I was reading today the pressure washing industry is dead

This applies to my area supposedly west palm beach area seen a video of a company on YouTube believe it was under pressure power washing said that the pressure washing industry was a goner and he mentioned soft washing is the new thing but he had his comments disabled so I wonder is he right I mean we all know it’s a saturated market here in south Florida I’m a little late cause I spent my money on my equipment but would anyone aggre with this mans statement I have a soft wash and a my 5.5gpm 3500 psi systems but I can’t see this as being true they is money here maybe not as much in south Florida as other places but the money is there I’m confident in that…

Soft washing is a gimmick by vendors to sell equipment. AC started it back up when his roof cleaning business started failing. It snake oil. Pressure washing isn’t going anywhere. It will cycle back to reclaim in a couple of years

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Most pressure washing companies are doing a version of “softwashing” even if they are using a pressure washing machine with a downstreaming method. Soft washing can also be done with a 12v pump, an air diaphragm pump or an electric booster pump. The problem in Florida is many home owners are being trained that pressure washing damages property, so when you show up with a gas powered pressure washer, you are already a hack in some people’s minds even though you are going to use low pressure.

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Soft washing is a gimmick by vendors to sell equipment. AC started it back up when his roof cleaning business started failing. It snake oil. Pressure washing isn’t going anywhere. It will cycle back to reclaim in a couple of years

:+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1:
You can include the proportioner / pump killer in with this trend

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Why do you think the pro-portioner will go away? Personally I see it getting better in the future with the use of electronic metering and computer controls.

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It’s design makes the pumps work much harder. And on the inlet side we’re the pump is the weakest. Most people know feeding the pump is a major thing that’s why the inlet hose is always bigger then the outlet . This is counteracted by the stupid protioner that chokes the pump. Send one of those things to any pump manufacturer and the first thing they will say is don’t use it . It will kill the pump.

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It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Although a valley in the market could be good to send some of the $99 guys packing to a new industry. PW companies are popping up left and right around here.

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Well if it is dead to late now I don’t invested my money so we shall see

My guess is, the bleach will kill the pump much quicker than a little more restriction on the inlet.

Many of the 12v diaphragm pumps are rated to self-prime up to 14’, so they can handle a little vacuum on the inlet side.

And the design that @JBreezy was experimenting with would have reduced a lot of that restriction, simply by upgrading to 3/4” fittings instead of the standard 1/2” that are on a lot of the proportioning systems sold now. So someone that’s concerned with the health of their pump could source and build their system with oversized components.

I think for certain companies, a proportioning system makes a lot of sense. Saved space and weight by not needing to batch-mix, time savings, reduced operator errors, chemical savings, etc.

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The proportioner is not that restrictive. It has the same equivalent of a 3/4 inch input and has a 3/4 inch output. For a pump that is 3/4 inch inlet and outlets I don’t see the restriction problems. I run a booster pump and except for the rebuild of the internals due to bleach use it has lasted 2 plus yrs.
In fact I just bought 2 more boosters and made my own proportioner and had another one ( bought it of of someone going under- $700). They put out more pressure than a 12volt and we are able to do a roof then switch right over to a house wash without ever having to batch mix.
If you plumb thing right and take care of your stuff things will last. So items just get worn out and that is just the cost of doing business.
In that same sense we still use our pw to downstream so we can wash a house in half the time using 2 guys - 1 with a booster and the other with the pw.

Batch mixing is the thing of the past. Soft washing is just a term that customers love to hear. Use it as a tool not an enemy.

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C’mon man. Everyone needs a mix tank. I LOVE my 12v system (don’t I @atlas
?) and despite the several pumps I’ bought over time until I discovered that most of my problem was an adapter that had corroded so badly that the system was inefficient. The weak link was a $.50 reducer into the hose reel… Today, I have several backup Delavan pumps. Go figure!

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Which adapter are you referencing?

Anyone that says “pressure washing is dead” is delusional.

The funny thing is that consumers, for the most part, don’t know what soft washing is.

If you look at Google data, soft washing averages about 2% of total search volume for related terms (power washing, pressure washing etc). Its a nice little buzzword that we like to kick around in this industry. Same thing with pure water window cleaning or water fed poles. Typical consumers don’t know or care.

The trick is to bring them in with what they know (pressure washing, power washing) then educate them on soft.wash aspect.

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There is no trick. Life is too short to educate customers.

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@MrSparkleVA

I would really, REALLY appreciate it if you would stop trying to drag me back into a fight that I tried to walk away from amicably well over a year ago. Your insulting, slanderous statements are ridiculous and unfounded. You continually send backhanded insults my way every time you throw your uniformed 1.5 cents into a discussion about roof pumps.

To make it abundantly clear (since, apparently, I haven’t done so already):
I did not hastily “dump my system” off on some unsuspecting victim, as you have repeatedly implied. I changed my setup with much thought and after considering advice from knowledgeable people. Part of that change was selling my (then) existing system. I put that system for sale on this forum. You happened to be the one who showed interest and bought it. I encouraged you to look it over, test it, look at the rusted parts of the trailer, etc, but the hasty person in this deal was you, who only cared about getting to where you were going before dark, for some reason.

If I had kept the system I would have discovered whatever rusted fitting you’re talking about, and I would have replaced it as part of the required maintenance.

Instead of accepting the fact that you knowingly bought a system “as is, no warranty”, you continually try to hurt my reputation and paint me as some ignorant, dishonest scam artist, and I’m sick of it. (You can’t even be a man about it…instead of bringing me into this conversation you tried to mention me in a cowardly, underhanded way…why did you type “@atlas” instead of @Atlas1…you had to intentionally go back and edit what the forum auto filled for you, LOL…At least be a man about it if you want to insult me publicly)

Seriously, this needs to stop. When you started this with me last year, I actually apologized to you after defending myself, then I said I would not involve myself in any more conversations with you. I have kept my word up to this point, but you refuse to let this go. Others have already stated that they would hesitate to do business with me due to statements that you have made about me here on a public forum. Whether you like it or not, that amounts to libel and slander. If this continues I WILL take legal action against you. This is my last appeal to you to end your stupid, childish behavior and move on.

As I stated before, I will not let you drag me back into this stupid little tiff again. I made this statement in self defense, and I’d like this to be over, so please know that I will not respond to anything else you say about this to, or about, me in this or any other thread. I say this in all seriousness: If you hear from me again, in any form, it will be through an attorney, but that’s entirely in your control, so let’s just put an end to this now, please.

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So what you’re saying is that you don’t use the fact that you “soft wash” as a tool to land the job?

If you do, you have just educated the customer.

I think what he is implying is that most customers don’t care. When they call and want it cleaned they just say they want it pressure washed. Even I have came to the point where I don’t explain to customers on the phone that we softwash. I used to and customers were just like “oh that sounds good” but you could hear that they couldn’t understand or care. They likely feel that softwashing is the same as pressure washing. They just care that the end result is adequate.

Yes most of us advertise for soft washing in videos or mention it in ads. But at the end of the day they just want a clean house and a bill.

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If you know William that’s exactly what he’s saying.

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I don’t use soft wash as a tool. If a customer asks more than 2 questions, I hang up the phone. Instantly. I don’t have time or inclination to educate or talk someone into using me.

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Wow !