Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Cleaning With Hydrogen Peroxide Test

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

John Aloisio wrote:
Brett,
I have used the Wash Safe products on three wineries we have cleaned in the last couple years. 2 of them have us on a yearly contract every Spring. One was a metal building and the other two were wood siding. I did demos on all of them because that product is not what we usually use and I wasn't sure of the results. Plus I wanted the owner to sign off on the demo, so there was no misunderstanding of expectations. The demos and the jobs turned out great. I have done a few other demos with that product with not so great results as well. I have been able to switch the owners mind and use SH on all of them, except one. I use a dedicated pump and 65 gallon mix tank for the Wash Safe stuff and then rinse with a booster or a pressure washer with a fan tip. You have to really pay attention to the directions and how it says to mix and dwell. It is not cheap but neither am I. I charge accordingly and make great money on the jobs. I am sure you could use something else, but I like the idea of having a third party SDS sheet and a products website I can direct the owner too. Hope this helps!!! Call me if you need any more info. I attached a few pics.

I have a friend who is a x IKO roofing salesmen. Now he is a Green Exterior Cleaner here on LI and Wash Safe is all he uses.

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Now we have this information we can move on to world domination of wineries throughout the world.

Hank

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

waxman18324 wrote:
Now we have this information we can move on to world domination of wineries throughout the world.

Hank

Sounds good to me!

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

John Aloisio wrote:
Brett,
I have used the Wash Safe products on three wineries we have cleaned in the last couple years. 2 of them have us on a yearly contract every Spring. One was a metal building and the other two were wood siding. I did demos on all of them because that product is not what we usually use and I wasn't sure of the results. Plus I wanted the owner to sign off on the demo, so there was no misunderstanding of expectations. The demos and the jobs turned out great. I have done a few other demos with that product with not so great results as well. I have been able to switch the owners mind and use SH on all of them, except one. I use a dedicated pump and 65 gallon mix tank for the Wash Safe stuff and then rinse with a booster or a pressure washer with a fan tip. You have to really pay attention to the directions and how it says to mix and dwell. It is not cheap but neither am I. I charge accordingly and make great money on the jobs. I am sure you could use something else, but I like the idea of having a third party SDS sheet and a products website I can direct the owner too. Hope this helps!!! Call me if you need any more info. I attached a few pics.

John, Did you use this product straight or what ratio can it be diluted?

I would like to know more about this if you don't mind.

Thank you.

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

I searched for it and found it. This looks just like this product years ago called Roof Reviver, just sodium percarbonate but you still have to use pressure to get it clean.

I tried it and did not like the idea of using pressure on asphalt roofs (what we have mostly here).

I tried it on walls also but again, had to use pressure on it but I think I might have used the Xjet or downstreamed the mix on the wall, which would have diluted it a lot so I would have to go back and test it again. I still have most of that bucket plus a few 5 gallon buckets of the sodium percarbonate that I bought in bags but put into buckets to keep the air out, hopefully the product is still good.

I saw on that wash safe site they are selling a gas powered pump that moves 42gpm, that is a lot of chemical fast. They use reducers to adapt to garden hose but don't mention if they add a pressure relief valve or unloader to it or just let it internally bypass until you pull the trigger again.

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

John, what pump were you using to apply this wash safe product with?

Did you have to use full pressure or medium pressure to clean everything after you applied this product?

How long did you let it dwell for?

Thank you.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Products like Wash Safe are basically useless as to being effective,...but great for selling work. I admit, I haven't used it so shouldn't judge,..But I think I will,....I read the MSDS Art posted, and it's first ingredient is Sodium Carbonate,..(AKA) Washing Soda,..Like the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda found at Walmart. A very good cleaner on its own for washing down walls and woodwork prior to painting or just as a general cleaner.

Maybe it's fortified with some extra special activator,..but I doubt it. Just another Green product.

If I found the right website for Wash Safe it's $27.00 for 3 LBS.

Or you can get Super Washing Soda at Walmart for around $4.00 for 3 Lbs.

Brett, are they against any "Chemical" use,...I mean does it have to be totally odorless or what?

Purple Power is a a great cleaner also, just not sure they would allow it or not.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 11th of February 2019 04:46:43 AM

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jeff Wible wrote:
Products like Wash Safe are basically useless as to being effective,...but great for selling work. I admit, I haven't used it so shouldn't judge,..But I think I will,....I read the MSDS Art posted, and it's first ingredient is Sodium Carbonate,..(AKA) Washing Soda,..Like the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda found at Walmart. A very good cleaner on its own for washing down walls and woodwork prior to painting or just as a general cleaner.

Maybe it's fortified with some extra special activator,..but I doubt it. Just another Green product.

If I found the right website for Wash Safe it's $27.00 for 3 LBS.

Or you can get Super Washing Soda at Walmart for around $4.00 for 3 Lbs.

