white t-shirt and an old hat so my nice ones don't get messed up. I'm hoping that these new Dickie shorts will not bleach out like regular clothing. So.......anybody know if these "Stain Release Finish" Dickie pants will be effected by the bleach in my house wash mix?

Hey Dwight, I'm new here too just steadily learning the how to's, do's, and don'ts. I've learned so much in such a short time from the wonderful folks on this forum. I enjoy your input on the AUWC forum. Good to see you here.

MudDuck, I've been using your recipe with both regular 6% and also with K-Mart 10% (pool "SHOCK" )sodium hypochlorite. I agree, the 6% works just fine for house washing and is not overly harsh on the plants. Like you, I use the X-Jet (M5 version). I tried it without the proportioners when I first used it but the 5 gallon enclosed X-Jet pail emptys so quickly. I then started using the red proportioner and the soap lasted much longer for me (and does a great job cleaning the house). I can do a large two story home with two 5 gallon batches as long as I have the red proportioner in the X-Jet. I see that you suggest leaving the proportioner out. Without the proportioner in the X-Jet I feel that I would be going through tons of chemicals on just one house. So far I have had successful house cleans with 3 gallons of 6% bleach, 10 oz of Simple Cherry, 4 oz F-13, one squirt of Dawn, and two gallons of water. On one house I cleaned I used two gallons of 10% bleach and three gallons of water with the same amounts of Simple Cherry, F-13 and Dawn. The three gallons of 6% did just as good of a job as the two gallons of 10%. I'm assuming that my mix is getting dilluted more so than your mix is because I'm using the red proportioner. The houses are getting clean and the plants are staying healthy and I don't have to mix multiple 5 gallon batches. This is probably a good mix and method (with red proportioner included in X-Jet) for newbies if my recent success is any indication. Maybe as I gain more experience I will be able to make a 5 gallon batch of chems cover more area on a house without using the proportioner. I'm guessing the mix would be stronger (without the proportioner) when it hits the house, allowing me to use less chemical and time when applying the soap. What are your thoughts about using the red (suggested for house washing) proportioners in the X-Jet with the above mixes? Just for the record, I clean the exterior of the gutters by brushing on (with extension pole) F-13 at an 8:1 ratio with water mixed in a 32 oz spray bottle. I spray the mix directly onto the brush then apply to the gutters from ground level. This is time consuming but the results are stunning to the homeowners. Please give me some feedback about using the proportioner vs. not using the proportioner. Thanks!

No problem at all! The more info the better off we all are. My sweet wife washed my Dickie shorts yesterday evening and they look good as new. They were really dirty from cleaning inside & out of gutters, two awnings, power washing and cleaning the windows in & out. The worst dirt was oil and grease from my gas powered blower. I don't see any oil or grease stains so these Dickies must be the wasy to go.

Well, I'm off to work in a little while. I'll see how these Dickie short pants hold up to the bleach today. After reading you guys input here I feel confident that they will be just fine. I'll still have to change my company t-shirt & hat 'cause they will get ruined. That's no problem though if I do it discreetly. But I could get arrested if I had to change pants out by my truck LOL. Thanks for the info guys!

I mixed up a couple of 5 gallon containers of my house wash mix last night for the job I was going to do today. I got side-tracked and didn't get to power wash at all today. Will my mix still be good tomorrow? It will be two days old so I'm wondering if it will have lost it's strength. My mix is (2 gallons of 10 % sodium hypochlorite, 8 oz of Simple Cherry, 4 oz of F-13, and 3 gallons of water). Is it OK to mix your chems (a day) in advance or should I always mix them just prior to doing the job? I use the X-Jet in case that matters. Thanks!

Gutter Squad, my machine is 4 gallons per minute. I'm using the X-Jet M5. When I did my house last week I started out without the proportioners and shot out almost 5 gallons of mix on the first side. I then decided to put in the red proportioner. I could tell the mix was pretty weak but it did a pretty decent job anyway. I did a large 2 story house today with the 2 day old mix of Simple Cherry, 4 oz of F-13, 2 gallons of SHC 10%, and 3 gallons of water. I used the red proportioner this time as well. The house turned out great but I had to apply the soap mix several times on the 2nd story window sills that were covered with green mold looking stuff. The homeowner was blown away with the results so I was happy as well. This mix may have degraded a little but I feel that it may have been on the weak side to start with. I think you're right about the straight 6% and Simple Cherry mix. By the time it mixes with the water through the X-Jet it gets pretty diluted. I'm hoping I can find a nearby source for 12.5 % SHC. The closest I know of is 50 miles away. I'll keep looking. Thanks for your helpful input!

Aqua Force, is your SHC 6% or 12 % in that "standard ratio"? My present mix contains 2 gallons of 10% SHC but I think I'm going to just use 3 gallons of 6% in my next batch and see how that works for me.