Thoughts on this company’s process?

I know everyone here says sh is the way to go. this is from their site

“Almost all of our roof cleaning competition is using industrial grade bleach and TSP (degreaser) to clean roofs. If you use a competitor, you will smell an intense bleach odor around your house while the work is being performed. The amount of bleach (chlorine), and in the dilution they are using, will dry and crack your shingles, damage the finish on your gutters, and may harm your surrounding plantings. We’ve witnessed the long term effects of their cleaning methods first hand, and it’s extremely detrimental to a asphalt shingled roof. They even claim to be endorsed by major shingle manufacturers and roofing organizations. The question you have to ask yourself is “what do shingle manufacturers want?”. They want to sell more shingles. Shortening the life of your shingles, makes them more money. So, buyer beware!”

they have heir own “100% biodegradable shingle shampoo” with no bleach

Valid statement.

Send me over the SDS and I’ll tell you if it will work.

I think the most novel label I ever read said just use our cleaner and WHEN you hit the side of your house that is all moldy you can then add in bleach. No reason to clean all 4 sides with bleach.

Also, asphalt is sensitive to any high alkaline product. However, ever manufacturer i have ever dealt with tests the products sent to them to ensure no harm…I do NOT believe they want you to use materials that will damage your roof. That doesn’t make sense from a PR standpoint…you said this would work and was safe to use but it ate through my siding, I’m never using your siding again…type of thing.

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I don’t think anyone uses tsp anymore but SH has been the standard for years and what most will continue to use. Seems there are a few companies trying to set themselves apart from the rest by trying to say everyone else doesn’t know what they’re doing including the shingle manufacturer. The way I see it is a honest, hardworking company has no reason to bash competitors in order to make a sale.

I remember reading a about something similar. What was said was most roofing contractors said that what makes shingles dry and crack is poor circulation due to venting issues in the attic. Think of all of the things that get washed with bleach on a daily basis. How many of those items dry, crack, and get ruined? Not very many.

Sounds like another snake oil pitch to me. I’d never hire a company that bashes others in order to gain my business.

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Sodium percarbonate is an alternative
Can be purchased from www.wash-Safe.com

A PWRA member uses their products, has YouTube videos about it.

Looks like it works but after a few months, so you don’t get that instant gratification of clean

i agree sh is probably the best thing to use, but nowadays everyone is all about being green. i was considering giving my customers an option.i hear this stuff is hard to mix. does anyone know the mix ratio and what the shelf life is.amazon has a 50 lb. bag for $110 and free shipping. thanks for your thoughts on this.

I thought SH is pretty much considered “green”? I believe it’s just electrified saltwater. Heck, we drink it, swim in it, etc. As long as you dilute, which is done when rinsing, isn’t it safer than anything else out there?

“1/2 cup of powder to 1 gallon water. Mix it, let it dissolve, apply it to the surface being cleaned.”

SH is a registered pesticide, I don’t think it is “green” like people are looking for.

Sodium Percarbonate can be effective, but it’s also rated as having acute toxicity. It’s pretty close to baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

There are true green products out there, but they won’t contain SH. There are some that contain hydrogen peroxide.

Have any of you tried just using a straight up degreaser like the purple stuff?

I’ve cleaned a lot of roofs and have never run into oil or grease on one.

Degreaser on asphalt shingles ?

Yes, a degreaser on a roof and a degreaser on asphalt shingles. Oil and grease are in the atmosphere, they have to be on a roof. A bird dropping, a squirrel leaving bits behind…leaves contain oil, pine cones…etc. There is more oil and grease out there than you would think.

I understand the SH turns things a lighter shade, but bleach doesn’t actually CLEAN. A degreaser would contain emulsifiers for the grease/oil which should segue well into emulsifying the dirt that is on the roof and siding. SHOULD being the operative word. A lot of things SHOULD work but out of the lab they don’t.

Has anyone tried a degreaser without SH?

on concrete yes, but it comes out better when mixed with SH

interesting idea to add it to roof mix

Would it not emulsify the tar holding the granule’s to the shingle ?

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No, degreasers going through a pressure washer aren’t strong enough. I’d wager you could spray the purple stuff straight on the tar and it wouldn’t do anything, but if you have concerns then test a spot.

In my opinion you would need d-limonene to dissolve the tar…that’s the orange stuff that smells like oranges. Straight EB might do something but it is rare that EB is in a degreaser formul at greater than 10%, usually more like 3%.

Generally you don’t want to apply degreaser to any asphalt wether it be a shingle or a parking lot. Asphalt is held together by oil. So you don’t want to degrade or disslove it.

I don’t agree with them but it seems like the company in question has found there own little niche and sales points. They’re probably doing pretty well.

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Respectfully disagree. A degreaser will not dissolve asphalt/tar. If it did they would be used as adhesive removers, and tar removers. They are not.

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The issue I see is that the majority of contaminants on roofs are organic in nature. If my memory serves, the black streaks are usually geoclapsa magma (sp?), an invasive organism (bacterial, I think?) that feeds on the lime filler and excess moisture in the shingles. And there are also moss/lichen growths that are common.

I suppose a strong enough degreaser might kill these off, but using a product specifically known for dehydrating and killing off these growths effectively (SH) seems like the most logical approach.

Like you, I’m also dubious on just how damaging a one time treatment of degreaser on asphalt shingles might be. But I’m also skeptical of how effective it would be with organic contaminants.

Please don’t take this the wrong way, but how much of your lab experience relates to dealing with organic contaminants? It sounds like you might have a stronger background with inorganic soiling/staining? At any rate, it’s great to have your expertise here on the forum :blush:

I do both actually. The most effective way I have seen to eliminate the black streaks is a caustic soda degreaser. It basically makes it a very inhospitable place to be. Too much and you strip the paint, too little it won’t work. The problem I have with SH…yes I know it is VERY usful and cheap and many people love it, but my problem is it doesn’t clean. It dyes the dirt/moss/whatever a lighter color so it gives the appearance of clean but it doesn’t emulsify, it doesn’t penetrate and remove, it doesn’t clean. If SH cleaned we wouldn’t add detergent when we clean our socks.

Organic contaminants need to be killed then removed. The problem is many of these really good products can’t say the word “kill” because that would be a pesticidal claim and they don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on registering an EPA pesticide. So, us brilliant lab folks found a loop hole. Did you ever see anything that says “Removes mold and mildew STAINS”…that means it gets rid of the mold/mildew, but it is said in such a way that the EPA doesn’t come breathing down our necks saying we made a pesticidal claim.

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False if sh only turns things lighter I’d have lighter color hands not chemical burns

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