Surfactant and Detergent?

Bira83

Roundtable Host 2009
Hello everyone I am somewhat new to chemical cleaning and have been only doing this for a year part time mostly. Where I bought my equipment i asked the owner what is the best mixture to clean tile roofs in south Florida and he told me that it depends on the day and how bad it is. He recommended using a 70%-100% SH mixture depending on the job. Before all the pros start bashing me about this I searched for hours looking up surfactants and detergents and found nothing in the search button. So my question is, should i be mixing any surfactants or detergents to my mix and are there any house soaps and detergents that i can use to reduce my cost? I have asked many local guys around here and they just apply SH mix and that's it, some of them even say they don't rinse off the roof and let the rain do it. Thank you for all your answers and advice.
 
100% SH???? WOW!!!!! I'm not a roof guy, but geez, that's a HOT mix!! Is your equipment guy the same guy trying to sell you the SH? Like I said, I'm no roof guy, but what I do know is that you need to use some Roof Snot in your mix to hold your solution in place and to help it from not drying early on you. Check with Russ - super nice guy. http://shop.pressurewasherky.us/Roof-Snot_c137.htm
 
Wow.... I've never done a tile roof however, That mix would be way too much. You would most likely kill everything on the ground!!! And lord help you if it drifts to a neighbors house...

Do a little more research on the ratios for tile roofs.

As "May" stated, You will need something like roof snot or cling-on to thicken the mix so it doesn't run right back off.
 
Here's my 2 cents - a lot of guys refer to the % as the mix in general instead of the percentage of SH. Drives me crazy!
So what they're attempting to get across is 80% of the mix being SH, and 20% of the mix being H20. They neglect to mention the strength of the SH..... Which leads to situations like this.
Some guy reads one thread on roof washing and becomes the resident expert. This guy then spits this crap back into other people's ears and in turn they do the same - down the line we go.
Now we have a bunch of people thinking they know what they're talking about because "Jack" the resident ass decided he'd figured everything out.
The percentage of the mix coming out of the gun is the %..... Not what percent of the mix is SH.


Halston Barney
Pristine Power Cleaning
www.GetPristine.com
Kerrville, Tx 78028
 
The SH I get here is 13% and its fairly cheap. I pay $0.90 a gallon and usually a 50 gallon tank with 100% SH will get me 3000sqft. I will look into that roof snot. Im guessing it has the mix ratios on the bottle? How about detergents? I appreciate everyones feedback
 
The SH I get here is 13% and its fairly cheap. I pay $0.90 a gallon and usually a 50 gallon tank with 100% SH will get me 3000sqft. I will look into that roof snot. Im guessing it has the mix ratios on the bottle? How about detergents? I appreciate everyones feedback

How have you been applying your cleaning solution? How many roofs have you cleaned so far?


Halston Barney
Pristine Power Cleaning
www.GetPristine.com
Kerrville, Tx 78028
 
How have you been applying your cleaning solution? How many roofs have you cleaned so far?


Halston Barney
Pristine Power Cleaning
www.GetPristine.com
Kerrville, Tx 78028

I probably done like 50 roofs. I started doing them with a surface cleaner until this past November I bought a rig with a pressure cleaner and a chemical pump.
 
I probably done like 50 roofs. I started doing them with a surface cleaner until this past November I bought a rig with a pressure cleaner and a chemical pump.

How many composition roofs have you cleaned chemically? How many tile roofs chemically?


Halston Barney
Pristine Power Cleaning
www.GetPristine.com
Kerrville, Tx 78028
 
Hey Bira, Were you downstreaming your chemicals onto the roofs or using a dedicated pump system?
 
The SH I get here is 13% and its fairly cheap. I pay $0.90 a gallon and usually a 50 gallon tank with 100% SH will get me 3000sqft. I will look into that roof snot. Im guessing it has the mix ratios on the bottle? How about detergents? I appreciate everyones feedback

Please fill out a signature...thanks
 
I probably done like 50 roofs. I started doing them with a surface cleaner until this past November I bought a rig with a pressure cleaner and a chemical pump.
50 roofs with 13% straight SH and no surfactant? some of them using a surface cleaner? how many roofs/plants/paint have you replaced and how many times have you been sued? Do you have a ground guy? Just asking.
 
50 roofs with 13% straight SH and no surfactant? some of them using a surface cleaner? how many roofs/plants/paint have you replaced and how many times have you been sued? Do you have a ground guy? Just asking.

I agree with Ralph.... Based mostly on the hundreds of roof cleaning threads I have been through on here......
 
I used a dedicated pump. I do all tiles roof down here in south Florida. I haven't been sued nor have killed any plants but it was kind of you for asking. I fly solo and i don't have a grounds guy. I normally turn on the sprinklers as soon as i get to the house and keep the cycle running while im up on the roof then once I get down I rinse off the plants.
 
I used a dedicated pump. I do all tiles roof down here in south Florida. I haven't been sued nor have killed any plants but it was kind of you for asking. I fly solo and i don't have a grounds guy. I normally turn on the sprinklers as soon as i get to the house and keep the cycle running while im up on the roof then once I get down I rinse off the plants.

2nd request...PLEASE fill out your signature...if you need help let me know.
 
Hey Bira, If you've been using a dedicated pump system, What ratio of mix have you been using in the past and how well did it work? Did it clean quickly or does it seem to take forever?

Mike
 
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