Brett, are they against any "Chemical" use,...I mean does it have to be totally odorless or what?
Purple Power is a a great cleaner also, just not sure they would allow it or not.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 11th of February 2019 04:46:43 AM

They are anti SH, that's all. I have been doing some research since this is way more involved than I ever expected with all the replies as well as questions. I found some chemicals that can/will clean but I want to know what will clean w/o brushing. I am also going to call ShoreBest today. They have always had what I needed for specialized cleaning.

John Aloisio · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Chris,

I use my trailer rig setup, which is my back up or extra rig for when we are busy, and it has a PW Store twin pump system I bought back in 2012. It is just a method to apply it. I mix it per the instructions typically. Sometimes on cedar you need to mix it a little stronger. The dwell for me has been around 20-30 minutes. I don't like to pressure wash but sometimes a light fan tip wash is needed. Like I said I don't use it all the time, because I do not like changing my methods. We use SH 99.9% of the time. I use this product 5-10 times a year. To put that into perspective we did just under 1200 residential jobs last year and 100+ commercial ones. So very little. I only offer it if the owner is completely against bleach and crazy about plants. And only then do I do a demo. Last year we did about 20 demos for this product and only 5 of them came out to my standards. When I do the estimates I simply just double my pricing. If you want me to change my process, you are gonna pay for it. Also, I don't use it on anything but cedar and sometimes metal or vinyl. I would not try it on shingles.

Jeff, yes you sometimes need a little pressure, but anything more than that I won't do the job. Not worth it to me. I don't care about the price of the stuff, I just build it into my pricing. I like having the website and SDS sheets to give to customers. We sell on not using just any product that you can buy at Walmart and Home Depot. I know those products are pretty much the same composition, but it does not fit into our sales process. Plus I am lazy and hate going to Walmart. Easier for me to order the Wash Safe stuff online and gives me more time to go fishing...lol

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey john,..I love fishing also,..been Trout fishing here in Pa in some local streams,..catching a few also. Not a big Trout fisherman,..but,..hey it's what's biting in 20 degree weather.

Yea, I hear ya' on the cost thing,..you just bill it in,..but at some point it's nice to have that competitive edge if and when needed. We all simply bill in the cost of products, gas, etc... But,..if you can get the same product for cheaper,..and charge the same price as you would with the much higher priced stuff,..just seems to make sense to me to do it that way. Selling on the fact that you don't use the same stuff that Walmart sells is a misnomer,...you're just buying different packaging. And what about bleach,..heck we all use that,..and has a smell all it's own,...and can be bought just anywhere. Customers just don't care in my experience,..they just want a good job. I hear ya' though,..we all do what suits.

Ok,..cedar and wood are way different than cleaning vinyl siding,..yes,..sodium carbonate, sodium percarbonate and hydroxide work great on wood.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 11th of February 2019 08:06:27 AM

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Brett,..the issue here is the mold and algae,..nothing else works on mold and algae the way bleach does,..PERIOD!! Many of us have searched and used so many different things over the years ,...to no avail,..has nothing to do with cost,..there just is nothing,...CH works,..but again,..that's a bleach. You're going to be down to making them comfortable with the use of bleach,...or you're going to be using a brush and or pressure. Dirt and bug crap can be done without bleach,..although bleach still makes stains from bug crap disappear,..instead of just cleaning them.

Some products like Purple Power will loosen the mold better than anything else mentioned here. Keep it simple if possible and don't sell something you don't want to do in the end. On a warm enough day, Purple Power can be applied and rinsed away, and it will remove alot of if not most of the mold.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Tuesday 12th of February 2019 05:29:26 AM

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jeff Wible wrote:
Brett,..the issue here is the mold and algae,..nothing else works on mold and algae the way bleach does,..PERIOD!! Many of us have searched and used so many different things over the years ,...to no avail,..has nothing to do with cost,..there just is nothing,...CH works,..but again,..that's a bleach. You're going to be down to making them comfortable with the use of bleach,...or you're going to be using a brush and or pressure. Dirt and bug crap can be done without bleach,..although bleach still makes stains from bug crap disappear,..instead of just cleaning them.

Some products like Purple Power will loosen the mold better than anything else mentioned here. Keep it simple if possible and don't sell something you don't want to do i the end. On a warm enough day, Purple Power can be applied and rinsed away, and it will remove alot of if not most of the mold.

Jeff

I couldn't agree with you more Jeff. We have certainly tried it all. Even the new next best soap that has always brought me back to using what I can get locally and has been disputed in other places because we don't use "industry soap". I will see what we come up with and then decide if I even want to do a test. If it becomes that big of a pain, I just won't do it. I sent a message to Carlos (EBC) because he has the winery thing as well. He might have something figured out.

The problem I have is we are already booked though most of March. Some were on hold due to the endless rain last year and were ok with being put on the spring list. Doing a job that will take two weeks instead of maybe five days is a big deal when March can be a real pain!

This has been a great topic with all of us think outside of the box. If I do it and end up going the route John took it will easily make it a two week job due to the size and heights.

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

Great information, thanks guys.