LOL! You guys are cracking me up! I’d be happy to explain any ingredient and why it is being used in your household items. Instock is correct, sodium hydroxide is the most benign way to raise a pH to neutral.
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Since someone revived this thread, I want to update: I NO LONGER USE A SURFACE CLEANER ON WOOD. After IBS and rick admonished me good, I took a look at the practice and looked back on some of the marginal screwups that occurred because of the SC on decks. AND, I’m doing really well without it with no more marred and chewed up decking.
Another feather in the cap of a good sound education here at the PWRA
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So what is the “preferred” method? 2% SH? F10? Oxalic? Sodium Percarb? ReNewAll? I read this entire post and now I am confused and admittedly too tired to go back through the 142 posts again. I have several older neighborhoods with horrible fences and decks that I am getting ready to blanket.
I think sodium percarbonate followed by light pressure followed by oxalic is the preferred method to clean up your basic gray deck. But that isn’t strong enough for a lot of stuff you are going to see in the real world. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
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Just cleaned a fence, no pressure. 1.5 gallon of 12.5% bleach, with 1 cup of sodium hydroxide with a cup of orange Ajax. X jetted, no proportioner.
Dwell 20 minutes, rinse (literally just a rinse…not a pressure wash with a nozzle and say it’s a rinse)
Then downstreamed hydrochloric acid mixed at 1-4 then 10-1 DS. Here’s the results
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I should add, 1.5 gallons SH, 3 gallons of H20 in a 5 gallon pail
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Did you mean hydrochloric acid or oxalic? And if HCl, in what form, muriatic?
Yes muratic… but it’s 40-1 diluted by the time it’s hitting the wood.
I understand they cost a little more, but i run with the F10 precarb, 1000-1100 psi and the f8 to
post and get these results.
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Book marked. I’ve been looking to find a quicker way for wood. Haven’t got around to trying sodium hydroxide but it looks great.
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Does anyone have trouble mixing sodium hydroxide? Ive tried f18 once but it all setteled to the bottom after I mixed it
Did you use warm water? That seems to be a common mistake. It is like putting sugar in a cold glass of tea, it just don’t mix well. Guess that gives away my region of work as well.
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I use a product called Dynamite made by a company in Youngstown Ohio called Vector Chemicals. Its the best wood deck cleaner I have used and specifically made for this application.
You can find them online and call them directly or order from their website. They will ship it to you. You can buy it in a dry format without the water and add the water yourself if you want which will save you a bunch on shippping. I think they call it a pail pack and it makes a 5 gallon pail of high concentrate.
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Do you work for Vector?
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No but they should probably pay me for mentioning their stuff.
Posted 5 mins ago
Joined Oct 3, '18
Read 35m (22m recently)
Seems like you drop a comment mentioning the company every time you come to this forum. Again, I could be wrong…but you really make it seem like you are what I said you are lol. If not, what’s your name and what company do you work for?
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Ok I was afraid that was my Pblm I’m usually running a cold water machine so warm water would be hard to get unless I mix it before I go out… does f18 go bad after you mix it?
Just let it sit outside in the sun a little while. You need to keep it stirred or shaken regularly, especially before you use.
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How are you dropping to 1000 psi? I literally can’t buy an orfice large enough to drop my 8gpm that low for a 40° fan
I don’t have a nozzle chart handy but I run a 4020 when I’m doing wood. It’s somewhere between 700-1000. Ordered from both Southside equipment and pressuretek.
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