SH alternative? Additives?

Roof Cleaning
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Hey everyone, have a question regarding roof washes. Warm from most roofs seem to be different forms of concrete tile. My typical SH mix does help clean and brighten it up, especially if I give the entire roof a scrub with a push broom. Although it does yield good results it is not realistic long term and for big jobs.

I have no issue killing the moss and it does remove some of the dark color. As shown in the pictures, but it seems that this yellow/dark green stuck on algae seems to stay.

I’ve hit this roof multiple times with a 6% mix, adding more surfactant as well. I’ve seen people say to add rubbing alcohol? Sodium per carbonate ? ( bleach neutralizer)

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Looking for something to give it that extra kick and kill the stubborn algae that doesn’t seem to die.(if anyone knows the name of the type of algae too that’d be great)

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Rubbing alcohol lol. Please name and shame them.

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I don’t live where you live, but you might want to do some reading on here. There have been numerous discussion about cleaning concrete tile, the problems cleaning it in warm climates, and tools that people have used in this country and other coutries to clean concrete roofs. SH still works, you just might need to do some other things as well.

First of all, understand that concrete is porous, once you fully understand that, it will help.

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Also, a roof wash is not like a housewash in that the job is not “done” the day you walk away. Granted things may vary on concrete roofs (I’ve seen people promote surface cleaning those, among other things). But on asphalt roofs time is always your friend, but set expectations accordingly.

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I might get some criticism on here for this, but the thing with tile roofs like that is just treating it (even with 6%) doesn’t ultimately make it go away like asphalt shingle. What you’re dealing with is lichen, and that is much harder to remove than Gleocapsamagma (typical green growth found on roofs). Not even after two months. The surface of tile roofs has a different porosity and lends itself to the growth of Lichen which sticks like crazy, (whether it’s dead or alive). The only way I found to make those types of roofs look good is to pressure wash it with a turbo nozzle afterwards. Now it’s very important for everybody reading this to understand that this is ok to do on most concrete tile roofs, but NOT for asphalt shingle. You never want to use pressure on asphalt shingle. One thing you need to be careful with though is that some of these concrete tile roofs, possibly the one shown in the picture, have added color to them and it is possible to takeoff some of the color using pressure. I explain to the clients that the benefit of a tile roof is longevity and ability to withstand cleaning with pressure, but the downside is that unlike asphalt shingle roofs, you cannot just treat it and have it look amazing in a month or two. It needs to be pressure washed to remove the Lichen. It is a very time-consuming process. One other thing to be really careful of is some of the older roofs lack a waterproofing underlayment. If you find a tile roof that does not have this just pass on the job. (I know that sounds silly, but those roofs hold up to regular rain without it in some parts of the country but they do not hold up to using pressure to clean.

If anybody else has a better way to do this, please let me know! But I would like to see some before and after photos with first-hand experience, not speculation based off of experience doing asphalt shingle and what they think should happen. I have a lot of tile roofs out here. Another thing is, some parts of the country might have different kinds of growth on tile roofs than I have. If it’s just Moss or standard growth found on asphalt shingle then you might not have to use pressure. But Lichen, that stuff is your enemy!

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Could you imagine buying a 53 gallon drum of rubbing alcohol? All your neighbors would be like what the heck are they cooking meth in there lmao. I don’t know anything about cooking meth, or if rubbing alcohol would even be an ingredient with that, but it seems sus lol.

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Haha for real! I had seen the rubbing alcohol recommendation on a thread somewhere on this site. Wont end up using that.

I’ve thought about using the turbo nozzle or a low pressure JROD tip. The owner was still happy with the results though.

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sometimes you have to treat it, dont rinse, then let it actually dry, so you can see whats still needing treatment, then re-treat it again. At least thats what Ive encountered. I’ve never done a roof, but theres a method and time expectation to wait for it to clean itself. This treat and wait method I’d the most beneficial to the roof, whether tile or shingles.

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Chloroform does not clean a roof effectively

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:rofl: :joy: :sweat_smile: I have flashbacks to Breaking Bad.

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I’ve been adding JoMax to my water tank and I feel like it really does boost the SH.

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Any empirical evidence to substantiate your claims, or is it just an emotional reaction? Feelings are emotions and have no business in a sound decision.

Why do I say this? You put something with an acid (JOMAX house cleaner) in your water tank and you feel it boosts your SH. Logically speaking, how would it do that? Maybe you are batch mixing?

Look at the SDS of the product, what would cause those chemicals to boost your SH? I don’t want acid at any percentage near my SH at any time. Their deck wash is nothing more than overpriced SH. Some of their other stuff is quaternary ammonias.

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The product calls for bleach and water to dilute it.

I’ll run a test with and without soon.

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I work in South Carolina alot and deal with this alot use a rag and pure SH it will get it done and never had a call back yet but very important put Your SH in some that won’t spill and do a few very small test spot see how it goes incase the color starts to run but after you spray that down use the soft turbo tip on low pressure and it will get the job done no surfactant needed I use my short xjet to do this

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I’m not busting your chops, but you need to have a better understanding of what you are throwing in tanks. It’s been raining with the occasional snow for 5 days straight here and I am bored and can’t do any work.

Here is the SDS for the product.
https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/jomax/jomax-house-cleaner-and-mildew-killer

IF you mix bleach, water, and a surfactant (soap), it will clean everything that this product is saying it will clean.

So, as I am not a chemist, and I am not tagging “mary not mary” the resident chemist, lets do this the old fashion way with research via the web and googler.

According to the SDS the product includes:
2.5-10% Sodium Dioctyl Sulfosuccinate
What is that? Googles says:
All-purpose surfactant, wetting agent, and solubilizer used in the drug, cosmetics, and food industries. It has also been used in laxatives and as cerumenolytics. It is usually administered as either the calcium, potassium, or sodium salt.

1-2.5% Glacial Acetic Acid
Glacial acetic acid is the anhydrous (undiluted or free of water) form of acetic acid. Acetic acid is considered an organic compound and has the chemical formula CH3COOH.
A diluted solution of acetic acid is known as vinegar or ethanoic acid or ethylic acid.

.1-1.0% Sodium o-Phenylphenate
antimicrobial agents used as bacteriostats, fungicides, and sanitizers. Both have been used in agriculture to control fungal and bacterial growth on stored crops, such as fruits and vegetables

.1-1.0% Octylphenol Ethoxylate
Octylphenol ethoxylate is a detergent that is commonly used in chemistry laboratories .

So, you are paying for up to 15% stuff and 85 percent water for surfactant, detergent, vinegar, and a highly diluted antimicrobial agent. It doesn’t boost SH.

Let’s say I strip a deck with sodium hydroxide, but for some reason it isn’t effective. I add in some butyl and a surfactant, or maybe some sodium metasilicate. Those chemicals didn’t “boost” the sodium hydroxide, I just added more chems to the mix. Maybe it helps the one chemical work on a paint better, but I also have have less water as a percentage of my mixture.

I’m told I come off as condescending, I’m not trying to be. I am trying to teach you what some of the fine folks on here started telling me, then I did my own due diligence. I choose to believe in god, that is an act of faith, not logic nor reason. My point is, I only believe in what the empirical evidence suggests is the truth. EVERYTHING ELSE IS MARKETING. I’m not a chemist and I didn’t stay at a holiday inn last night, so this opinion is worth everything you paid for it.

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I didn’t find you to be condescending at all. It’s just been fairly cheap and I wanted to do the best job possible.

I’ll be looking into buying the antimicrobials separately! Thanks for that information I will dig into it more when I have time.