F 18 Best Wood Stripper...

[Rfitz 14]

In the past 3 years or so I have literally stripped tens of thousands of square feet of wood, or should I say many many types of stains, paints from wood

and I can say I have used just about every product there is on the market for the wood professional for stripping paints and stains, and so far, none has out performed F18 From Pressuretek for the money..

Not only is it the best stain stripper on the market by far, but it has so many more uses, concrete cleaner / degreaser, house washing booster, truck washing booster, roof washing booster, gutter scrubbing booster, engine degreaser, I could go on and on, but all I can say is if you are not using this product, you are wasting a ton of time & money, I have been called into redo jobs that other companies tried to strip or clean and failed, and walked away from the job, where as if I did not have F18 or the new F 18 Max I too would of had to walk away and tell the customer Im sorry I just cant do this job..

As a matter of fact, I bid on alot of jobs other companies wont touch mainly because I have a tool in my arsenal F 18 that does 90% of the work for me,

a prime example is all these Trex decks and the knock offs, the vinyl wood composite decking that are sold as maintenance FREE...? these have to be washed at least once maybe twice a year, if it wasnt for F 18 I couldnt do these jobs,, and whats better is I get as much for cleaning these babies as I do for stripping and sealing wood decks, I sure hope they keep making these maintenance free decking systems, it is making my business explode...

I hope this helps everyone out there struggling with a stripper that is just making them frustrated, try this stuff, you will never go back to using anything else, I didnt and thats been the best move I made so far, other than starting my PW biz..

Have A Great Day

[PressurePros 248]

wasn't it developed as a concrete cleaner? I am unsure but I recall seeing F-18 as being touted as a concrete cleaner and not having anything to do with being a wood stripper. Now any good concrete cleaner will indeed strip sealer from wood, but is it at the cost of the life of the wood? Just curious if you have always used the F-18 or f you switched from other products on the market.

....

[Aplus 525]

My experience with F18 has been that I had to mix in extremely high ratios to get the results I was looking for, which made the product expensive to use.

Not saying it isn't good, just that when comparing the price per square foot, it is on the expensive side.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

RFitz,

You might want to copy/paste your product review into a new thread and post it here: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69

The forum I am suggesting you place it in, would prohibit cross discussion about other products after you post. Here are the rules for the forum I am mentioning, there is a sticky in that forum.

We're pleased to announce a new forum here on TGS, designed for our manufacturer's and distributors to speak about their products specifically.

• Users with questions about a specific product should ask here if they would like to hear specifically from the vendor.
  
• Only the vendor who is addressed should respond.
  
• Anyone who wishes to give a testimonial about a product should do it here, and post any photos they wish to use to demonstrate their opinion.
  
• Users should be respectful of the manufactuer's, distributors, and users who are corresponding in the thread.
  
• Please do not hijack threads.
  

If users wish to debate two or more products, they may do so in the main forums.

Beth & Rod

The forum you placed your kudos in here, does allow for discussion behind your post.

Have a great day, and hope this helps.

Beth

[Rfitz 14]

Tony,

I usually mix the F 18 at 12 ounces per gallon hot water mix thouroughly, and apply to horizontal areas with a pole brush, and spray vertical areas, my usual dwell times are about 45 minutes to 1 hour by the time I do the entire deck, but keep in mind if the product dries it stops working so you have to make sure you are always keeping all areas wet or damp while dwelling, maybe you may have gotten a bad batch, ? not sure.. but I have always had really good results with it, for the price, I do notice the trick is in the dwell time..

Maybe give that a try..?

[PressurePros 248]

Problem with that is, time is also money. Extremem Solution's HD-80 mixes at 4-8 oz per gallon and will liquify just about any oil sealer in under 20 minutes. When I do an entire deck and it's going to dwell for a long time, say an hour, I can usually mix three ounces per gallon.

I'm not knocking the F-18 as I have heard many have success with it, just questioning the notion that one product is the be-all-end-all of wood strippers. I've tried them all too. Based upon my experience, I find the HD-80 superior.

For the record, Trex and other composite companies will void a customer's warranty if a stripping product is used. Not a big deal, just throwing it out there because I did some warranty work for a composite manufacturer and spent some time in communication with them.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

I use it a a concrete cleaner and it works very well. I can only imagine that it would work just as well on wood.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Regarding Trex.....

We have found most often two common problems:

1. mildew infestation
   
2. tannin bleeding
   

Mildew infestation can be solved with a percarb or product designed to kill mildew.

Removing tannin bleeding requires an acid. (citric, Citralic blend or oxylic)

If both are present, a common 2 step cleaning method should resolve both issues.

We have also heard about infestations that cannot be removed. I seem to recall a pink growth which was posted about last year or so that just did not budge. A search might yield more info on that.

Hope this helps.

Beth

[reed 500]

I use f18 and hd80, both have their uses. On the f18 I have been using it 2 to 4 ounces per gallon of cold water. It dissolves very well and will remove what I need to. My dwell times have been anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. F18 has proven to be economical to use as with HD80 has been economical to use. To me it depends on what I am facing on the job in what my choice of chemicals are.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind here is that there is "no silver bullet" for stripping and cleaning. As a we "practice" our profession we learn what products will do and what they won't do. And by doing this, we grow in experience and performance of our profession. I have conclued with the experience I have gained that NO ONE PRODUCT can do it all. That's why we have an Arsenal of poducts that we choose to use.

Ok, off my soap box.

reed

[Aplus 525]

I agree with Reed 100%

Well stated!!

[Mathew Johnson 123]

Roof Magic 4X is awsum as well... It is pricey, but the net yield is great. I use about 1/3 to 1/2 gallon of product per deck.. depending on what I am taking off the deck.. I do also carry F-18 as the more kinder, gentle stripper / cleaner. f18 is also great to clean grease spots on concrete / black-top - I use it on my drive thru-banks and Wendys contracts

[Henry B. 4]

F-18 is a great product but I have to agree, you do use more of it than other stippers on the market. The f-18 max has a nice kick to it and it does work faster but I'd rather carry less products (but stronger) and get the sealer off faster... I'm not a very patient guy and as someone else stated, time is money!

[flimmy 14]

I have used the F18 MAX and it works great. I will be doing a deck this weekend and have some pic's to post along with dwell times.