Your Favorite House Wash Brew

[CCHSNC 14]

I have used emulsifier plus and rowletts citri clean mix. I have had good resolts with both but I'm not sold out yet. Which is your favorite??

[Guest rfitz]

Try This, it works well for me, I first soap 2 sides of a house, then go back to the van, put my soap line in my rinse aid bucket, go back rinse those 2 sides and then repeat process for other 2 sides, you will notice your rinse time is cut in half, and with industrial rinse aids, you will only use 1-2 OZ per house

so figure on a 3000 sq ft house, 5-10 min. to soap each side and about the same amount of time to rinse, so total time max. on average 2 story 3000 sq ft house with walk time 1.5 to 2.0 hours at an average of $300-$400 per home, and figure on about $15.00 in chems and $10.00 in fuel, that is for PW

and fuel to get to the job say with traveling time you can do 12-15 of these a week, plus throw in a few decks, and your jammin.... that should be at least

a $5000 week which is ideal for a one man show, double that if you have 2 rigs out there....

[Aplus 525]

Rob,

It just seems to me that the soap would start to dry on the house doing two sides at a time. Do you keep the soap off the windows completely? I prefer to soap the windows because it cleans them as well. It's super important to not let the soap dry on the windows.

Have you actually done things this way, or are you just thinking aloud?

[Guest rfitz]

After I got my new rig installed in my van, luckily the week following was 50-60 degrees here which is unusual for Dec. Jan. but anyway, I did some testing on this new rig, and procedure for washing, I actually did 3 houses that week, doing it this way, and it really worked great, now one thing I didnt mention before is I always pre-rinse the windows first on the sides I am washing, before any soap whatsoever touches them, I make sure they are wet, then I proceed to soap side A, then I proceed to soap side B, always making sure the windows are constantly wet, even while rinsing Side A I will jump over to side B and just hit the windows, jump back and continue rinsing side A, I have found that keeping the windows wet at all times, eliminates any spotting or streaking, I also put on my estimate and explain verbally to my customer, if they take the time to remove the screens from all windows

before I show up, their windows will look much better and their sills will look great also, I tell them if they stack them out back somewhere I will spray them out for FREE as well, I will say ever since I started using this new soap

6136, the gutters, soffit, facia, cloumns, basically anything that is white, gets really white, it really blew me away the first few times I used it, and I also got great comments from the neighbors, This white thing never happened with any other soap...? and I always, brush their front gutters and facia as part of their house washing price, it's just good business, and makes the front of the house look great, so all the neighbors can see, it doesnt take very long, but sure pays off from referrals, I constantly look for ways to increase speed, and

do the best job possible at the same time,

Hope this helps...?

[JustMe 14]

Do you have to brush the gutters and facia or just do it to make it look a little better? Also what kind of rinse aid are you guys using that you find works well.

I know I have talked to you a couple times about the 6136 Rob and I am going to try it as my first choice.

With your new setup which is very nice BTW you said you downstream it 50-1 on houses, is that 50-1 bleach and 50-1 6136 evenly and is there any worries of removing paint on the alum? I may have asked you this already but want to be clear.

I have been kicking around the idea of the spot free filters as well, but can't seem to get much info from other washers to verify they indeed work like they say.

[Paul B. 523]

Rob,

Most folks around my area are very conservative and will NOT act on cleaning until early spring. What's your secret to getting customers to wash their house in the winter?

[Guest rfitz]

Sometimes I brush the gutters if they are really bad, which is about 80% of the time.. also on the 6136 soap 50-1, is a good starting point, sometimes I have to drop it 25-1 just depends on how dirty the surface is I am cleaning,

on the bleach, I use straight pool chlorine they say it's between 12-15% in strength, so its pretty strong, 1 drop on your shirt or pants and it will eat a hole right thru them quick, so I start with 25-1 on the chlorine and adjust accordingly, even at that high of dilution it is still strong, you can still smell it all around the house... I get my Rinse aid from Bobby at www.pressuretek.com it is called 6126 and it is the industrial rinse aid they use in commercial car wash's so 1-2 OZ per house is plenty, but I use that when I am rinsing only, I dont add this to my wash mix, when I actually clean all the gutters at a job, I will start at 4 or 5 to 1 with the 6136 in a bucket and just brush on dwell 1-2 minutes and rinse off hi -pressure...

