Im new to softwashing as a whole, and stumbled upon SESW videos and kind of took their word for gold at the beginning, but after finding this forum I’m kind of second guessing myself. I’ve not seen one person recommend any SESW products to anyone.
So… my question is this: Are SESW products (Mainly Surfactants) really worth the price tag they come with? I have a set up with proportioners for softwashing and I’ve seen people talking about surfactants with multiple different ways of going about it. Some people say using laundry detergent is the way to go, others say use actual surfactants that are close to the same price as SESW stuff. And to top it off, are all surfactants are good to use for proportioners? Or are you guys dumping Arm & Hammer straight into your bleach tanks?
I guess it really boils down to this: Do I need to buy an actual surfactant? Or do I need to buy Arm & Hammer/Gain?
Sincerely, a very new and information overloaded Softwash employee
I don’t know of many, if any, guys on here that use laundry detergent as their go-to surfactant. I know it’s brought up as an alternative in a pinch and heard it works pretty well. Most on here use a real surfactant from a reputable supplier. I use Elemonator from Pressure-tek. I stick with it because it works well and rinses easily, especially noticeable on windows. I also know I’ve had it in a mix that sat for a couple weeks and it still worked well since it was designed to be bleach stable. Not sure how well laundry detergent holds up to bleach.
Yes, it’s much more expensive, but do the math and it’s really not a big deal. I go through about 3 oz on a house wash. So, I can wash over 40 houses on a $30 gallon. At the end of the day, it’s not much at all for the piece of mind you get using the proper stuff.
I don’t think I even use 3oz in a 15 gallon jug of SH for house washes.
I brought 2 5 gallon buckets of elemonator 2 years ago bringing my truck up and have only gone through maybe 2/3 of the first bucket luckily as they refuse to ship to Alaska
Also they look like they have some cool stuff I’d be potentially interested in, if they shipped up here but I’ve gotten by with elemonator for house washes and I use this stuff for my roofs.
Affordable, and ship 5 gallon buckets to me. I also like that they make my proportioner so figure the soap should work good through it and have had no hiccups so far.
What’s the ratio for that? The stuff I get from SESW is 4:1 and I have a 16gal tank so I just use 1 gallon of that every time I fill my surfactant tank up
There are a lot of washers who decided that selling products to new washers was the way to go. There are lots of new washers every season. I’ve watched some of his vids, back when he was using LA totally awesome to remove oxidation from shutters, so there is a learning curve for everyone. I give him credit for capitalizing on his space and name, smart move, especially as he put the work in for it.
Are his products the besterest ever, doubtful. I have used elemonator every year but this year, this year I am using applewash and don’t like it. It seems to spot the windows more. Just one guys .02. I use a drop stick and tank and my mix ratio is a glug glug (credit given to IBS for this measurement term) for every 10 gallons of SH.
No one on this forum said to forgo bleach stable surfactants. I actually tried out the arm and hammer on a gig since people were talking about it. It smelled great. It contains oxi clean which is sodium percarbonate. Not really bleach stable, but not as degrading as say dollar general dish soap.
It’s not a concentrate so I just use straight soap. I have a 6 gallon tank and topnoff as needed. I use it exclusively for roofs and in the proportioner setup so it doesn’t get all goopy in the SH. I do t think it’s stable
Elemonator….love it. I only use 1/3 ounce per gallon of sh. Ri she’s welll and smells great, customers seem to always say how great it smells……I’m sure there are other that are good too.
I mean LA awesome works …but it’s cheap as chips not beneficial for a business model for us pressurewashers.
I’m mostly interested in the oxidation stuff he has where you spray on, and then rinse off for the metal roofs i do up here. Would love to test that stuff out.
Awesome is my all purpose cleaner of choice in my garage for sorts of stuff. Love it. Anything from greasy engines to brake dust on wheels and even carpet stains. Best all around cleaner I’ve ever used regardless of price. I mix 50/50 no matter what I’m cleaning.
Racer may have some other ideas for you. I’ve tried several oxidation removers, not one has worked without some brushing in places. I believe racer is DS aluminum cleaner/brightener, but you would have to ask him. I don’t think he is using it on metal, just oxidized siding and his red clay I think. I could be really wrong, so ask him.
This is the kinda thing where I’d never ever use this unless it truly was spray on, rinse off and it sounds too good to be true. I’m not chomping at the bit or anything. If I never restored oxidized vinyl, etc I’m my life it probably would be too soon. I’ve seen the YouTube videos and I try and learn by others mistakes as much as I can because doing it yourself is way worse
I’m not saying it won’t clean anything, don’t get me wrong, but it is mainly water. I summon the SDS monster>>>>
SECTION 2 - INGREDIENT INFORMATION
Weight % Ingredient & Exposure Limit
0.01 to 2.5 Orange Oil Blend(CAS# 8008-57-9) & (CAS#111-76-2))
0.5 to 4.0 Ethoxylated Alcohol (CAS# 9036 19 5)
0.5 to 1.5 Disodium Salt (CAS# 6834-92-0)
0.5 to 1.5 Tetra Sodium EDTA (CAS# 64-02-8)
0.5 to 0.8 Hydroxy Sodium (CAS# 1310-73-2)
QS Water (CAS# 7732-18-5)
If you find magic, let me know. There are people on here that say that they have had good experiences with the de oxidizing formulas, I’m not one of them. I want to try racer’s way, but I need someplace to test it out first before a paying customer. Been looking for a place to test it out on.
It’s not a batch mix, it’s through a proportioner. 16 gal surfactant tank with 1 gal of their surfactant but my proportioner stays at like 1-1.5 unless I’m doing a steep roof and then it maybe goes to like 2.5-3
The surfactant helps to remove dirt, it also helps to lower the surface tension. Basically, the surfactant allows the water to move the dirt, the surfactant (non science language) grabs it then the water pushes it off. Too much surfactant creates a longer rinse cycle, which is why you will see lots of people on here say they use as little surfactant as possible.
not beneficial for a business model for us pressurewashers.
