Until you start stick to questions and not answers
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Redeposition is simply the act of breaking the soil free but not suspending it in the water and washing it away.
Surfactants make water wetter so to speak. They are going to break the surface tension and allow the water to get under the soils easier. While this is very helpful in the cleaning process, it also improves the soiling adhesion if those soils are not suspended in the water.
Because the use of surfactants reduces the surface tension, the water film on the surface is much thinner and will dry much faster, any soils will tend to have a much stronger bond as their surface tension was reduced as well and they will seep further into the pores of the substrate.
Breaking the bond that has been improved by the surfactants is typically a lot more difficult.
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Thanks for the advice but I will most likely ignore it sir.
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way over thinking it.
it is not rocket science.
just wash, wash, wash…stop posting
get your mojo
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There is a difference between coming on the forum with useful knowledge…and just being arrogant. Fancy book learnings from reading books doesn’t translate into hands on experience. Just like Danielson couldn’t learn karate from a book…lol. You may have the science down…but that doesn’t mean you won’t jack up some people’s properties when you’re first starting out. You might know about laundry, bleach, and surfactants…but can you troubleshoot engine problems in the field, explain fallout or different types of oxidation, how to handle artillery fungus, etc? You gave us the 101 nuts and bolts on surfactants…most learn that when they first start reading and researching soft-wash methods on the internet and even this forum.
Who do I want washing my house…a guy who has 500 house washes under his belt, has learned from his own mistakes and those of others, has 5 star reviews everywhere because his experience…
Or a guy with tons of knowledge and ZERO experience washing houses??
When you go to build your trailer…you’ll want to be asking more questions…
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Kinda like being all dressed up and no place to go 
. Jerry Clower once said we’re educated beyond our intelligence
Well Barry I want trying to be arrogant in any manner, I was answering one person’s questions on bleach mixes
My comments on surfactants were indeed simplistic. We are typing on a forum where “surfactant” means dawn, gain, tide, gain with oxy, jet dry, and even a couple of actual industry products such as eliminator. I was pretty sure any discussions into the chemistry side of things would be a waste.
Not going to have many questions on the engines sir, sorry to disappoint. Fall out I read a thread or two here on it and found it very interesting to say the least.
Oxidation is one that has me curious as I had a building cleaned that had aluminum oxide staining on the concrete walls and the contractor failed to remove it. They were a highly reviewed and rated company with a 1 million COI, most of the others I contacted were unable to provide it.
Sorry if I offended you in some manner.
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It’s all good…while posters on forums come and go…this specific forum has been a place where I’ve learned a lot from some experienced pros. Some have left recently but there are some here that you can learn a lot from. Keep in mind…,this is a pressure washing forum…so when someone comes on already knowing everything…but doesn’t have experience…they’ll get some pushback.
@CaCO3Girl is the scientist/chemist on here but doesn’t claim to be a PW…just provides interesting facts and useful info about different chemicals.
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I quite truthfully didn’t get that vibe at all. Then again, I fail to read between lines effectively the way most humans do, so I try and take things at face value until someone gives me a reason not to.
I found your explanations of bleach and the process of redeposition riveting. And while I was aware that SH was measured by mass and not volume, and that SH has a higher density than water, I never put the two together to realize that that equates to a higher % by volume💡
I look forward to your further contributions to the forum, and hopefully being able to answer some of your questions in the future.
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Someone should edit the title of this post to “gobbledygook rabbit hole” hahahaha. I’m digging the knowledge here! But it makes my head hurt, I’m gonna just stick to doing whatever works. Doesn’t work? Add another gallon of bleach and another ounce of elemonator . Still not strong enough ? Add another half gallon and half ounce of soap hahaha. With a pinch of care and delicate approach, it’s what works for me…
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YOU ARE CORRECT!!! If offending organisms have yet to die within 5 minutes, or before three minutes, adjust accordingly. Otherwise, carry on. MOST TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION IS WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER REALLY WORKED A DAY IN THEIR LIVES.
