What's the best chem. for vinyl siding?

R. E. Crouse

New Member
Hey guys. I'm new to this forum and have only about a year of pw experience. I see guys talk about washing a 2500 sq. ft. house in an hour and a half. What's the best chemical to use so that you don't have to get right on the house to clean it. I use "Vinyl Brite". Thanks for the help.
 
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smittie1984

New Member
I use bleach

Just regular store bleach. It seems to work well for Vinyl. I've never had any problems with it. And it kills Mold, Mildew, and other stuff. It also brightens the house up too.

There is other stuff out there. But that seems to work for me so I stick with it.
 

R. E. Crouse

New Member
Thanks for the info...

How do you apply the bleach? I run the Vinyl Brite through my machine, and was wondering if I could do the same with bleach.
 

Baesthetic

New Member
two ways

I was wondering this exact same question a few weeks ago when I went into my local powerwashing supply store. I tried the bleach and it works wonders. You almost don't even have to use pressure to clean it off, it almost will just hose down. If you don't want to run it through your machine you can use a soft brush to brush it on. this only works well however, if you aren't on a ladder and are only cleaning one level. You don't need to scrub it just use the brush as an applicator then pressure wash it off. About running it through your machine: It depends on if you have a low or high pressure feed. If you have a low pressure feed (you use a siphon tube to get the chemicals into your lines, and you have to have a low pressure tip or "soap" tip on to get the chemicals in) then your chemicals don't actually run through the pump. You should still flush the siphon when you are done. I dont' have a high pressure unit yet so I'm not sure if bleach will harm a high pressure pump. I'm new as well. Hope this helps!

Jeremy Yoder, owner
Business Aesthetics
417.207.0179
Baesthetic@yahoo.com
 
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Henry Bockman

New Member
Get yourself an m5 xjet, pool bleach and some good soap and you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. With these three simple items you can do a house in 60-90 minutes also. It's going to cost you but it will quickly pay itself off. Check out www.sunbritesupply.com they have them on sale right now.
 

jdmartin

New Member
About Bleach

I have recently got into the pressure washing business. I have a friend that has worked in pressure washing for 7 years, he was the one to give me info and lead me in a right direction when I have questions. He also uses bleach to clean vinyl siding. My question is when you use for example the outdoor clorox bleach that is at lowes, home depot it is pretty thick. It tells you on the back how you should dilute it. My concern is since your pressure washing has a soap or chemical input and that also mixes with the water, how much should I dilute the bleach and it still stay effective? Thanks for the help.
 
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RogerG

New Member
As far as dilution ratios for this product, I don't know since we purchase a much higher concentrated sodium hypochlorite. Just keep in mind that Outdoor Bleach contains sodium hydroxide in it - it's not just plain sodium hypochlorite like the Clorox bleach in white bottles.
 

jdmartin

New Member
So would it just be better to get the clorox bleach right of the store and use instead of the outdoor type, which is better for that purpose? Just wondering, and thanks for the info graham
 

Henry Bockman

New Member
Hey JD,

If you use an x jet with pool bleach and good soap you won't have to use pressure to clean vinyl siding at all. After I soap down a house I can just use my gun with a male qd on it to rinse off the dirt and dead mildew.

How's VA Beach doing? I used to be stationed down there at NAS Oceana back in 86-89.
 

Aplus

New Member
Bleach alone is not sufficient to clean a house. A commercially prepared house wash mix is a vital base detergent that bleach is added to.

In fact, forget about bleach. It's often not strong enough to downstream or even to xjet. Use pool chlorine, which is 2-4 times stronger than bleach.

Another important point is understanding ratios, and how to mix the amount of soap and chlorine you will need to get the results you're looking for.

I'm sure someone's gonna bash me and say dish soap works and is cheaper, or chlorine is too toxic, or some dang thing.

Of course I'm going to say it anyway:

A commercially prepared house wash mix and chlorine is the best all-around choice.....period.
 

Henry Bockman

New Member
Hey Tony, I don't think your wrong at all. I'm using just what you said and it's the most effective.

In a pinch I've used dawn when I ran short on house wash and it does work, but not as fast or as good as commercial house wash chems. You might be able to shave a couple dollars in overhead by using dawn but the extra time it takes to work will hurt your labor rates. Not to mention it doesn't work as well as something that's made for cleaning houses.
 

CosmoKramer

New Member
Chlorine Happy

My rig and business have mainly been tailored to accomidate fleet washing but I am looking to add residential washing. I have recently purchased an X-Jet to clean siding but I am wondering about the House Cleaning Chems and ratios to mix pool chlorine and the soap. I tend to be chlorine happy, even when washing whites so I don't want to over do it on someones house. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I am new to this Forum and now I can't quite reading. I wish I would have found it sooner. Also, is an X-Jet accompanied by the right chemicals enough to clean houses and exteriors of buildings or do you still have to get up close and personal with a PW Wand.

One more thing, has anyone heard of the pitch witch for cleaning roofs. It looks good but you know how that goes. Thanks Again

"Cosmo" Kramer
 

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