First post - I’ve been reading the board on and off for a month or so. Hello from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
I have a professional building maintenance background with excess of 35 years commercial cleaning experience in college and retail mall settings. Newly retired and picking up a power washer for the first time. This is a significant move for me as my tools of choice over the years have been pressure washers in the 2500 to 3500 psi range and boom trucks when needed,
Father’s Day I was presented with a X-Jet M5 as a gift.
Questions:
The house cleaning recipe that came with the device calls for a bleach and dish soap solution. Does anyone have experience with using bleach on stained wood siding? It seems kind of harsh to me and I am reluctant to take it on faith especially as my second project after my own home will be a high-end residence with rough-cut wood stained siding.
Can anyone recommend a streak free window solution that can be delivered with the M5? Again, with stained wood siding as a consideration.
How does Simple Green stack up when used in the M5?
Any thoughts or suggestions for getting started with this device is appreciated!
Not a good idea ever. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on stained wood siding, but dish soap will get you in trouble.
@CaCO3Girl found a market for what we talked about! @jstorm unfortunately, there isn’t. But if there was, @CaCO3Girl and her company could make a lot of money.
Depends on what you’re intended use is and how you dilute it with the proportioner. Sorry to keep tagging you @CaCO3Girl, but if you remember your post about Simple Green being a marketing genius but not enviro friendly or effective could you add it here?
Try it out with some degreasers or some more benign cleaners on some of your own stuff. Pretty simple to use. Doesn’t take much. It’s all about finding what works for you with the proportioners or without one at all.
I agree, dish soap will have issues, LOTS of issues.
The two main things used in glass cleaners are Vinegar and Ammonia…Since ammonia smells worse, I usually stick with Vinegar. You can get a gallon of white vinegar at a grocery store for fairly cheap. Rinse windows with normal soap, follow up with Vinegar, drop hose directly into gallon jug. (helpful hint, it’s also good to get that smell out of clothes that you accidentally left in the washing machine for too long)
Since Vinegar is actually a very diluted glacial acetic acid this is a rinse plants and stuff prior to using and after scenario.
I had no idea where I posted that rant about Simple green…but I used the search function and found it, won’t the other guys be so proud!, LOL!
Just an FYI, Simple Green did the best marketing snow job I have ever seen. Today they do have SOME “green” eco-friendly formulas, but historically the only thing “green” about simple green was the green color, lol!
Also, there should have been a drastic drop off in the non-toxic and biodegradable claims on chemicals. Those are no-no words now unless they are qualified. For example, you can say non-toxic surfactant, but you can’t just say non-toxic, that implies everything from the chemical to the bottle are non-toxic. 16CR 260.10, and the Federal Trade Commission consider such claims to be deceptive and have fined multiple companies.
As a side note, don’t use anything with caustic soda/sodium hydroxide/lye OR Potasium Hydroxide/potash in it ,on a stained wood. That is the main ingredient in many paint strippers and degreasers…
These answers provide me with information I was hoping for while pointing me in the direction I wanted to go. I’ll start with vinegar as @CaCO3Girl recommends above and go from there. I can always fall back on my other equipment if I need to tweak the results a bit.
I know this is an older post but I have a question anyway. Could you explain how dish soap will create LOTS of issues? (The chemistry end, like it’s reaction with say, vinyl and glass) and some real world experiences and examples of the damage it has caused. To make that claim, as the boards chemical expert, it might be helpful to explain a little further. (Guys, I’m not looking for reasons to use it) Also, you mention doing a regular soap rinse??? Soaping is with soap, rinsing is with water. Thanks…
Dish soaps are degreasers and a lot of them contain sodium hydroxide. Degreasers are known to mess with oxidation and although it’s easier to go to a local store and buy dish soap, it’s usually the same price or even more expensive than surfactants that are created for our industry.
I read your comment over and let me say we’ve seen people on this forum that have got themselves in to trouble using dish soap as surfactant and it’s a mistake that will easily cause an insurance claim that could have easily been avoided. As someone who went out of his way to question someone’s knowledge (with a bit of an attitude) on here who is trusted and has plenty of respect… I’m guessing you use it.
But nobody has a problem buying that high dollar Old Spice body wash now do they lol you know how much a 5 gallon bucket of it would cost you. I’m still trying to shed that expense with a work around lol
No. I actually started with pro Chems in 1996. And I questioned her for my own reasons and for people who frequent this forum. I know, the last comment about soap rinsing wasn’t necessary.
