Do not use Dawn. If you want to use something other than professional surfactants use laundry detergent. Just don’t use Dawn.
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Can’t say. I can say mix made with dawn that’s not used will turn brown. Gain ultra doesn’t turn and still works for a few days. I don’t usually make more than I’m going to use though.
Use the arm n hammer with oxi powder laundry detergent that @Racer suggested a month ago.
I used some a few weeks ago when I ran out of simple cherry and I actually liked it better.
I always carry a small box under the truck seat for back up Incase eliminator runs out
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I wouldn’t use Dawn. I have some Roof Snot I could use but I hate it. Just need something to get me by for a few days until my Elemonator (with Chlora-Boost) lol, comes in.
I’m going to try this tomorrow. How much powder per five gallons of mix? Thanks!
We’re talking dish washing liquid and not laundry, correct?
I used the powder mixes well, never seen the liquid
I’ve only used the dish liquid. Sold at dollar general
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I eyeball everything, but it comes with a scoop and I used a full scoop in a 5 gallon mix
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How does that go if you add it to 12.5 SH and downstream or SW with it? Can you mix it with SH and leave it for a week without killing the SH?
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“Bleach Stable” means exactly what it sounds like. Adding almost any surfactant to bleach is fine for immediate use. However, if you add it and then have to store it for even a day, there are some interactions with non-bleach stable products.
Interactions is a broad term so let me clarify, the surfactant can actually cause your SH to go from 12.5 to 5! The SH could “burn” (for lack of a better word) and you get a weird brown thickened goop. Not only is the surfactant now dead, the mixture doesn’t work nearly as well and you could have clumps in your mixture resulting in a clogged intake hose.
Amine oxides have the best bleach stability I have seen. They are also knows as lauramine oxides… If you really want to know if your surfactant of choice is stable then do a small test. Put your mixture in a mason jar, make sure you put the lid on, and leave it on a shelf in your garage for 30 days. Is there a visible change? If so you are looking at a NON-bleach stable surfactant. As a side note, you MUST either drill a VERY small hole in the lid or you must open the jar every 3 days. SH degrades on it’s own and releases a gas. Gas + confined space equals a problem, so please vent the jar in some way.
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I see there have been a lot of answers but I’d like to share my 2 cents…before I met this guy at the pressure washing supply store, I was just using Dawn to add to my 12.5% SH/water mix. He put me on to trying a powdered clothing detergent called BIZ that’s used to wash clothes with heaving duty stains like oil, blood, mud etc. I’ve actually added it WITH the dawn and have gotten amazing results…Also, I’ve even tried a particular Palmolive liquid detergent bottle that incorporates baking soda and lime. Combined with the BIZ, that has been my absolute best mix. The stuff sticks almost like a foamy bleach spray you’d see used for bathroom cleaning but more runny.
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Lordy, lordy, I done found me a new soap! A&H with OXI and smells meadow fresh! I was washing a zero lot line house on Saturday (totally pain in the neck) and used 4 cups of this A&H with a fiver of bleach and down
streamed. The whole neighborhood smelled like a laundromat, LOL! It was great. 
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I’ve said it enough that I’m just gonna let people screw stuff up. It’s all over the forum not to use it. I’ve never used it, but about a year ago there were like 6 posts in a row where everyone did everything right MINUS using dawn and wondered if the siding could be saved.
It’s on them now.
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IBS’ toddler picture?!
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Just an observation here, I tried Green Gain today, and was not impressed.
Elemonator still rules in my shop. Poor scent, poor lifting properties (surfactant) and hard to rinse. Glass looked good, however.
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