House wash Home Brews

S

Schaeffer

Deck Specialist
Hi All,
I know every has there own mix for house wash. Lets get them posted here for all to see. Please not what type of wash its for when you post.
 
Scott,

I know your maybe wanting to seek out for a better solution to what you’re using. My chemical I mix myself and I mostly do commercial buildings. I use caustic based cleaners on exterior buildings. I don’t really have formulas but when I use them on residential I test a small area first. I stay away from roofs with caustic when around shingled roofs. (We could get into a big argument with some on this subject.)

I like Scott’s idea if others are willing to share and if not I respect that too. But if you have one Scott post it so we can see also.
 
I do have a few house to clean, we all know the ones I'm talking about. Mom's, the kids and the rest of the gang.

The home brews I do have so far are few.

I am putting a data sheet for all the brews.
For vinyl, painted wood, aluminum siding and brick.

Please let me know what you use.

I will post the data sheet on the board.

I'll take other home brews also.

An example would be: a (home brew) for removing that black stain on gutters.

Please break it down for 5 gal. mix.
 
Here's a chart. You may have to play around with some of the mixes until you get the results you want. I use a high concentrated sodium hydroxide based aluminum brightener for my active ingredient. You may have to search around for something capatable.
 

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The source?

Desperate situations, leaving a chemical at home and having to use what was available at the local Supermarket or Home Depot. Trying this and trying that to find that miracle cleaner.

I wish I could have found a chart like that when I started in this business.

I wont say that I follow those procedures or use those chemicals all the time, but it is basically as close as I can get to home brewing with readily available chemcials. I think most everyone knows what Joy dish soap is.

When you start talking about NP-9, Makon 8, Bioterge, Carbapol, ALS, Glycol ethers and all that stuff, it gets a little away from home brewing and starts getting into bulk chemicals, 911 calls, neighbors wondering what that awful smell and smoke is coming from the shop and all that stuff if you know what I mean...lol

Les
 
So are all power washers chemists too?

I think I have a lot to learn. I guess there's a fine line between the right mix and concentrations and 'burning' the surface to be cleaned.
 
safa welcome to the board ,we are not all chemists, the men and women on this boards have a lot of experience and knowledge and will not lead you wrong .a lot of us learned and continue to learn the same way by asking a lot of question.also take advantage of the search feature located at the top right hand corner of your screen.
 
Question,

is it normal for your chemicals to become hot to the touch after mixing?

We washed a house using a slight variation of the Bleach, liquid Tide, R-109 mixture. (the slight variation was adding simple green to the mix to mask the heavy bleach smell and add a little more cleaning power.)

While mixing everything stayed normal temp. but after 15-20 minutes, the chems were HOT in the mixing bucket. Did I add something bad to this mixture with the simple green?

There was no toxic cloud or explosions or anything, but would like to know for future reference.

Thanks.
 
It's normal for the chemicals to generate heat. It was most likely the sodium hydroxide in the simple green. It generates heat when mixed with water.

Les
 

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Les,

Have you encountered any issues with the extensive use of bleach on roof and siding applications? Specifically, is the solution strong enough to cause discoloration on wood surfaces such as siding and decks?
 
I havent encountered any problems. Prewetting areas would help if you suspect any problems to occur such as on dark colored siding especially aluminum. Don't let the mixtures remain on surfaces. always rinse well.
 
Hey Les,
Had a professional window washer talk to me today. Seems a power washer had gone through a neighborhood and washed several houses and etched the glass in the windows. This guy said the guy used Simple Green and bleach. Is it possible that the hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite just got too dry and etched it? Or is Simple Green maybe an acid instead of a base? I read the label and it didn't say.

Warren Smathers
JetWash
Charlotte, NC
 
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