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SWS Wood Restore

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

From what I’ve read it’s way over priced and the results can be duplicated with other products.

Hank

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

we just use it on cedar roofs when we are done. Its ok.

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Isn't that true for most of the chems we use.
A commercial gallon of 1% oxalic acid is roughly $20
I can buy a qt of dry 99.6% ox for $20 and make 320 gallons at 1.6% roughly.

As for the "conditioners". I have no need for that. The oil stains etc I use are far superior conditioners.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Right Maverick,..many people have learned this over the years,..at least the smart ones have. The other ones think it's more professional to use a labeled product that is purpose made,..even though it doesn't work any better and obviously doesn't warrant the cost. These are often the guys complaining about others' pricing,..and also,..they end up back doing whatever they were doing before they started washing.

Jeff

SprayWash · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Looks like Oaxalic to me, admittedly i have never used it.

Chris Mozick · Approved Exteior Cleaner

I don’t like it. I have used it on a property for 4 years now and it doesn’t do a thing. My cedar shake mix I use now thanks to Brett works awesome!

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Chris Mozick wrote:
I don’t like it. I have used it on a property for 4 years now and it doesn’t do a thing. My cedar shake mix I use now thanks to Brett works awesome!

Sodium per carbonate and sodium hydroxide do a great job. Followed by an oxalic rinse. Three bags are less than the great mix and will clean a lot of wood.

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

I have a couple bags of Sodium Percarbonate from a few years ago, put into buckets to seal them.

Also have the other typical chemicals also.

Brett, how much caustic are you adding to the percarbonate in a 5 gallon mix? 2 or 3 cups with 5 pounds of Sodium Percarbonate?

Thank you.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Chris wrote:
I have a couple bags of Sodium Percarbonate from a few years ago, put into buckets to seal them.

Also have the other typical chemicals also.

Brett, how much caustic are you adding to the percarbonate in a 5 gallon mix? 2 or 3 cups with 5 pounds of Sodium Percarbonate?

Thank you.

I only add about 3 - 4 cups of Percarb to five gallons then throw in 1 - 2 cups on caustic soda/hydroxide. I heat it up as needed.

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

Thanks Brett, I appreciate it.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Can't blame these companies for selling packaged products. When I first started doing boat bottoms (Gel Coat Type),....I would buy a product called Slimy Grimy,..worked very well,..and was very cost effective at only around $18.00 at tub,..I think was 2 LBS. You could do 2-3 boat bottoms with that much and make around $300.00. So,..wasn't a big deal,...but,..buying Slimy Grimy which is oxalic acid,..was a far cry from the deal I get now in 50 LBS,..Around $80.00.

That was when I started looking at all ingredients in any product. That was around 1998 I think??

*I no longer do boat bottoms.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 4th of February 2019 10:15:54 AM

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

For neutralizing wood,..has anyone here ever tried citric acid? I use Oxalic simply due to it's other uses.

Just wondering how citric compares to ox. There used to be a product called "Citralic" a blend of OX and Citric.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 4th of February 2019 08:34:11 AM

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

both work
ones citrus acid based ox is plant based

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

I remember many years ago when I first got on the forums, in the early 2003, 2004, the wood restoration people were using Citric Acid mostly, not Oxalic like how it is today. I am guessing that Oxalic is stronger and works better or faster.