Most house wash mixes include using SH, but I’ve read on a few house wash companies touting using other house wash mixes that are “bleach free” and do a great job without the issues of bleach. What are they using?
Also, those of you softwashing with SH, do you do a window clean afterwards or just make darn sure that the windows are rinsed very well? Softwashed my own home and yikes, the windows were nasty and extremely hard to clean. Thought I rinsed thoroughly, maybe SH dried on them to quick?
It is okay to explore bleach alternatives but don’t abandon the fastest, safest, most efficient house washing active ingredient just because you didn’t master it the first time out. Get yourself some proper house wash soap (simple cherry comes to mind) and wash and rinse small sections at a time.
The bleach didn’t dry “too fast”, it just dried. Window washing as an add on will probably be on next years schedule for us but not just yet.
AS for windows, the mineral deposits in tap water is and depends on your area can be anywhere between .137ppm to 500ppm. You will need to either invest in a squeegee and dry the glass or if the chems dried you will have to use some window cleaning solution, wet window and then dry with squeegee. a faster way is a waterfed pole that uses special filtration to remove all mineral deposits.
I am going to look at “Simple Cherry” but do you have a home made recipe that is safe on all surfaces? I bought some house wash from Home Depot it is in a green bottle and seems to be safe on all surfaces.
Waking the way past dead.
What happened to Tim anyway? He posted a lot of good info and then all of sudden nothing. Always was curious.
He’s still around but just not here. He’s on the fb site though.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks!
It’s pretty different on the fb site. A lot more people chime in right away but the wide variance in opinion is alarming.
I would describe the PWR FB page as such:
I have been using this product on some of my houses as directed. It has bleach but does not hurt any painted surface or even dark surfaces. Does anybody know the percentage of bleach this product uses and when using the attached sprayer how much is diluted?
SDS says <5% SH
http://www.homearmor.com/uploads/products/FG503%20MA%20MSDS.pdf
$10 for 80oz… that is the most expensive bleach I think I’ve seen. Also, touting that it’s safe on all surfaces seems like a reckless claim. Jmho.
If you want a housewash mix that’s actually strong enough to do anything, you’re going to have to deal with the fact that it can damage certain surfaces. Do your research on what those surfaces are, and what measures to take to prevent damage.
What does “<5% SH” mean? I assume you are indicating less than 5% bleach correct? And what does the initial “SH” mean? Yes I find it rather pricey but what I found online as far as home made recipe was the following
That seems like a good mix. I am a bit scared to use stuff that can damage anything and is why I like the EZ Armor its safe to use. I would probably only do small sections of homes where it is most needed as my primary business is window cleaning
You have lots to learn…
So this isn’t a homeowner forum, it’s more for professional washers or people who want to start professionally washing. That being said the house wash mix stuff you found online or what you found in the store isn’t what we use…
We use Sodium Hypochlorite (the active ingredient in bleach) at a 10-15% strength. That’s the % we’re referring to which we usually dilute down with water to 1-5% depending on the material we’re cleaning. That 10-15% strength strength can be found in pool shock or straight from chemical suppliers.
Our house wash mix is simply a surfactant(soap) mixed with the sodium hypochlorite and water. No borax or TSP. Some use a degreaser in their house wash mix but I would not. Too many potential issues that come with that.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. If you try to you will end up causing damage. As @DJPWS mentioned 99% of all pressure washing contractors across the USA all use SH and a surfactant like Elemonator or Slo Mo. You’re not going to hurt any surface if you do a little research. I’m a little newer and have only been washing for two years but I’ve yet to cause any damage to anything. Most of us order 55 gallon drums of SH or just get 5 gallon or even 1 gallon containers. Try and find somewhere local to purchase it. Pool stores are a good place to start. I can buy 55 gallon drums from a local pool store here.
Product description:
This powerful cleaner formula is bleach-based for visible results in minutes.
I agree with infinity.
Thank you so much for this info! My main business is window cleaning and been doing it for 8 years and thought I could add Power washing to increase my earnings but now I am beginning to realize unless I hire a helper there is no way I could do both power washing and window cleaning all in the same day. And I am too busy with window cleaning to schedule alternate days.
Hence, what I want to do is come up with a house wash that is economical(EZ Armor is so expensive but seems to work pretty good unless you got serious stains or algae).
Anyway what is a good recipe for a house wash that you use that can be safe for me to use on any surface regardless of color. I know EZ Armor i can use that on any painted surface and it will not harm it. I looked at the bottle of EZ Armor and it is only 5% bleach.
That said can you give me a good recipe I can use where I can put it in the bottle of the EZ Armor so I can just spray and then wash off? Yes I know pros use power washers but I use my car to carry my ladders etc… i have very little room for a power washer except the smallest.
You have listed 4 things that should never be sprayed on a house
The science behind it is beautiful! Once you dial in your mix you become unstoppable lol!
Some days I feel like I’m cheating… Too easy! And head to the bank.
If you insist on using th ez Armour to apply. ReFill it with full strength household bleach and add a couple drops of dish soap. That is the same exact thing they are selling you just marked up a lot. It likely won’t cause any damage to any siding because your putting out such a little amount of bleach.
