The Best Liquid Dishsoap For Roof Cleaning

I hate shopping or stopping at stores. I'm STICKING w Roof Snot, delivered to my door, and all the FREE advice I can get from Russ Johnson when I need it. I doubt the Dollar Store Manager can help me out at 11:00 at night on an equipment issue...LOL

I did try the Gain and your right Chris, stuff works great, and I keep some for emergencies, but I still say Roof Snot STICKS better.

For sure, Doug. There is something to be said for supporting guys like Russ who help this industry.

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Roof Snot is great and BEST OF ALL you are supporting Russ & his family who are people you know and have a relationship with. It boils my butt when contractors try to cut suppliers out of the equation and then piss and moan when they get low balled on a job. The world is round and everyone needs to make a living.

AC
 
Roof Snot is great and BEST OF ALL you are supporting Russ & his family who are people you know and have a relationship with. It boils my butt when contractors try to cut suppliers out of the equation and then piss and moan when they get low balled on a job. The world is round and everyone needs to make a living.

AC

Very true. But it's also nice to know what your options are in a pinch when you realize you've driven an hour to get to a job site and have forgotten to load up the roofs snot, or green wash, or whatever.

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Very true. But it's also nice to know what your options are in a pinch when you realize you've driven an hour to get to a job site and have forgotten to load up the roofs snot, or green wash, or whatever.

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I agree however many arent doing this in a pinch. They are doing it to cut out the middle man. That is why Lowes and Home Depot sell pressure washers, to cut out the pressure washing man. Plan ahead and support the vendors. I did for 20 years and do now. Also BUY AMERICAN!

AC
 
People have been roof cleaning before products that are surfactorants and other stuff started to enter the market under new names.I have cleaned roofs since 2000 and use stuff that makes things cling. If you know your chem's and soap it's a no brainer for the experienced pressure washer/ roof cleaner. Its great there are new products
to sample.
 
People have been roof cleaning before products that are surfactorants and other stuff started to enter the market under new names.I have cleaned roofs since 2000 and use stuff that makes things cling. If you know your chem's and soap it's a no brainer for the experienced pressure washer/ roof cleaner. Its great there are new products
to sample.

No one knew Chems better than LEs
 
I agree however many arent doing this in a pinch. They are doing it to cut out the middle man. That is why Lowes and Home Depot sell pressure washers, to cut out the pressure washing man. Plan ahead and support the vendors. Also BUY AMERICAN!

Couldn't have said any of that better (took out the 20 year part though because that didnt apply to me personally) Thanks AC
 
Very true. But it's also nice to know what your options are in a pinch when you realize you've driven an hour to get to a job site and have forgotten to load up the roofs snot, or green wash, or whatever.

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You Got that right Josh! LOL, I TRY not to go up to the Villages, Ocala is a long way from Brandon Florida! But, we have cleaned a lot of older customers who moved up to the Villages, from down here in Sun City Center.
One customer got us nearly 20 customers up in the Villages once.

Those elderly folks up in the Villages loved The Liquid Gain Ultra Original Scent, because after it rained, they said "all kinds of nice smelling little bubbles" came off their roofs.

LOL,, after my guys did those 20 customers up in the Villages Josh, we got several calls from up there, that went like this "Your guys cleaned my neighbors roof, and we want to hire you, because not only do you not use any pressure, but you also do not use chlorine bleach"

I can buy 6 - Big oversized bottles of Liquid Gain Ultra Dish Soap Original Scent at Family Dollar Store here in Brandon Josh for 18.00 !

We have 2 - 300 gallon roof cleaning tanks on all of our flatbed trucks.
6 Bottles of Gain, in a 300 Gallon Tank of shingle strength roof cleaning chemical, does a pretty decent job of hiding the chlorine smell, and makes a pretty dog gone sticky mix too.

All for 18 dollars, and always there at the Dollar Store, when ever I need it.

My guys ran out of shingle strength chemical doing a few of those 20 roofs up in the Villages. We had 125 gallons of pure SH in the other 300 gallon tank. So, we put 175 gallons of water on the 125 gallons of pure SH, but the guys were too tired to drive and get some more Gain ! So, 4 roofs were done w/o any Gain in the Mix!

Josh, those old people who had their roofs done w/o any Gain in the Villages threatened to kill me, because when it rained, no "good smelling little bubbles" came off their roofs ! Those customers said they felt "cheated" by us!

Surfactants DO make a difference! When I drove up to the Villages, to calm those mad customers down, it had rained several times.

You could see the difference in the roofs done with the Gain, and the ones done with just SH and water!

This is another reason why I always suggest that roof cleaners use some kind of surfactant, vs just SH and water alone.
 
You Got that right Josh! LOL, I TRY not to go up to the Villages, Ocala is a long way from Brandon Florida! But, we have cleaned a lot of older customers who moved up to the Villages, from down here in Sun City Center.
One customer got us nearly 20 customers up in the Villages once.

