And I picked up my first batch of Hydro-Chem soap and mixed it up in my 55 gallon drums. I have two 20 gallon drums on my tank that I will use for my cleaning. Now I can finally get my costs down to a science since I am stuck in one soap now.
Washed my son’s vehicle and my truck, gotta say the bug cleaner thin is freaking amazing. Chad said mix it at 5:1 but I called him and told him about the trucks I will be doing and he said go 1:1 or even stronger. The straight trucks I am doing tomorrow looks like they were painted black up top from all the bugs. Should make for good before and after photos.
It was alright, I need to dial in the ratio though. Still leaving a dirt film on my black truck, but I’m not too worried as I am doing white straight trucks and you can’t see that little film on them like you can on black surfaces. But the bug spray was AMAZING!
If I can do a brushless wash on a dark colored rig that traveled 3500 miles with very low caustic sissy pro wash and citric acid ,and you can’t wash your pickup,film free with semi heavy caustic super sonic and heavy caustic dyna clean, there is no doubt your ratios are way off.getter dialed in @ around 15 to 20:1. Then climb from there.
It’s got to be the region you’re in that’s killing your ability to bring on fleet accounts. I think I remember you posting you were working on some multi family dwellings and maybe some restaurants ??? Are you focusing more on that type of work or you still chasing fleet accounts?
@dperez Nah I don’t even actively market my commercial and residential services. I just have a website and Google reviews and if I get work great if not that’s great too.
Yeah I mean I’m not in a huge logistics hub like Dallas. There’s maybe 5 freight/beverage companies within a 30 mile radius that have 10+ power units. Everything else is either at least an hour drive or an owner/operator. I have one of the biggest clients in the area at 70+ power units but it’s unrealistic for me to get every single client. I think the fact that my area is pretty far from the nearest blue beacon has resulted in most of these places setting up their own wash-bays and it’s pretty hard to convince someone to switch to me when they already have an employee or two who are dedicated washers. Combine that with one or two folks in each of these cities I go to that already wash fleet and there’s not really a whole lot of options.
The next closest place for me to go with a lot of freight is Jackson, MS and that’s like a 5 hour round trip. And at that point (and even for the places where it’s a 2 hour round trip) my options are limited because I have to demand a 10 or 15 or even 20 unit minimum just to make it worth the drive and then just hope that I can keep getting clients in that area so I can spend all day washing.
I just signed a lease here for another year but I’ve been wanting to get out anyway and maybe take the business with me to a bigger city. Maybe Charlotte or Chicago. Except for college and a year abroad I’ve been in this area since I was 3 and it’s definitely not the kind of place I want to end up.
These bugs sucked! They were easy as hell except for above the cab. We got the ladder out and foamed from a dedicated foamer. We were applying at 2:5 ratio (two parts water to 5 parts chemical), and still had a hard time touching these. Chad at Hydro-Chem said to put it down at 5:1 and for really tough bugs go 1:1. I knew 1:1 was not going to work from previous bug soaps claims is why we went 2:5. Once we get that figured out we’ll be doing great! The bugs on the brush guard, grill, mirrors and glass melted off though. Any suggestions @Hotshot@dperez (besides HF @Hotshot haha)
We’ve been using the bugsoaker thick, SOP @1:1 . (SAFE ON POLISH) ,we let it sit while washing motor,so say 8 minutes or so. Works pretty good. Nothing compares to the hcs 400 degreaser though at 20% ,melts off as you applying it. But it’s super hot. Not good for polished aluminum. Let your soaker sit a spell,even if it dries,I’ve found that the bugs are still wet,and ready to come off. Hope that helps,you can also pretreat with dyna clean and bug soaker on the front of those box trucks above the cab. You gotta 6 foot wand ?
I’m using bug soaker thin, Chad threw in a 5 gallon bucket with my order to try out. It worked great on everything except above the cab. Had to actually work at it for them to come off.
My son and I was just talking about getting a 6 footer. Do they come in dual Lance’s? My old ■■■ needs one of those high speed triggers where the pressure of the machine pushes the gun into your palm, where the trigger is.
You said do it at 15:1 right for both steps? So I shouldn’t even use a proportioner since my injector puylts out at 15:1. How much soap are you using per rig? Or how many per gallon of soap
Yeah,start out at 15:1 on dyna clean and around 25:1 on super sonic and climb from there. I’m at like 30:1 for my weeklys on the Dyna clean, 50:1 on acid. Once you get it figured out ,start using your porporationer tips to use less soap and acid. Once you get them clean and get them on a regular schedule, you can save more time and product
This is why I may be screwed. I was thinking my second sop should be stronger. So 25:1 on dynaclean and 15:1 on super Sonic. Been doing this ■■■■ backwards all along
…Sorry. 