I am confused with what you mentioned, about the filters...???

Paul, Most are referrals, some are coming off my yellow page ad, which I will say it is a big ad maybe 1/8 page, and says clearly at the top

Exterior House washing Specialist, but mostly they call as soon as the temps get past 45 it is amazing, I just went on a $6000 estimate yesterday cedar home,deck, etc.. they want it done ASAP, Insurance job, it was 15 degrees here yesterday and 4 inches of ice and snow on the ground, go figure

[JustMe 14]

Sometime I get confused about ratios when they are seperate. How the heck would you figure that if you had to premix like us poor slobs that don't have all the goodies you got, if we had to mix it up in 5 gal buckets :)

Your setup is pretty cool Rob, I am very impressed with the way you have it all setup in that van, have you had any problems with that new setup with fumes or anything or temps?

[Guest rfitz]

I learned the hard way, trial and error, when I was pre mixing in a 5 gal bucket, I would use 2 gallons chlorine 2 gallons water 1/4 gallon 6136

and see how that works, and never carry 6136 and chlorine mixed together in a closed container on your vehicle, or any soap mixed with chlorine in a closed container, chlorine is very volatile, I would only pre mix enough to do the job

if you have a little extra left over pitch it, just do some testing with any type of sudsy soap thru your downstreamer, so you can see how much soap you will go thru on a normal house wash, then mix as you need at the job site

once you have practiced with a sudsy soap like dawn, on about 5-6 houses

just to get a feel on how much you should mix per house, it will come to you, it just takes time and practice, Im still learning something new every day and I love it, otherwise we might get bored....

[JustMe 14]

Yeah I don't want to blow myself up, learned a hard lesson about acid when I used to run a fleet wash.

That mix would probably be a little heavy going through a x-jet right, I think they are 2-1, most downstreamers run around 10-1 dont they?

Hey you never said how that van is working out..

Shot bob an email about that rinse aid, thanks!

[Guest rfitz]

Unfortunately, I have only used the unit maybe a dozen times, too cold

but I love it so far, I can see about a 50% increase in speed at least,

I cant wait for march, should be in full swing by then just 4-5 weeks from spring...: )

[Aplus 525]

It's amazing......this is my ninth year in business, I too run yellow pages ads, as well as others, and I've never been asked to wash a house in the winter.

Actually I'm kinda glad, I really don't like working with water when the temps get cold.....:)

[JustMe 14]

Originally posted by rfitz

Unfortunately, I have only used the unit maybe a dozen times, too cold

but I love it so far, I can see about a 50% increase in speed at least,

I cant wait for march, should be in full swing by then just 4-5 weeks from spring...: )

That is amazing business cost savings when it comes right down to it, you must have a vision for where you want to be and goals are great. I hope to be in the same place one day...

APLUS: I live right in frozen hell right now after the last storm and these - double digit temps, I could not even fathom rolling out a hose with anything that even looked like liquid right now :D

Current temp is -5 Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Guest rfitz]

Tony, I agree with you 100%, but if it does get above 45-50 degrees I have to do a job if someone wants it done, mainly it was people moving and wanted their house washed to look good...

Also, how big of a metro area are you in ? and how many calls a week in

the good months say March thru November do you average..From the yellow pages...?

THX

[Aplus 525]

Rob,

This is my 9th year in business, and I honestly have never been called to wash a house during January and February. It is rare that any days during these months will reach 40 degrees. It's a service apparently not on a home owners mind.

I'm in Detroit suburbs, no shortage of people or $$ here. During summer months about 10-15 calls per week are from yellow pages.

Every area is different.

[jsavoy 14]

POOL CHLORINE!!!!!!! You got to be kidding. Man I hope you use a respirator. Dude you must want lung cancer if your are not. That's way to strong. That will kill all the plants also. I mix 3 gallons of bleach and a 1/2 cup of liquid laundry detergent in a 65 gallon tank on my rig. Run it through the pump. Been doing this for 6 years now. Works great. That is way to much bleach!! It only takes two gallons of bleach to shock a 12,000 gallon pool! Try my set up you will love it! Dirt and mildew just run off. Just soak one side of the house,walk to your rig switch tanks to fresh water tank and go back and rinse! I can wash an average size house and only have to mix two batches. That's about $ 6.00 for a case of bleach. The gallon and 1/2 bottles from wal-mart, I only have to use two of those to a tank full.