Those elderly folks up in the Villages loved The Liquid Gain Ultra Original Scent, because after it rained, they said "all kinds of nice smelling little bubbles" came off their roofs.

LOL,, after my guys did those 20 customers up in the Villages Josh, we got several calls from up there, that went like this "Your guys cleaned my neighbors roof, and we want to hire you, because not only do you not use any pressure, but you also do not use chlorine bleach"

I can buy 6 - Big oversized bottles of Liquid Gain Ultra Dish Soap Original Scent at Family Dollar Store here in Brandon Josh for 18.00 !

We have 2 - 300 gallon roof cleaning tanks on all of our flatbed trucks.
6 Bottles of Gain, in a 300 Gallon Tank of shingle strength roof cleaning chemical, does a pretty decent job of hiding the chlorine smell, and makes a pretty dog gone sticky mix too.

All for 18 dollars, and always there at the Dollar Store, when ever I need it.

My guys ran out of shingle strength chemical doing a few of those 20 roofs up in the Villages. We had 125 gallons of pure SH in the other 300 gallon tank. So, we put 175 gallons of water on the 125 gallons of pure SH, but the guys were too tired to drive and get some more Gain ! So, 4 roofs were done w/o any Gain in the Mix!

Josh, those old people who had their roofs done w/o any Gain in the Villages threatened to kill me, because when it rained, no "good smelling little bubbles" came off their roofs ! Those customers said they felt "cheated" by us!

Surfactants DO make a difference! When I drove up to the Villages, to calm those mad customers down, it had rained several times.

You could see the difference in the roofs done with the Gain, and the ones done with just SH and water!

This is another reason why I always suggest that roof cleaners use some kind of surfactant, vs just SH and water alone.

You got 20 customers in the villages all willing to pay you enough to make it worth driving from Bradenton? Wow. I had pretty much given up on trying to sell roof cleaning in The Villages. Most of them would sooner pay $100 to some uninsured lowballer to pressure wash their roof, than pay to have it done right. Maybe there is still hope for The Villages.

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You got 20 customers in the villages all willing to pay you enough to make it worth driving from Bradenton? Wow. I had pretty much given up on trying to sell roof cleaning in The Villages. Most of them would sooner pay $100 to some uninsured lowballer to pressure wash their roof, than pay to have it done right. Maybe there is still hope for The Villages.

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Well, we had no problems getting 375.00 each for approx 2000 sq ft homes (with 2 car garages). But then, we were suggested by past customers, who told their friends and neighbors we were roof cleaning experts. Roof Cleaning in The Villages is a gold mine, it is just a wee bit to far away from me, to run up there for a single roof.

Oh, BTW Josh, we are not clear down in Bradenton, we are in Brandon Florida, just east of Tampa a few miles. Interstate 75 runs right through Brandon, and Ocala is about an hour and a half away.
 
Couldn't have said any of that better (took out the 20 year part though because that didnt apply to me personally) Thanks AC

John, just received my order for 300' of 1/2" polybraid. Thanks for the great price and quick shipping!!!

Also, I'm looking for comments from anyone that uses 1/2" poly. I'm used to 5/8" hose and wondering if I will be getting the same distance as the 5/8". I use a Delavan 5850 and know I'll be using less solution but just wondering about spray distance from the gutter line off a ladder for thos un-walkable roofs.
 
John, just received my order for 300' of 1/2" polybraid. Thanks for the great price and quick shipping!!!

Always good to hear things like that. You're welcome and Thank You for using Sun Brite!
 
Hey all, new guy here in Vancouver BC .
I want to give this Gain Ultra a try. But On the proctor gamble website it says to not mix with bleach.
I know alot or all dishsoaps say that, maybe its just standard waiver for them. I dont know.
So just double checking.. Is Gain still "safe" to mix with bleach... Theres been no changes to thier product chemistry lately?
mike
 
Hey all, new guy here in Vancouver BC .
I want to give this Gain Ultra a try. But On the proctor gamble website it says to not mix with bleach.
I know alot or all dishsoaps say that, maybe its just standard waiver for them. I dont know.
So just double checking.. Is Gain still "safe" to mix with bleach... Theres been no changes to thier product chemistry lately?
mike
This question has been asked before, but it is a good one.
It says the same thing about Dawn too, yet roof cleaners have been using it for years.
Here is the answer I gave to someone else, on another forum, who basically asked the very same question.

Here is the MSDS, right from Proctor and Gamble, on Gain.http://www.pg.com/productsafety/msds.../Gain_MSDS.pdf
The amount of Alcohol in it is only between .1 and 1 percent. So, this means, at a full bottle (44 ounces of it), even at 1 percent concentration, there is only .44 ounces of it in the Product!
.44 ounces my friend is the MOST amount of alcohol there can be, in a big, 44 ounce bottle of Gain!

So, let's say we use 1 - 44 ounce bottle of Gain per 100 gallons of roof cleaning mix ?
This means, there is only .44 ounces of Gain, in 100 gallons of Mix.

