metal shed cleaning

[Mountainaire 14]

Earlier today I cleaned a metal shed that had some mold on the roof, but not a lot. I used CitraKlean and bleach, 2:1 bleach to cleaner. I let it work for 5 minutes or so and rinsed. The top layer came off but there was still plenty left and I ended up using pressure to clean the remainder of crud from the shed, using a ladder to finish the roof. Should I have added some dish soap to help the solution stick to the shed, or let it work longer before rinsing? I really thought it would "melt" off with a rinse. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jeff 232]

In colder weather chems are less effective, quite often you will need 2 or 3 applications of chem, thats for mold & mildew

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

Jeff is right about cold weather,but you should beable to do it with one application , just let it dwell for longer

[Mountainaire 14]

It was close to 50 degrees, is that cold enough to limit the effectiveness? I don't seem to get the results with these cleaners that others on here talk about. I'm using stuff from a local distributor that claims to supply many pressure washers in the Knoxville area. Saving on frieght costs. I'll need to try Rowlett's products, or the Sun-Brite line I guess. In both replies, there was no mention of needing to add another detergent to stick the chems to the surface better. I didn't get many suds, and it seemed like it just ran off, though it took the top layer with it. When I rinsed there was suds though. I haven't done much of this on buildings. Mostly I've done flatwork and trucks. I need to figure this out before it starts warming up here as I hope to wash houses beginning this year. Thanks for the replies.

[Tim McCulla 14]

It is really hard to say what went wrong - we are all only guessing.

IMHO, yes chemicals would work less effective at 50 degrees (I'm assuming you are talking about the air temp - if you did it in the morning that metal roof could have been colder than that or hotter in the afternoon).

Also, before you look into the surfactant and its effectivness - did you think your bleach could have gassed off/ not been that strong? How old was it? did you store it in the sun? Was it uncovered for any amount of time? did it freeze? If what you were cleaning did not "melt off' it could have been very much alive (the bleach did not kill it), in which case the best surfactant in the world may not help.

[Steve Kiser 14]

It was close to 50 degrees, is that cold enough to limit the effectiveness? I don't seem to get the results with these cleaners that others on here talk about. I'm using stuff from a local distributor that claims to supply many pressure washers in the Knoxville area. Saving on frieght costs. I'll need to try Rowlett's products, or the Sun-Brite line I guess. In both replies, there was no mention of needing to add another detergent to stick the chems to the surface better. I didn't get many suds, and it seemed like it just ran off, though it took the top layer with it. When I rinsed there was suds though. I haven't done much of this on buildings. Mostly I've done flatwork and trucks. I need to figure this out before it starts warming up here as I hope to wash houses beginning this year. Thanks for the replies.

I would just go by and see Steve he will hook ya up, great guy!!!!

[Mountainaire 14]

I need to drive over to Smyrna and see him, I keep hearing about his stuff. It was chilly the night before and it was mid morning when I tried cleaning it. I'm trying stuff on my friend's and family's places before I try selling to others. I'm too honest to tell someone I can do it if I haven't done it before. Character flaw I reckon. Thanks for the responses.

[racechaser 64]

Earlier today I cleaned a metal shed that had some mold on the roof, but not a lot. I used CitraKlean and bleach, 2:1 bleach to cleaner.

What are you using if not "REAL" Citraklean?? That is what confused me in your post.

Scott

[Mountainaire 14]

I bought it locally. The name is spelled differently. I don't know what the difference is chemically. The folks that sold it to me say they sell a lot of it and they thought it worked good as a house wash. That's all these folks do is sell cleaners, got a big warehouse and plenty of salesman. I know it doesn't make their products great, but it does mean someone's using them. Can't imagine them being in business as many years as they have without good products. Now I need to sample some of the products I've read about here and see what the difference is.