rick77

Thanks Jeff! That's god news!

Actually my house is a condo so the paint would have to be an exact match to the existing color in order to conform to neighboring condos. If Krylon is available in coded colors that may be possible. Hopefully the Armor-All will bring back the shine. I guess it will need to be applied fairly regularly in order to keep the shine from fading again. Thanks for the input!

I'll run up to Wal-Mart & get some Armor-All and try it. Thanks!

Thanks guys! I just did my own house today. I pre-wet the plants , wet them during, and thoroughly rinsed afterwards. The house is clean and the plants are healthy and in no need of water. Now if I could just get that oxidation off of the vinyl shudders!!!!!!! I tried brushing them with a mixture of 4 oz. of F-13 , 1/2 gallon of water, and shot of Dawn with no success. I came inside and did a Grime Scene search and found out about Restora from Flood. Anybody have luck with it on faded shudders? Any other products that can be bought at box stores that will work?

I read somewhere that you should never cover plants with a plastic tarp. What kind of tarp should they be covered with.............perhaps a canvas tarp that can breathe? Another question: If you are going to cover the plants with a tarp, do you still wet them down before tarping them? My brother power washed my parents roof, gutters, & eaves. He put plastic tarps over the shrubbery & plants resulting in a lot of damage to the plants. It's as though the plants may have gotten steamed with the hot moist air trapped beneath the plastic tarp. When doing a typical house wash (not roof cleaning) is it best to water down the plants before, during, and after instead of covering the plants with a tarp? Thanks!

Actually the problem for me is that I would have to drive 50 miles to get 12.5 %. Being primarily a window cleaner I don't do a lot of power washing at this point. If I bought bulk amounts of SH 12.5% it would degrade before I could use it. It's not that I particularly want 6% over 12%. But more so that the 6% is more readily available to me in whatever amount I need at any given moment. All of this considered it seems that 6% is more cost effective for me. For what it's worth I use the X-Jet M5. I basically just do house washing for now along with my window cleaning service. If 6% can be proportioned to work just as well (as 12.5%) for my applications it may be the best route for me. Of course the reason I am posting this is so I can get feedback from all of the well seasoned experts on this forum. Lucky for me, so many of you are so very kind and eager to share your advice and knowledge. For that I thank you!

Thanks for the info MudDuck. I'm leaning towards the 6% SH mixture for the regular house washing that I do. I discussed this with another member on this forum who lives not too far away from me and he says the 6% works great for house washing. I want it to be strong enough but not too strong. I like the idea of a fine tuned mix that will do the job but not be as harsh on the plants and also my clothes won't get so messed up. I'm sure there will be times where 12.5 is needed but not always on a typical house wash. Most of the homes I do are well maintained so I should be OK with the 6% most of the time.

The SH test makes sense but sounds like it could be painful if overdone. The closest sodium hypochlorite that I know of is at The Chemical Connection in Mauldin, SC apx. 50 miles away. I have actually gotten two seperate quotes from them for a 5 gallon amount of 12.5 % SH. The last quote I got was $30.00 but the first quote was significantly lower. I don't know what's up with two seperate prices so I'm going to call them back today if I can. Thanks for the info!

All great advice so far. I do residential and commercial window cleaning. I use the 18" Sorbo Quicksilver squeegee that Sparkle mentioned for commercial cleaning. If I were you I wouldn't use any larger than that when first starting out. You can try the larger squeegees after you master the 18". The ladders I use for residential are 20' and 28' aluminum extension ladders. The 28' will get you up to 3rd story windows and the 20' is good for 2nd story and it's very light & easy to handle, plus it's great for many high interior windows and skylights. I also use a Werner Multi-Ladder that can be used in various tricky positions like on uneven terrain and stair cases. They come in various sizes. The one I use is 22' in the extension position and 9' in the "A" frame position. A standard 6' step ladder and small kitchen step stool come in handy as well. You'll very rarely need anything more than a 28' ladder if doing only up to 3 stories. On those rare occasions you can just rent a larger ladder and even hire an extra guy to help handle and place it. You can figure the extra cost and add it into your quote. Sparkle gave me a great tip on another forum a few years ago. If you use the Sorbo Quicksilver 18" squeegee then buy Soren rubber made by Ettore (to fit Sorbo channels) in it. It's so much better than the Sorbo rubber. I like the Unger Ergotec squeegees in 12" and 14" sizes with standard Ettore rubber. I also use 6" and 8" squeegees (with Ettore rubber) for smaller windows. The Steccone featherweights are great in these sizes and help keep the weight down on your tool belt. I use a blue nylon double squeegee holster from ABC Window Cleaning to hold my 6" and 8" squeeggees on my belt at all times I use the newer version Unger "Bucket On A Belt" to hold my scrubber and two squeegees on my belt. This is a must have tool as far as I'm concerned. Use a 32 oz flip top bottle (available at ABC Window Cleaning Supplies) to hold your solution for interior work and for all ladder work. I keep it on my belt in an Unger "Bottle On A Belt" holster. I use the Ettore rectangle bucket for most all exterior commercial work but I could use the standard round 5 gallon style just as easily. You can get a standard tool belt at Lowe's to hold all of your tools. I agree with Sparkle that the Triumph 6 inch scrapers are great. I don't use the retractable scrapers but you may like that version. I mostly use an Unger 4'-8' telescoping pole for most commercial work and an 18' Unger pole for really high pole work. I have an Ettore Reach 24' pole on order. For the longer poles most guys like the Ettore Reach poles because they are more rigid. You can find a wealth of info at www.windowcleaningresources.com and at even at the National Window Cleaners Directory (forum). But beware there's a lot of fussing and arguing at NWCD at times. As far as soap goes I use the very popular GG-4 (Glass Gleam 4) with a little added slick (ABC Slick) to help with squeegee glide. ABC sells their house brand soap called "Glisten" which is probably just as good as GG-4 and a little cheaper. Many guys use Dawn dish washing detergent but IMHO it's too messy and takes more time to detail the edges of the glass. Blue Huck towels are great for detailing. You can get them at ABC or Detroit Sponge & Chamois. I also like the Unger Micro Fiber towels when I need to spray & wipe windows (mostly french panes) or around vinyl lettering & delicate signage on commercial glass. I've spent a small fortune on advertising (Yellow Pages, website, flyers, business cards, news papers, truck signs,etc.) but I find that doing really great work for my customers brings so many referals which is the best advertising that money can't buy. As far as pricing goes you can use certain suggested guidelines offered on the forums but ultimately you'll have to get a feel for your local market. I find that the cheapest bids don't always win. Rich folks drive expensive cars like Mercedes & BMW's, not Hyundai. They don't mind paying more for a better product or service. This info is based on my personal experience along with much help from many of my friends on various forums over the past few years. I hope that you find it to be helpful. Good Luck!

