So, I’m researching and planning on expanding my services to include house washing. I have my pressure washer and I bought some Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid (10% SH) and some Elemonator.
I have the downstream injector on my Pressure Washer and I’m using a 5 gallon bucket for the chemical mixture, Practicing on my own house. In the bucket I poured 1 gallon of SH, to 4 gallons water and 4oz of Elemonator. I did the deed and let it dwell for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then rinsed off.
It did cut some of the dirt and mold, but not completely. I had been researching and this is the mixture I found most recommended. My question is this…
Should I use more bleach & Elemonator since I amusing a down stream injector? I believe the SH may have been diluted further because of that.
I want to make sure I have this down before I go out there and do it for money…I want to get a thorough knowledge of the process. I’m almost there, I just have a feeling the mixture is not strong enough.
Thanks everyone!
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Thanks!..Appreciate the tip…
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What is the shelf life on this type of bleach? A week, a month, two? I had to go straight Sh today with some soap to clean a home. My bottle was a about a month old from Walmart. If i had diluted it I dont think it would have worked.
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I don’t use it so can’t answer
You gotta experiment to find out works for you. Your machine, draw rate of the injector, length of hose run, and the freshness of the bleach all play a factor.
1 oz per gallon of elemonator. More isn’t better.
I use 5-10 gallons of 8.25% per 10 gallon batch, depending on what I’m washing. 5.5 gpm machine, 200’ hose, gp hi-draw injector with 1.8mm orifice (rated for 2-3 gpm).
I get the freshest bleach I can find on the shelf. Check the dates (2 digits for the year, 3 digits for the day of the year; today is 17-177, or 17717, depending).
(Edit: I see people still read these old threads, so I feel the need to mention that I was able to eventually find a distributor of SH/pool shock who will deliver smaller quantities in a rural area at a reasonable cost. Start with local pool supply shops, then call around to every chemical distributor within 2 hours radius. Check to see who services the pools in your area, as well)
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Am I the only person who doesn’t dilute bleach under 10%? My injector is 15:1 from the factory at 8.25% I can’t even smell the bleach. At 12% it seems to work perfectly fine.
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Here in Texas a lot of us downstream straight.
I use 10-12.5% and if i wanted to i could probably go 4sh to 1 water and still be ok, but i like hotter mixes.
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Same here. I’ve never found the need to dilute anything except 12% but only on stuff that I wasn’t quite sure about.
On vinyl with 12% straight at 15:1, my dwell time is usually 1 lap around the house, back to the trailer to swap my down tube out of the chem tank and into a bucket of fresh water to clean the injector.
Never had an injector problem. Rarely have to do much extra on the gutters and the house is clean lightning fast. I stopped presoaking about 6 months ago too. Never a problem.
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are there some stains that you can just never get cleaned off? I did a friends place and there are some darker stains on the white vinyls siding that will not come off…I feel like I am doing something wrong.
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It’s probably your mix strength. Try a second pass and if the dark stain goes from brownish to orangish, but it doesn’t go away it’s definitely your bleach strength. Typically the bleach will tackle most things minus artillery fungus, blueberry bird poo stains, and greasy stuff.
I had a house near the airport that the top 3 or 4 rows under the eaves only came clean with degreaser and a microfiber towel. Just make sure you rinse it well if you use degreaser.
How high are the stains?
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The stains are just above the 1st story windows…they also have what looks like roofing tar speckles on the bottom part of the siding…he said they were there when he bought the house
He gave me full access to experiment as I want…so I’m gonna make that house my project to really learn!
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@Whitehorse67 Those little black spots, I’d be willing to bet a beer and fresh can of Grizzly long cut, are actually artillery fungus and they’re impossible to remove unless you pick each one off individually. And even then you go from a black spot to a little brown stain. Not even worth the trouble.
For the stains under the window try a clean microfiber towel with a little half and half bleach to water and see if it cleans it. If not, take a different rag and a little bit of degreaser and try it.
If neither of those work it may be a stain forever.
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Thanks!..I tell ya, I’m glad I have the opportunity to learn this process the way I am…I want to do it the right way…before I accept money to do it!
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On the toughest gutter stains I use this brush with a microfiber towel spring clipped to it just like this threaded on an extension pole with 50/50 bleach water, and rinse well. 99 times out of 100 it works fantastic on most things. The microfiber sticks to the brush, holds detergent without slopping it everywhere, and the brush gives you a firm enough scrubbing surface.
Get yourself one to keep bleach off your hands and for stains like you’re describing. Rinse every time you use it and you can go from bleach to degreaser and vise versa if you need to.
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One house is great to learn on, but every other house is still going to throw you a curveball for awhile.
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Similar to the question above, should I expect these darker spots after rinsing. Washed it twice. Darker spots in the cropped photo.
Sorry second one a duplicate.
That really looks like a weak mix problem to me. Like I said above. Try a brush and rag on an extension pole with 50/50 mix and test a spot.
If it goes away in 60 sec or less it’s a mix problem. If it doesn’t go away you haven’t lost anything, but you know it’s a stain.
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Yeah…that’s for sure…I’m always expecting the unexpected…with some research and practice…hopefully I can deal with anything that comes up.