[Firedkm 14]

All pool chlorine is 12% sodium hypochlorite. You house hold bleach is 3-4% sodium hypochlorite. Your stating is takes 2 gals of bleach to shock a 12,000 gal pool. You are way off on that statement. Using bleach for pool shock is not strong enough to kill the bacteria or other organisms in the water. Most people will use the powdered form of pool shock. That is known as Calcium Hpochlorite. You need one pound per 10,000 gal of water. I am speaking from experience as I have been in the pool industry for 5 years servicing pools and a store manager.

The big reason to use "pool chlorine" is cost savings. It costs aprox. $1.00 for a gallon of bleach. Buy a 5 Gal. container of "pool chlorine for $12.00. A 5 gallons of "pool chlorine" is equal to 15-20 gallons of bleach.

With liquid chlorine you really do not need a respirator just a face sheild to protect you face ffrom splashes just like you should for bleach. The only time you would have a vapor that can hurt you is if using the powder form of the 3 inch chlorine tabs and tehy get wet from water and are in a closed container. You open uo the container then you would have a vapor that would knock you socks off. You will not get that from liquid chlorine.

Also as long as you wet the area down around the house before and after washing you will have no problems with palnts or grass dying.

Back to pools the chlorine level is suppose to be at 3-4 ppm to keep the pool clear. I have had to empty pools to clean them or do misc. repairs and the water coming out of the pool has never killed the plants, grass or any other lanscaping that the water had touched.

I am sure your method works best for you since you been doing it that way for six years and I hope you do not take offense to this. I am just stating the facts as I see it. You may see another way and Thats fine too. We all have our views on how and what works for us. I prefer to use "poolchlorine" compare to using bleach just for the cost savings.

My brew is using 1/2Gal citracleen,1gal 12% pool chlorine, 2oz wet wax. 4oz of rinse aid and 4 oz of a foamer and the rest with water in a 5 gal bucket. I use 2-3 buckets for a house wash and use a x-jet to throw the chems on the house. BY the time my brew hits the house the 12% chlorine is so diluted it will not harm the landscape. I really like this mix and works for me.;)

[jsavoy 14]

I shock my pool with 2 gals of bleach all the time. It brings it above 3 ppm. I use a floatron to keep alage from growing. Glad yor stating your opionion but your dismissing mine without even trying it. You don't need that much bleach.If it's so diluted by the time it hits the house then maybe it's about the ratio I'm using. rfitz stated he mixed his 25 to 1 that's alot higher then your stated ratio Here is something to read in your spare time http://www.gasdetection.com/TECH/cl2.html

[Paul B. 523]

Liquid pool shock normally runs between 10% and 15% Sodium Hypochlorite. It varies by manufacturer, but you can find the percentage on the label. It may be available in higher %, but I have not seen any in my area for the past 5 years.

Bleach comes in 3-4% and 6% Sodium Hypochlorite content. You have to read the label for which one you are buying. If you buy Ultra Bleach it's most likely 6%. The 6% bleach is also most commonly presented in the 3/4 gallon containers in the grocery stores. (I don't shop at Wal-Mart so I can't say what they offer.)

Powdered Calcium Hypochlorite is generally used as pool shock because it has a close to neutral pH versus the Sodium Hypochlorite which has a high pH of about 14. You can use either for pool shock, but if you use Sodium Hypochlorite then you MAY need to add other chemicals to the water to lower the pH level.

There have been a few cases where mold/mildew was so concentrated on homes, that we used 12% at 1:3 dilution rate to get it off quickly.

Low concentrations of Sodium Hypochlorite will work, but will take longer. Time is money, so some folks prefer spending an extra $5 in chemicals in lieu of spending an extra 15 minutes, 1/2 hour or 1 hour on the job.

[JustMe 14]

Originally posted by Firedkm

My brew is using 1/2Gal citracleen,1gal 12% pool chlorine, 2oz wet wax. 4oz of rinse aid and 4 oz of a foamer and the rest with water in a 5 gal bucket. I use 2-3 buckets for a house wash and use a x-jet to throw the chems on the house. BY the time my brew hits the house the 12% chlorine is so diluted it will not harm the landscape. I really like this mix and works for me.;)

Are you throwing that on at 2-1 with the X-Jet or metering it down, just curious.. Do you like the citracleen for anything else like concrete?