MudDuck, Is this house wash mix easy on the windows? Or should the glass be avoided as much as possible? I guess it's always good to wet down the glass before applying soap to the house huh?

Is there a good way to test the sodium hypochlorite 10% or 12.5 % to make sure it's still fresh (strong) enough prior to mixing it with one's house wash soap of choice? I'd hate to waste 10 ounces of Simple Cherry by mixing it with a bad batch of sodium hypochlorite. It would be great to know that the SH is good before mixing it with the other stuff.

$30.00 for 5 gallons of 12.5% sodium hypochlorite was a phone quote I got from a store 50 miles away from here. I'm going to check back because the girl who gave me the price over the phone may have been wrong. If she gave me the correct price I would never pay that much for SH and drive a 100 mile round trip to get it. If I can get 10% at K-Mart I may as well go get it as needed. I don't do a lot of power washing at this point. I basically only power wash for some of my residential window cleaning customers. If I bought 12.5% SH in bulk it would go bad before I could ever use it all. You're lucky that you can buy 12.5 % SH for $1.46 per gallon. I'm a newbie and even I know that you're getting a really good deal. Heck, that's about the going price for 6% sodium hypochlorite at the grocery stores around here.

I guess I should've mentioned that the house mix in the previous post will be applied via X-Jet M5

I found 10% sodium hypochlorite at K-Mart. It's bottled as "SHOCK" Chlorinating Liquid For Pools & Spas. $3.73 per gallon. The nearest 12.5 sodium hypochlorite is about 50 miles away and cost $30.00 per 5 gallon so that's 6 bucks a gallon plus a 100 mile round trip. I think I'll just get the 10% sodium hypochlorite at K-Mart for now. If I find a closer and cheaper place for 12.5 % sodium hypochlorite I may get it. Heck, some guys just use 6% and Dawn dish detergent and say it works fine. So my mix for house washing is 10 oz. of Simple Cherry, 2 gallons of 10% sodium hypochlorite, and 3 gallons of water. I also have F-13 gutter grenade of which I could put 2 or 3 ounces in the mix for really dirty jobs. Does this sound like a decent useable mix (for house washing) to you guys? I'm not doing roofs at this point, just the siding, gutters, soffets, gables, etc. Thanks! Richard Crocker www.UltraClearWindowCleaning.com Greenwood, SC

Thanks for the input PHD! I snipped a little from the end of the hose and it does fit snuggly over the X-Jet barb. I have put a quality clamp on the pail end of the hose for now but I may take it off so the hose can be removed when screwing the cap on and off of the enclosed pail. Screwing the cap on/off with the hose attatched is a pain. May as well make things easier huh!

Hi all! I'm a window cleaner that sometimes gets requests for power washing of houses. I've cleaned a few in the past with a cheap machine and it was a hassle. I recently purchased a commercial grade machine and an M-5 X-Jet in hopes of making the job much easier, faster and more profitable. I just wanted to say hello to everyone. I'll be reading as much as I can here and probably asking a lot of questions. I guess my first question is what is the most common chemical or cleaning solution that you guys use for house cleaning. Where are the best (cheapest) places to buy this cleaning solution? Thanks! Rick

Len, that would be super fantastic and so very kind of you. I thought I'd get some good help and info on this forum but I didn't dream it would be served on a silver platter. I'd love to come up when my work slows down a bit and check out your methods, tools, chemicals, etc. Thank you so much for offering to help! Rick P.S. I'll PM you so we can hook up in the near future hopefully.

Dane, I actually enjoy window cleaning (I do 50/50 residential/commercial) but I have a good many requests from my residential customers for pressure washing. I'm not really planning on going into pressure washing exclusively. I just mainly want to keep my window cleaning customers happy. Also, why let that money go to someone else if I can do it myself? There seems to be a ton of pressure washer guys around here. I'll just do it for my customers who already keep me pretty busy with window cleaning. Thanks! I plan to spend a lot of time reading all of the valuable info here on The Grime Scene.

Mike, I've been here 45 years :) Who's the guy you know in Greenwood? By any chance did he recently move from Myrtle Beach to Greenwood? Initials M.R. who used to travel with the Stones and other heavy weight rock acts as an electrician/rigger? That's a long shot but just might be the same guy.