liquid dish detergent into your concrete or stucco

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

I was told by a friend that you should always put a small amount of liquid dish detergent into your concrete or stucco mix to make it more workable with less water.

a) Does it actually make the mixture more workable? b) Does it decrease the strength or increase the strength due to the need for less water? c) How much should you put in? d) Anything else I should know? Perhaps it is against city code because it isn't an "approved admixture", etc?

Just hoping for some verification or denial.

Thanks!

PS: I understand that you can purchase superplasticisers but that is beyond the scope of many small projects such as rebuilding steps, stuccoing a framed in porch, etc.

[Oren]

Depends.

What does your friend say?

See b); or add all of it?

Just forget what the instructions call for. Be a Rebel!

I cannot attest to the veracity of the report..

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[William.Deans]

Dear Oren,

Your response was useless. Please consider a career with Verizon technical support.

Thanks anyway, William Deans

[Oren]

It was honest, since I cannot say yeah or nay to your post.

What does your research indicate? You know uselessness.

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[Joseph Meehan]

Somehow I get the feeling this is a poor idea. I don't think anyone will be able to answer authoritatively as I doubt if anyone has, or will, try it.

BTW the amount of water in the mix is not, or should not, be dependent on desired workability, There are specific ratios and messing with them will reduce the strength of the final product. Water becomes part of the concrete. With a proper mix very little evaporates.

[Oren]

Might be the Discovery Channel showing the bridge pour below the Hoover Dam. Said to be the largest single pour; ever?

Trucks lined up and up. One person's job to check the mix on every truck. They even moved trucks up ahead of the line, timing travel, sitting time, etc. Great show.

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[Oren]

The bridge will be to the right of the dam face - see aerial.

Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Detergents contain surfactants so, in theory, the water would mix easier with the cement and aggregate. Would I try it? No.

[Steve B]

I'd try some Dawn or Palmolive on at least one step to see if it made it step softer.

Steve

[Al Bundy]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

LMAO. Can ya hear me now?

[Oren]

You insist on keeping from chipping your nails; don't you?

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[Roger Shoaf]

I have never heard of this but I would be cautious of this kind of experiment. I recall where a bridge had to me torn down when some one spilled their coffee into a mixer truck the sugar caused an adverse reaction that caused a failure of the concrete.

Seems to me that if simple dish soap was a good idea then it would be something that the cement companies would advocate.

[EXT]

I find it hard to imagine that 6 to 10 cubic yards of concrete would be affected by a couple of spoonfuls of sugar. Worse things can be found in the aggregate, especially if animals have been using it lately.

[Al Bundy]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

An alleged drywall guy told me to use a small amout of Dawn in the last coat of mud on tape to make it creamy. It indeed does make it creamy. But I guess if I watered the piss out of it it would be creamy too.

What does that have to do with your question? Well, nothing.

[Hank]

email response not expected but to respond remove .uk at end TIA Hank

[mm]

But only diabetic animals excrete much sugar.

Just kidding. I have no idea if Roger's story is possible or not.

[Oren]

I can tell you. Stick with me here; the OP has a friend!!

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[Oren]

You should be former CIA; not Ex-CIA!

No Ivory soap in the major dam around here...

OP can benefit from you expertise., let loose.

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

[William.Deans]

Greetings,

I also find the coffee story questionable. I thought that sugar, although harmful when used to excess, was commonly used in small amounts as an additive to increase workability time during long difficult pours in hot weather, in much the same way as calcium chloride is used to speed up the reaction in cold weather.

I looked in google but they have surprisingly little about this... perhaps I just clicked the wrong responses.

Thanks again, William

[charlie]

there are additives that replace the water that affect the workability of the concrete and affect the time for setting.

regards, charlie cave creek, az