Power Washers

[MSCH]

The pre-bottled siding cleaners are worthless.

name them... it is good to bad mouth products that have poor results so the rest of us dont waste funds.

I'm here touting 30 Second outside cleaner because this crap really works.. but there are plenty of products that don't...

this stuff.. I still have a partial bottle of it..

 

[MSCH]

The pre-bottled siding cleaners are worthless. I had flat paint algae infested siding. Straight house hold bleach and let it set for 10 minutes. The power washer stripped it right off.

Painted the house a couple years ago and this time added copper based algae preventer. So far no algae.

kinda of like using anti fouling bottom paint for boats on a house. should work...

 

[SHOZ]

name them... it is good to bad mouth products that have poor results so the rest of us dont waste funds.

I'm here touting 30 Second outside cleaner because this crap really works.. but there are plenty of products that don't...

this stuff.. I still have a partial bottle of it.. View attachment 189117

The screw on the hose type. And not talking porous surfaces. A gallon of bleach was cheap.

 

[Pablo]

Pablo, bleach did nothing on the mold in the stucco on my house... I tried it several times... now you being a vendor of boutique oil products will have heard me say I am not the type of people who buy expensive stuff when the regular cheap stuff works just as good, so when I tell you bleach wont work on everything but Wet and Forget does, trust me as I don't spend extra money on more expensive methods until the regular household laying around stuff does not work.... and the stuff I recommended is relatively cheap when compared to the results and how much faster the cleaning process becomes with it's use....

on top of that that 30 second cleaner I also recommended turns pressure washing a house from an all day affair to an hour or two. worth saying I pressure wash my house 2 or 3 times a year...

but Wet and Forget is good stuff, but it is a treatment with enzymes in it... and you wont see results the first day, you will see them a month later.... as well as the 30 second cleaner... that stuff kicks butt and is maybe 12 dollars a gallon.

Pretty sure I didn't write bleach alone. So please don't assume too much. Also, no need to remind me or others that I am an Amsoil dealer. My comments in these sections have nothing to do with that.

What I recommend is first pretreat any oil/grease (food or lubes) then powerwash first to get the large stuff and see if further treatment required. Next soap solution - ie get the surface clean so bleach can work. Then bleach solution to kill the living stuff and a final powerwash.

Wet and Forget doesn't work here. Period. Friends and neighbors say the same thing. I'm glad it works for you along with the other solutions. I am not at all doubting your success.

And after all that, sometimes a muriatic/hydrochloric acid wash for concrete is required.

 

[MSCH]

Pretty sure I didn't write bleach alone. So please don't assume too much. Also, no need to remind me or others that I am an Amsoil dealer. My comments in these sections have nothing to do with that.

What I recommend is first pretreat any oil/grease (food or lubes) then powerwash first to get the large stuff and see if further treatment required. Next soap solution - ie get the surface clean so bleach can work. Then bleach solution to kill the living stuff and a final powerwash.

Wet and Forget doesn't work here. Period. Friends and neighbors say the same thing. I'm glad it works for you along with the other solutions. I am not at all doubting your success.

And after all that, sometimes a muriatic/hydrochloric acid wash for concrete is required.

I have some muriatic acid... it works well on things like concrete and rust stains in things. honestly the price of it is similar to 30 Second cleaner.

Maybe we both should be more clear and just say maybe try the regular household stuff first and then move up. I stand by my recommendation on both 30 Second and Wet and Forget as I had excellent results with both.

I never would have purchased either if the standard household methods would have worked.

 

[SHOZ]

kinda of like using anti fouling bottom paint for boats on a house. should work...

I have the copper in my roof shingles too but still get algae and moss if it's too shaded. My white propane tank under the juniper trees was a mess. Had to spend an hour power washing it every year. I put a old piece of 1/2" copper tubing along the top of the tank. Keeps all the algae off. I noticed a big brass exposed fitting on the tank had a clean streak where the water rand down. I should run one down the ridge on my house.

 

[Donald]

try this stuff first.... then power wash... it is one of the most excellent products I have every used.. I live in SWFLA, which is a prime area for mold and mildew growth... and this stiff really works... you can mix it about 3 parts water to 1 part product, put it in a garden sprayer.. let it soak for a few minutes and pressure wash it off..

30 SECONDS 1-Gallon Mold and Mildew Stain Remover Concentrated Outdoor Cleaner​

https://www.lowes.com/pd/30-SECONDS...XN_hvL1UY_ChbN6oVz4aAgMbEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That stuff is just bleach and a little surfactant (Dawn liquid dish detergent is fine). You need a sprayer designed for bleach to spray it.

