Now that I have the hose issue figured out, the pw has a tank for soap. I checked amazon and they offer several brands averaging 15 bucks a gallon. Hose is out for delivery, got premium gas, need soap. Doind aluminum siding on house. Is there someting regular people have that can be used ie dawn dishwashing soap? Other? Should i just buy amazon recommendations?
"ZEP Commercial House and Siding Pressure Wash Concentrate is a concentrated formula that makes up to 20 Gal. per container (dilution
6 oz. per gallon of water (1:20)). This product is specially formulated for use in pressure wash machines with downstream injectors (if the machine does not have this capability it may require manual application). It aggressively removes dirt and stains caused by algae, mold, mildew and other sources of soils from vinyl siding, hard coat stucco, brick, wood and aluminum siding. "SDS;
The PW owner's manual should state what no to use in the unit.
Or you can just mix it in bucket, then put in the washer (I believe), bearing in mind whether the washer is doing any diluting.
It aggressively removes dirt and stains caused by algae,
Power Washers are not supposed to use conventional soaps such as dish soap. Stay with soap products made for power washers.
Simplest thing is you don't need anything. And you do know this is a two step process right? The PWs I've seen, to draw the cleaner, you have it on low pressure, lot of volume. You spray it on, let it sit awhile, then power wash it off. But why not try it without anything first? If you were cleaning to paint, I'd recommend Jomax, you can use that if you like, but may not need it. Home Depot etc also have a variety of formulations, including ones that are supposed to be optimized for siding.
Depends on what you are cleaning and what is on it. I've not used any of the soap for my washer. I have wet, then sprayed or sponged soap, let sit and the power washed. Forked for my use.
Careful you don't make grooves or wash away a painted surface. The high pressure can do damage.
Apparently I'm wrong. I haven't been able to find anything negative about using dish detergent. In fact, there are some sites indicating how to make your own and what's best for cutting grease and grime.
I was always under the impression regular dish detergent was bad for the pump. Obviously not.
Combine 1/3 to 2/3 cups of trisodium phosphate with 1 gallon of cold water in a bucket. Stir the solution until the trisodium phosphate dissolves. For tough dirt add 1 quart of bleach to the cleaning solution.
Spray the solution on the pre-wetted wall with a garden sprayer. Pre-wetting will help avoid dirt running down and penetrating porous dry paint leaving stains.
Clean the house exterior with a long-handled scrub brush or power washer and rinse it thoroughly with a garden hose. This works just fine with just a scrub brush and garden hose rinse.
Clean areas small enough that you can finish the rinse before any part dries.
No hurry. I added the oil, bought a hose that can reach. 100 58 farm hose. I have lowes siding soap. Gas it up with the lowest corn fed gas. Waiting till tomorrow to clean. I would like to wait to clean after a rain to soften it up. Does a rain soften matter?
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