Bought a trailer mounted machine from Powerline Industries. Two hose reels, 5-7gpm at 4Kpsi. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants and seeing all this stuff about soft wash machines and different chemicals has been more than overwhelming. We’ve done several house cleaning jobs, an automatic car wash that had hydraulic fluid contamination. We have a website, facebook, yelp account. We have $2Mil in liability insurance. I’m looking for advice, mentorship and help. So much info and I want to maximize my efforts to maximize income. This is my soul source of income and I don’t want to be broke or homeless before the fall.
I have sevaral contracts (commercially) right now to help sustain me. I’m not looking for much in terms of marketing. That is actually a very strong suit. Its the how-to, best chemical/detergent to use for the correct surface. I also don’t want to pay crazy money for shipping a 5gallon container halfway across the country to do a $400 job.
Thanks DJ, I know there is a great deal of money to be made in this industry. But now that everything is “here” I’m finding myself overwhelmed from mechanicals, to soaps, processes etc.
I’m kind of in the same boat. I got everything set up and together and was like wow that’s alot of money there (for me) but unlike you marketing is not my strong suit and I’m debating starting now or waiting till spring so I don’t carry ins all winter for nothing
I’m pretty sure everyone who house washes is “soft washing”, even with a pressure washer. Anyone here blasting siding with 3000psi? So, you will be too but with a more versatile machine.
Yeah it’s overwhelming. I’m finding a15 minute conversation can save a lot of time.
Find local chem companies. You will be surprised what they offer or can make for you.
I have a good chem company about 45 minutes away that I normally go through.
Yesterday while driving I noticed a small chem company about 10 minutes away from me, just got off the phone with him. He’s currently getting a some fivers of Potash Hydroxide (decks) and a high butyl/sodium hydroxide mix for concrete. He says they’ll be super concentrated so I’ll be able to downstream and have good results. I guess we will see…
Point is pick up the phone and call chem companies. Even if they are huge, they may be willing to sell to you in small amounts if you pick up.
@Patriotspwashing is 100% right on that one. Find a local chem supplier. They’ll have good prices plus you can ask them just about any questions regarding which chems, dwell time, etc…
I have a guy thats an older gentleman. But I have to watch myself, he could sell the pope a playboy and I’m not up for going in for detergent and leaving the place $1000 lighter in the pocket. Plus his view is everyone else has shit and he has the best… So yeah…
Actually I was using the downstream with a mixture, then realized it ends up entirely too diluted. Now I have an old soda/soft drink canister that is pressurized with a gun on the end. I make my solution directly in there and spray the surface with it. But still I’m blasting the siding at high pressure depending on the algae coverage. One thing I did notice is some soft wash guys are spraying a solution on an algae ridden home and in seconds you can almost disappear. WTF are they using? I have SH from a pool store and I must be missing something. I’d like to let the solution do the work rather than spending way longer blasting the crap off.
They’re running too hot a mix, imo. I like to see immediate results, as well. But I find for the really heavy growth, it’s all about dwell time and reapplication. I will sometimes get closer to the siding with my 5° soap nozzle to penetrate thick growth, as long as I know there isn’t oxidized siding to mess up.
I’ll soap up two sides of a house, wait about 5 minutes, and then every few minutes go back and forth to the really bad spots and retreat. Some houses take 2-3 applications. And I’ll just mist the rest of the siding to keep the soap from drying.
For a small house with really bad growth, I find that it may take me 25-30 minutes to soap two sides and rinse completely. Then I move to the opposite sides of the house (which usually have less severe growth, and go quicker). So a small 1500 sq ft house takes me around an hour.