Gary, are you really foolish enough to believe, that .44 ounces of Ethanol, is enough to do ANYTHING to 100 gallons of roof cleaning mix ?
Not in this Lifetime.

The tiny amount of Alcohol is no match for all that 100 gallons of Sodium Hypochlorite/Water roof cleaning mix, and is quickly oxidized with NO "weakening" effect. In fact, I will venture to say this, unless you are using distilled water for your mix, the basic impurities in many Tap Waters are as high, or higher, then the tiny amount of alcohol in Gain.

Plus Gary, the advice to use Gain is coming from me, the owner of Tampa's busiest roof cleaning company, and the founder of the Roof Cleaning Institute.
Do you really think I would do anything to "hurt the mix" of people I teach how to clean roofs ?

Most of the guys at the RCIA have switched over to Gain long ago, because they had this information first.
Plus, we use it everyday in the non pressure cleaning of shingle and tile roofs in Florida.

The RCIA Roof Cleaning Forum is not a tightly moderated place, and members are free to speak their minds.
If Gain was "the problem" you are making it out to be, don't you think someone would not have said "Chris, you are full of chit about Gain, and it has killed my mix" ?

In fact, Billy Jensen, of H2O Pressure Washing and Roof Cleaning who posts here just told me how WELL the Gain works.
Billy lives about 40 miles away from me, and does mostly HUGE Commercial Roof Cleaning Jobs, with trucks that have 550 gallon tanks!

The bottom line is this Gary. You have been misinformed about Gain.
Gain has proven itself as the new "go to" surfactant for roof cleaners across the USA.

It is dirt cheap, easy to buy anywhere, and it works very well, by itself.

Combined with Roof Snot or Super Cherry, it is even better!
 
Chris, thx for the detailed answer. Im pretty new to custom mixing of cleaners, i have til lately been using whatever is available at home depot. Plus i also have tryed "simple cherry" which works well for siding. I know SC seems to neutralize bleach after several hours so i only mix small batches on a daily basis when i use it.

What is super cherry?

i want to try out Gain for siding and for tile roofs mixed with 12 % bleach.


this website is a goldmine of info!!
 
Chris, thx for the detailed answer. Im pretty new to custom mixing of cleaners, i have til lately been using whatever is available at home depot. Plus i also have tryed "simple cherry" which works well for siding. I know SC seems to neutralize bleach after several hours so i only mix small batches on a daily basis when i use it.

What is super cherry?

i want to try out Gain for siding and for tile roofs mixed with 12 % bleach.


this website is a goldmine of info!!
LOL, it is a mis spelling of Simple Cherry.
I have looked at the MSDS for Simple Cherry, and used it myself. I see no reasons why it will degrade bleach, nor did we ever experience any bleach degradation from using it.
However, we are a very busy roof cleaning company, and our tanks of roof cleaning chemicals seldom sit long enough TO degrade!

However, as this thread will show, some of our guys are mixing the Gain with Ammonyx (Roof Snot) http://roofcleaninginstitute.org/in...o-and-now-gain-mixed-together-for-me/?hl=gain
 
Outstanding info thanks!

I came across a couple discussionsawhile ago that simple cherry degrades bleach after a day or so. Maybe not then, i will have to re-read that. Does anyone have a simple test kit to measure bleach strength ;) would be a definitive answer.
 
Outstanding info thanks!

I came across a couple discussionsawhile ago that simple cherry degrades bleach after a day or so. Maybe not then, i will have to re-read that. Does anyone have a simple test kit to measure bleach strength ;) would be a definitive answer.
Well, that requires more then a simple answer!
Yes, there are test kits to test for TOTAL Chlorine, but they will not do what we want, and here is why.
There are two substances in Chlorine, Hypochlorus Acid and the Hypochlorite Ion.
One is basically a sanitizer/disinfectant (the acid), and one cleans roofs (The Ion)
The amount of free chlorine means very little! Calcium Hypochlorite can have as much as 72 percent free chlorine, yet does not clean near as well as Sodium Hypochlorite.
Remember, it is NOT the amount of Free Chlorine we as roof cleaners are interested in, we care only about how much of that free chlorine is in the form of the Hypochlorite Ion!

Now, the potential for the formation of the Hypochlorite Ion (the stuff that cleans) is greater, at High PH Levels.
Conversely, the formation of the Hypochlorus Acid (the stuff that disinfects) is also greater at Low PH Levels.
This is why we add Acid to our swimming pools. The Acid lowers the PH of the water, and "turbocharges" the existing Chlorine in the water.
However, if we add too much Acid, we risk Chlorine Gas forming, that will kill us!
This is why it is so important to take PH Measurements of swimming pool water.
 
This is one of the most helpful threads for any new roof washer I have seen on any forum. Most of the companies in my area are pw roofs because they think that is the only way to get the thick carpet we have out here off. I see it all the time. No wonder the roofing companies work OT...
 
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