Mulch Fleet

Anyone ever wash a fleet of vehicles that have mulch stain? I’m thinking of hitting up a tree and mulch company but want to know how hard it is to get that stain out.

What do you SH Squirters use for mulch stain?

@GeorgeNicholson does the company deliver or make colored or dyed mulch or are you just talking about ground mulch. Either way I dont think you will have any problems. Sometimes I run into it on concrete but it comes up with normal house wash. I would just try doing what you normally do.

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This is dyed mulch and they haul in 52’ open bed trailers. I saw a local nursery and their skid stears were stained preey bad.

Wellll if it’s a dye then bleach being an oxidizing agent should break it down. If they are using a pigment then it wont do to much.

EDIT: I was referencing the eyes I’m familiar with in the painting field. There are other types it wont touch. Link has interesting reading on bleaches interactions with different dyes and surfaces Sodium Hypochlorite - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

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This was the part that seemed most relevant.

Chemical treatment of textile dye effluent

I.R. Hardin, in Environmental Aspects of Textile Dyeing, 2007

Chlorination

Chlorination usually means the use of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for decolorizing waste. This compound is commonly used in homes for bleaching clothes, and is readily available in large quantities. Sodium hypochlorite is a powerful oxidizing agent and will readily break down most dye molecules to smaller fragments. If a dye is somewhat resistant to biological degradation, then pre-treatment with hypochlorite can improve the total mineralization. As with other processes the solubility of the dye enters the equation of effectiveness, and disperse dyes are not decolorized effectively.38 A major reason for not using sodium hypochlorite is the concern about producing chlorinated organic compounds, generally a much undesired scenario. One study identified a number of chlorinated aromatics created when a factory had treated its waste by chlorination before returning it to a river. The compounds identified included chloroanilines, chlorobenzamines, chlorophenols, chloronitrobenzenes, chloroacetic acid and several compounds on the US EPA priority pollutant list.17 In recent years, the emphasis on the elimination of chlorinated compounds from waste effluents has increased,39 and it is unlikely that the risk of creating more toxic compounds would be deemed worth the effectiveness that chlorination represents.

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So I have limited experience with them but I have cleaned some skid steers. Kubota uses cheap paint on there machines that stains easy. I hate to say it but I use Brown Stuff on them and clean up good. Like I said I would try your 2 step and hot water and think you will be ok

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