 

[MSCH]

That stuff is just bleach and a little surfactant (Dawn liquid dish detergent is fine). You need a sprayer designed for bleach to spray it.

it is a type of beach, I will give you that but it isn't Clorox... because if Clorox actually did what I needed done, I would never have tried this stuff... telling you it kicks butt..

 

[Donald]

it is a type of beach, I will give you that but it isn't Clorox... because if Clorox actually did what I needed done, I would never have tried this stuff... telling you it kicks butt..

If you look at the SDS for 30 Second Cleaner it's 3% sodium hypochlorite with is chlorine bleach and a trade secret which is probably a surfactant. The surfactant keeps the bleach on the surface longer vs having it just run right off.

The professionals who softwash houses use pool bleach (basically double that of laundry bleach) and a surfactant. They are able to dial in the % of bleach defending upon the surface. Stucco needs a higher percentage than wood siding for example. When you are washing an entire house just the cost of pool bleach becomes an issue as you will go through many gallons.

The Spray and Forget are ammonia based and may kill mold and mildew but often don't remove it.

 

[MSCH]

If you look at the SDS for 30 Second Cleaner it's 3% sodium hypochlorite with is chlorine bleach and a trade secret which is probably a surfactant. The surfactant keeps the bleach on the surface longer vs having it just run right off.

The professionals who softwash houses use pool bleach (basically double that of laundry bleach) and a surfactant. They are able to dial in the % of bleach defending upon the surface. Stucco needs a higher percentage than wood siding for example. When you are washing an entire house just the cost of pool bleach becomes an issue as you will go through many gallons.

The Spray and Forget are ammonia based and may kill mold and mildew but often don't remove it.

I'm not in the habit of mixing my own nor am I a chemist... for a one time use chemical at 10 dollars a gallon retail when a gallon of bleach costs a couple dollar less, it doesn't make much sense to me.. it might make sense for someone else.. anyway you look at it, my comment was aimed at the guy who posted the thread.. so if you want to make your own, go for it.

 

[gman2304]

How does bleach effect a pump?

 

[SHOZ]

I spray the 100% bleach on with a hand pump.

 

[Donald]

How does bleach effect a pump?

You need a bleach rated garden sprayer or a bleach rated 12v pump to do a softwash.

You can also get a pressure washer nozzle that does injection at the nozzle. But apparently they go through a lot of cleaner solution quickly.

I am building a softwash system to clean stucco. It will cost a few hundred $$.

If you want to get a cleaning solution up 25 or 30 feet to second story siding or soffit you need something more than a hose end sprayer of 30 Second Cleaner.

For bleach you need SS fittings and Vitron seals.

 

[Donald]

Power washed my brick patio this afternoon. It is an electric unit producing 1800 psi. I filled the fluid reservoir with a cup of bleach and some dishwashing soap. It worked ok but I went over the bricks afterwards with bleach and a deck brush. Looks about 80% better. Most of the black/green goo is gone.

Any of you skilled power washers have tips/suggestions? I'd like to p/w the house too.


View attachment 189053

 

[Donald]

Power washed my brick patio this afternoon. It is an electric unit producing 1800 psi. I filled the fluid reservoir with a cup of bleach and some dishwashing soap. It worked ok but I went over the bricks afterwards with bleach and a deck brush. Looks about 80% better. Most of the black/green goo is gone.

Any of you skilled power washers have tips/suggestions? I'd like to p/w the house too.


View attachment 189053

Note - you should NOT be adding bleach to solution tank in a pressure washer. The pressure washer is not designed to have bleach in the solution tank. If you really want to spray a bleach solution with a pressure washer then you need to inject the bleach at the nozzle and not at the pump.

If you are cleaning a house with mold or mildew you should be doing a softwash and not using a pressure washer.

 

[Killer223]

when i was in the painting business, i used a Honda powered unit that produced 4500 psi and 4.5 gpm. it clean really well. has a syphon hose for soaps, using the black no pressure tip. or soap tip. then the green was our go to. pressure turned about 3/4 of the way up.

 

[Toy4x4]

I have a Greenworks electric power washer (lower model than yours, 1600 psi I think) and like others have said, not powerful enough for heavy duty cleaning. I like it for car washes and rough driveway cleaning, but that's about it. It was free, so it is what it is.

I guess I jinxed myself. A friend wanted to borrow it and I was showing him how to use it. The safety plug started buzzing when plugged in so I think this freebie is getting recycled. It worked just a couple of weeks ago. Research time!