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Pressure Washing Business Guide

By Pete M.

Introduction:

A nuts and bolts view of the business of exterior cleaning for profit.

By Peter Marentay, President of Sun Brite Supply

At Sun Brite Supply, we live by the philosophy that helping our customers become more efficient and make more money will come back to us. This has been our path to growth and success since 1998. In that spirit, we offer this booklet to you in the hope that you will see value in doing business with our company. We have “walked in wet boots” for years, and we want to share key parts of our experience with you so that you can avoid many of the mistakes we made along the way. As your supplier, we want to answer your questions and help you succeed. It is as simple as that.

We mention pressure washing soaps and supplies from Sun Brite throughout this manual because the cleaners we sell are the same ones we used to achieve success in our service company for years. They are stronger and more effective on the job than most other national brands and are a better value than big box store products because of their superior concentration and strength.

The techniques and information discussed in this booklet are intended to help you learn and develop the skills that will bring success to your business. Neither the author nor Sun Brite Supply can be held liable or responsible for any damage caused by you, your equipment, or your employee in trying to interpret and implement the advice given in this booklet. We don’t guarantee your success in business or your success at cleaning any surface or soil. We want to help you, but any advice you take from this booklet you take at your own risk. Sorry, but we live in a society where everyone sues everyone else for whatever setbacks they may experience in life.

Along those same lines, you can find a lot of conflicting information about how to do something and what equipment to use if you look hard enough. What is included here is simply what we learned through trial and error over years and years. There certainly are other ways to accomplish the same tasks, but we think that the information we have included in the manual has passed the test of time and experience. We only recommend things that actually helped us become successful - what we know and believe in.

As you research cleaning techniques, understand that there are a lot of opinions that get stated as if they were facts and a ton of misinformation disguised as truth out there. I have actually read on the internet about a book of “homebrew” cleaning recipes that states that bleach is non-toxic and not harmful if ingested – an absolutely dangerous and obviously untrue statement. If you accept the written word as actual fact, you will be misled every day on the internet. As you are thinking about getting into pressure washing, either as a sideline to your existing service business or as a stand-alone business, we hope this is booklet will be a good general guideline for you. If you just want to maintain your own property, you can get a lot of information here that will help you, too. Our success as contractors was due to a combination of our tools, our cleaners, our systematic approach towards training and teaching, and the products we used. We are sharing all of that in the hope that by passing along this information we can raise the level of knowledge and experience in the industry and help you become even more successful by offering this information.

Throughout this manual we will be incorporating articles that have been written for past editions of The Sun Brite Times newsletter over the years. Staying on top of our industry is our job, and informing you is a big part of that. To sign up to receive this newsletter (8 – 12 times each year) please go to the main page of the Sun Brite Supply’s web store and look for the sign-up box.

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Washers & Cleaning:

A pressure washer is not a toy; it is a tool that can cause a lot of damage if used improperly. It doesn’t automatically make you a good cleaner, but it can help you achieve great cleaning results. You can select the perfect machine for the jobs you face, but it will only perform as well as the operator who runs it. Learn your equipment, learn about the dirt you are going to clean, and, finally, learn about the surface you are going to clean. Each of these factors are important for getting the results you want.

Fact: Understanding your equipment will get you better, more consistent results.

Your pressure washer is a classic example and the best place for me to start.

Basically, in any pressure washer the engine turns the pump and the pump pushes the water through the hose against the back-pressure created by the nozzle. The smaller the opening in the nozzle, the more pressure is created. The overall effect of that pressure is abrasion of the surface (sort of like liquid sandpaper). Most people understand that the engine and pump must both run at peak efficiency to get peak output, but the nozzle actually remains the single most important part in determining how well your pressure washer works. A larger orifice creates less pressure, and a smaller orifice creates extreme back-pressure that can damage the pump. Considered a wear item, the nozzle orifice becomes larger as the nozzle wears out – a process that only takes a few months of use. There are long-life nozzles with hardened carbon steel inserts, and there are plastic nozzles that claim even longer service life, but you should plan on replacing your nozzles at least annually (and some manufacturers suggest every other month). Be sure to properly size your nozzles using a Nozzle Chart. You can get one free from Sun Brite Supply along with one of our handy Pocket Power Wash Guides just by asking. If you have a hard time interpreting the Nozzle Chart, give us a call. We can help you.

Beyond the equipment, there are some prime elements that affect the overall success of pressure washing: pressure

(PSI), flow (GPM), the accessories you select, the water temperature, and the proper cleaner. PSI (pounds per square inch) is a measure of the force generated by your equipment. You can successfully clean many surfaces with pressures that range between 2000 PSI and 4000 PSI. Some surfaces, such as wood, require that you reduce the pressure to a much lower number, but surfaces like concrete can be cleaned with as little as 2000 PSI. Interestingly enough, most surface cleaners require at least 2000 PSI to work at all. As manufacturers introduce higher and higher PSI ratings in their equipment, most of us are happy to have an honest 3000 to 3500 PSI for our purposes.

GPM stands for Gallons Per Minute. Since most cleaning these days is done chemically, your GPM rating is very important for rinsing power. In cleaning with chemicals, they do most of the work and the equipment provides a small amount of agitation (PSI) and a large amount of rinsing action. The “flow” of your equipment must be at least 3 GPM to even consider using a surface cleaner, for example, and flow rates of up to 8 gallons per minute are commonplace. The higher the GPM, the faster you can do the work.

The accessories are extremely important to the results you get and the time you spend getting those results. A turbo nozzle, a surface cleaner, or simply a trigger gun and wand can each be used to clean a driveway, for example, but there can be a huge difference in the amount of time needed to accomplish the job and the quality of the end results.

Water temperature is important because the power of your cleaning agents is optimized in warm or hot temperatures. You will use as little as half of the amount of cleaning chemical if you use hot water, for example. Hot water will cut your cleaning time by around 30% as well.

If you don’t use hot water, you need the proper chemicals to attack the soil and you need a stronger version of these cleaning chemicals. Cleaning chemicals can reduce your job time by another 30%. Cleaning chemicals can be down-streamed through your equipment or applied to the surface and allowed to dwell. We are proponents of the dwell method, because we believe that it gives you the best overall control over the cleaning process.

Chemical cleaning is an important advancement in the industry. In the old days, people just blasted away at a surface, generally causing damage to whatever surface they were cleaning. The use of good, strong cleaners has eliminated the damaging use of extreme pressures. Think about washing clothes as an illustration. You can beat the clothes against a rock like your great, great grandmother did. On the other hand, you can drop them into a washing machine with a little laundry detergent. Which method gets the clothes cleaner? Which method is gentler on the clothes? Now you get it.

The chemical cleaners break the bond between the dirt and the surface being cleaned. There are many different cleaners out there, each designed for a specific surface or a specific type of dirt. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that there is one single cleaner that will work in all situations. Set up an arsenal of good cleaners for yourself, and always keep some of each cleaner and MSDS Sheets with you so that you are ready for whatever surprises your clients can throw at you.

Finally, keep in mind that if you use a cold water pressure washer instead of a hot water pressure washer, you will have to use more chemicals (likely twice as many ounces), apply higher pressure and/or spend more time to achieve the same results. That is not taking away from cold water washers, as they can be very effective for a lot of cleaning. We built our entire service business with cold water machines and never ran into a job we couldn’t do. It just took us a bit longer to get the results than it would have with better equipment.

A cold-water gasoline portable pressure washer

Standard hot water skid-mounted gasoline pressure washer 

Choosing a Pressure Washer:

You face a lot of decisions in choosing a new pressure washer. