Hi everyone, I know everyone says ditch the Dawn - dully noted - however I have a unique position.
I was asked to wash a house that is literally brand new. I’m only hired to get rid of the construction dust. Was thinking of xjetting a very light mix of Dawn to help with the dirt. No SH required. Will be window washed after too.
Any negative thoughts towards this over wasting surfactant? Keep in mind I’m in Canada and the good soaps are very hard to come by so would prefer not to waste them.
I use Dawn exclusively for window cleaning, unless some of the other guys know something I don’t, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Just be sure to rinse the heck out of everything.
There were even some guys using Gain Linen scent a while back.
Thanks again for all the advice, I think it should work just fine too. I’ve used gain but this is more of a soap in my opinion, and just getting rid of some dust shouldn’t be an issue!
-Tim
It’s not wasting your surfactant as long as you’ve priced it accordingly.
Also, how much surfactant do you typically use on one housewash? For me, I typically mix my Elemonator 1/2 - 1 ounce per a gallon of batch mix. And if I only use 3-5 gallons of mix per a house wash, it’s a minimal amount of surfactant.
Agreed, but getting good surfactant in Canada is quite hard. Lot more in price (almost twice as much) and shipping (often 35$ for a gallon) is quite crazy. Dawn is a plenty!
Ding ding ding we have a winner! Dawn isn’t just like a degreaser–it is a degreaser. Don’t put it on people’s homes.
If you absolutely want to use something cheap and readily available then my suggestion would be to use Arm & Hammer liquid detergent with Oxi Clean. Mix about an ounce per gallon of water. If there is any super light organic growth the A&H has a small amount of sodium percarbonate in it and that will help to get rid of the organic stains. It rinses well and smells nice.
But, don’t use Dawn or any other liquid dish soap. I’d use Simple Green before any dish soap but SG is relatively expensive and doesn’t really produce any suds. It clings okay-ish but not great.
there are other Canadians on this forum, and there were several who used to post on here. They all managed to get chems and operate their business. Maybe you aren’t looking in the right places. You either get convenience or you get price, you normally don’t get both.
I’m not familiar with the chain, but I think I heard someone getting stuff from princesses auto, whatever that is.
I dont know about canada but down here in the southern part of the states, there can be a lot of red dirt or clay on new construction homes. I have never cleaned it myself but was under the impression that an acid is best of not needed for that. Just a word of caution to be aware of if that is the case. But if it is just “regular dirt” then the approach youre taking seems just fine to me.
I do however think that you should use a biodegradable soap that is specifically formulated to do minimal harm to the environment. I know that laundry detergents and dish soaps in general are meant to be used within the home and thus the water ends in a treatment plant, versus ending up in storm drains and landscape. To be fair there are many “house wash” products that shouldnt be going down the storm drain or into “natural waterways” either.
I know shipping is an issue but using the appropriate soap is always best. As far as im aware, the elemonator and bleach we use is perfectly fine so long as it is properly diluted down after rinsing. I use 1-2 ounces soap per 10 gallons of bleach.
I have been using EBC Glide (EnviroBioCleaner) as my surfactant for house washes. 1-2 oz per gallon. It’s been leaving the windows like as if I washed them. Might be worth a try.
Princess auto doesn’t have very much, our chemicals here just aren’t as strong - everyone likes to hug trees and is overly worried (I do have a water reclamation method I use when necessary). We have that ZEP crap which I equate to water with some food colouring in it.
Thanks! - we don’t have much clay or red dirt in the area, it’ll all just be dust that has clung onto the stucco or other surfaces - could probably get away with mostly water to be fair. And yes, I have a water reclamation system in place!
You’re just looking to lift the dirt/dust off. No organics, so Sodium percarbonate is not needed. A&H may have some SP, but oxiclean has a lot of SP. You don’t need cling - it’s basically a rinse from how you describe it.
You might be able to use car wash soap - it isn’t a degreaser and wont strip coatings. Should rinse well and not streak up the windows.
