Day One of using the vehicle wash as a surfactant.
Lot’s of suds, great dwell time. Not a lot of scent which is just fine.
I used this on 2 storefronts that had recessed entrances filled with bugs, spiders, nests, cobwebs and those weird spots from the spiders or flies all over the painted wood. Much cheaper at $20 canadian a gallon vs the arm and hammer. And way more concentrated. I only used about 1-2oz per gallon in my mix.
It seemed to boost my SH, I didn’t need to scrub anything, even though I thought I would. All those bug spots just disappeared.
Last time I did a store front wash with the Arm And Hammer as a surfactant, the bug spots remained.
It also rinsed really clean. I did not have to go back and clean the windows. And, I thought the paint was matte. After the clean, it was actually glossy! The paint looked brand new. My client even said: “Well, I guess I don’t need to repaint after all!”
Not exactly, most car wash soaps also have a wax ingredient. I didn’t want that. I also question how you know the ingredient list of this product and most box store car wash soaps.
Glad it worked well though… I used a fleet soap for a little bit, it worked good but to good. Had issues with it causing a lot of dirty water coming out of weep holes. It was too aggressive.
Haven’t tried it on siding yet. But, isn’t dirty water coming out of seep holes an issue of technique? I have never heard of a product causing this. Just people firing water behind siding. Maybe going against the wrap and not with.
No matter what you do some water will get behind the siding…the surfactant was so aggressive that if it got behind the siding at all it was cleaning behind the siding and coming out of the weep holes.; wasn’t s big issue…more common on houses in country and on lakes. Also it increased the SH a little to much, all in all to aggressive for house washing
UPDATE: (Because I am sure the Americans are just biting their nails wondering if we are going to be ok)
I have been informed by a major chemical manufacturer in Canada, that the reason we don’t have the same availability as our friends to the south is:
REGULATIONS
That’s right folks, we can’t get what you have because our government has extremely strict regulations regarding chemicals and stating what they can be mixed with.
Even getting the Swish representative to suggest a safe surfactant that can be mixed with bleach was like pulling teeth.
It seems that the problem is, that as soon as a product states that it is “bleach stable” suggests mixing the product with bleach. And so it is not allowed.
We can charter it across the border for personal use, but good luck trying to sell it here.
I feel your pain, I`m also from Canada. Luckily I live 10 mins from the US border so I can bring it across myself (for “personal” use). Remember if necessary, you can get a broker to bring the products across the border for business use at a small cost. But for the last 10 or so house washes, I have skipped the surfactant and just used SH as I mostly clean cobwebs/egg sacks, and dirt. Very dry here so almost no algae. SH alone has worked perfectly. But I do get very jealous seeing the wide variety of chems everyone on this forum has access to in a matter of a few days shipping time, and usually free shipping at that…
@DantheWindowMan, here is another thought. Check with Alex over on the sister forum to this one Window Cleaning Resource. I know they carry FreshWash, a product I used before getting Elemonator. It works fine also. I am not saying for sure
they ship to Canada, but you never know. If they will ship to Canada, I suggest you
get a couple 5 gallon containers to last you a while. It may cost you a bit, but at least you will have enough to last a while . Keep us informed how you make out.