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ANYBODY WHO QUOTES JERRY CLOWER IS OK WITH ME, “Shoot up in this tree and give one of us some relief!”
@LMTD, humility goes a long way on this site. BTW, I really appreciate the lesson you taught, maybe not so much the tone.
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It’s all good on this end as well, however let’s put the brakes on when it comes to knowing everything, not even close here sir.
I came here because I have tiger striping on my gutters and had no idea of how to safely remove it. I had experienced it once before on my father’s house and the guy he had used had no idea how to remove it back then either.
I, like yourself found this forum interesting because there is some good information and it is not flooded with snake oil salesmen or bs artist like some of the other PW forums.
Interesting facts for me about it:
Other than the industrial laundry industry I never heard of anyone using oxolic acid much. It may well happen I simply haven’t heard many folks talk about it.
Shurflo and flowjet pump use, seen em on produce misting systems and RVs. Kept shurflo on the truck for repairs when the supermarket called.
It’s an industry of pretty smart DIY’ers who develop solutions to problems on the fly as well as through research.
While not a house washer I have spent some time with a wand in my hand. In my application it was spray down the wall, apply TSP from a pump sprayer then blast it of and out the door before epoxy coating. Wasn’t a painter and had no idea what tsp or epoxy was at the time, it was just what grandpa had me do yearly so our dairy farm didnt get kicked off grade A. He also gave me the right hand to the back of the skull education of why you dont use PW to blast grease off the bearings on the new holland baler as well.
Thanks for bringing me to this thread Barry. LMTD has the gist of the chemical side.
I was deeply disturbed to read 20% of someone’s mix was surfactant. Pretty sure that will take 10 hours to rinse off or attract dirt from even 5 miles away, lol! For a regular glass cleaner if I put in more than 0.2% of a surfactant it will leave streaks behind. You want to break the surface tension, not cover the house in foam.
I think the term surfactant is used too broadly on this site, as in anything that bubbles is a surfactant, and it isn’t. Soap has surfactant in it but is not itself a surfactant anymore than my moms brandy cheesecake is an alcoholic beverage 
It’s fair to ask what percentage of SH should hit the house. I tell people around 0.5% when they call. If your machine puts out 1:10 then you have to dilute the SH first, 1:20 is more common, but I’ve gotten calls from people asking about 1:5, so they are out there too.
This all boils down to personal preference of mixes, equipment, “soap” choice, and what you have staring you in the face at your job. Is it a house in the shade that looks green or is it a concrete walkway that just looks dirty? Everything is subjective to what you are dealing with at each job.
Now I’m going to cook a soup for my daughter, y’all behave 
P.S. I use oxalic often for rust remover and deck washes to calm the tannins in the wood down after caustic cleaners or strippers are used. It’s a great acid.
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Sorry the tone didnt suit you or others, I am not well schooled in how to change that sir.
Autism has been teaching me humility for more than 25 years two fold.
Kind of a Richard Bach fan here “argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours”
@MrSparkleVA I am glad despite the delivery it helped in some manner, that was indeed the only goal.
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@LMTD…I think I understand the meaning of your posts now. Delivery of material can easily be taken out of context…even more so with typing on a forum over delivery in public speaking. I can see you didn’t mean to offend or take shots at people. Delivery of material online can be subjective…I perceived arrogance at first…I don’t mind being wrong.
Keep the interesting info coming
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@MrSparkleVA what hammerhead do you own. Im looking to buy one for my 4gpm 4kpsi pressure pro today.
I use the standard 20". No need to get the wheels, they’re superfluous. Under $500, and will make you TONS of $$.
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Had a guy call today who is hitting a house with 6.5% SH and wants to know how to stop the streaking it leaves behind. Gee, can’t imagine why UGH!!!
It’s days like this where I wish I had called out sick.
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Tell him to sell his business. That will stop him from being an idiot. At least in our field
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