As you all know this has been an uphill battle for me to learn and succeed in. I have invested so much money in to being successful from Doug Rucker pressure washing school to literally buying everything you guys recommend. I have spent close to seven thousand dollars on the rig and the stuff you have recommended and I’m officially out of money and ideas here. I have searched this forum… Spent hundreds of dollars on long distance out of Country phone calls to talk with some of the members on here to figure this out.
Here is exactly what I am doing I have even posted a video to YouTube the link is below. Four gallons of fresh 12 SH AND 25OUNCE of snotmenade. I am using an airless foamer from lafferty because I thought maybe my mix was not getting enough hang time on the vinyl. I am applying… I am letting it dwell for 10-12 minutes then rinsing… Then repeating to try again.
The dirt mildue or whatever the hell you want to call it will come off with me rubbing my finger on it… My wTerfed pole will work on it since the brush agitates. The idea that you simply apply, dwell then rinse seems like some fairytale… Yes it gets rid of some stuff but doesn’t bring the vinyl back to its white… But my finger and some water can? I’m very close to selling this off at this point I have literally done everything I possibly can to try and fix this or learn it and it’s just not working. This is my final attempt to maybe learn something new or maybe I am missing something I don’t even know.
I only use snotminade as the secondary thickener for roof mix but even then I only use one ounce per gallon for direct application. 25 seems like way to much.
I would have to guess you have entirely too much surfactant in your mix and your not getting a good rinse…make sure you get it all off that house or your going to have problems
But that’s the thing the dirt isn’t bleeding at all… It only comes off if you scrub it. Starting to think that this business at least where I am requires brushing all the time. If that’s the case this machine is being sold, not profitable.
I think what Rick is saying is that you’re using too much surfactant and it’s actually holding the dirt in place and making it hard to rinse off. The more surfactant used the longer you have to rinse. The dirt is going to stay mixed into the surfactant so if you don’t rinse it off you don’t rinse the dirt off.
We make housewash mix 35 gallons at a time. 20 gallons of 12.5. 15 gallons of water. 25-30 ounces of elemonator. Melts anything organic in 5 min max dwell. I flip the recipe if its colder but the surfactant stays the same.
With that much surfactant in your mix, are you letting it dry on the surface too long? As was stated the surfactant could be holding the dirt too long…if not rinsed off correctly it can dry to the surface. With the heat of summer I only do one side of a house at a time…the sunny side I rinse almost immediately
It was wet when I rinsed it… Fair enough… Before I wasn’t using enough surfactant and now too much? Going home now to try straight SH stay tuned for more failure. I will let you know how it goes stand by for an hour.
O well then I dont know what to say. If rick said it he knows more about snotmenade than me. He uses it all the time and this is my first year of using it. Link where he said that here please.
Ok, so I am new to this game as well, but, assuming that your SH has been mixed properly, had enough dwell time, there will be no organic material left on the siding. If you are still seeing dirt or staining, you are dealing with a mineral.
Here is a short guide (correct me if I am wrong): Organics such as mildew, algae, lichen --> ALKALINE Minerals such as salt, stains, rust —> ACID
So, if you have done your SH wash (Alkaline) and still have stuff on the siding, adding more Alkaline will not help. I would give it a real good rinse and try applying an acid to break down the Minerals. You may still need to scrub for agitation but don’t keep trying the same thing over and over.
I was straight bleaching it before and was not Getting anything to work. I’m about to go try 1 gallon of SH straight and see if it works this time… Then one gallon of SH with less surfactant… Stay tuned!