[jsavoy 14]

Maybe you missed my point! Lower concentrations do work. He just said by the the time it hits the house it's so diluted anyway. I can wash a house for about $6.00 in chemicals. What time do you save using higher concentrations when the lower one does the same just as fast. Plus having to drag around a bucket, flow injector and everything else. The only thing I carry is a wand with a push pull high pressure low pressure nozzle.

[Firedkm 14]

Originally posted by jsavoy

I shock my pool with 2 gals of bleach all the time. It brings it above 3 ppm. I use a floatron to keep alage from growing. Glad yor stating your opionion but your dismissing mine without even trying it. You don't need that much bleach.If it's so diluted by the time it hits the house then maybe it's about the ratio I'm using. rfitz stated he mixed his 25 to 1 that's alot higher then your stated ratio Here is something to read in your spare time http://www.gasdetection.com/TECH/cl2.html

FYI

To properly shocka pool you need to raise the chlorine level to at least 10ppm. The 3-4 ppm is what you need to keep the pool properly "balanced.

Just wondering.

Typically how long does it take for you to wash a 2000 sq ft home with you downstreaming your chems? When I did it this way it took 3-4 hrs. Now using the x-jet and carrying the buckets around it takes 2 hrs. I am saving time thus having more time to have more work scheduled for the day.

Maybe I am missing your point and I am confused but hey I can be thick headed too.:D

Your link was very informative. If you read into a little deeper the deaths were from chlorine gas or pressurized liquid chlorine wich will give the gas vapors. You typical pool store container is not pressurized.

[Firedkm 14]

Originally posted by JustMe

Are you throwing that on at 2-1 with the X-Jet or metering it down, just curious.. Do you like the citracleen for anything else like concrete?

I do not use the metering tips. Just using the x-jet gives you a 1.3-1 ratio. I have not used the citracleen for concrete(I am assuming you are talking about driveways). I have used it on vinyl,aluminum,and wood siding,Stucco,Dryvit,brick and stone front homes. I do not see why it would not work for concrete. When I clean concrete I use hot water only except for oily or greasy spots and if it has some mold or other type of fungis I may throw down some bleach (diluted 12% chlorine)

[JustMe 14]

Thanks for the reply, if you don't mind would you pm me or email the place to check into citraclean, does it seem to work wekk on brick and stucco like you mentioned or do you feel the 12% does most of the work. some people tend to rinse with the x-jet too and I wondered if you did and how it works, I am looking at buying one after much reading.

[jsavoy 14]

I can do a 2000 sq ft house in about a hour. And for as the pool, my chlorine gauge I use shows the ideal range in the 1.0 to 1.5 ppm range. Hey I'm just trying to help. I tried both ways and found this alot easier. Just trying to help others. If that's they way you like like to do it fine. All I'm really trying to say is that bleach is alot stronger then you might think. A little goes along way.

[Guest rfitz]

My formula is just that, my formula, and it works fast for me, and well, and to be honest with you, guys in the field use alot stronger ratio than mine at 25-1

I can wash a 3000 sq ft home in under 2 hours, no plant or grass dying, after spraying chlorine on heavily molded siding it takes 5-10 minutes to kill it with my formula, just enough time to soap the next side and come back and start rinsing the other side, and believe it or not, I have some neighborhoods that I have to x-jet the chlorine 3 or 4 to 1 just to kill the first layer of mold, and the repeat that again, some of these people have never had their house washed and they are 70-80 years old and well over $750K in price, now for houses like that I know I have to wash twice I usually charge double, maybe

$500-$900 range thaey are in bad shape.. anyway, I get my pool chlorine in bulk @ $.95 a gallon so my house washing expenses are very low, you just have to use whatever works for you, and no I do not wear a respirator, no need, I check with OSHA on my mixture, and they said I am no where near being in danger with my mixtures, try my formula, you will double your speed,

your houses will look alot cleaner, and you will save a ton of cash.... What do you have to loose...? Money and time...? and also remember on most jobs that is my strongest dilution rate 25-1 since I have metering valves for each soap, I can make that even weaker, if I want, or if the house has just mainly dirt and crud on it.... I will use alot more soap and very little chlorine maybe 50 or 70 to 1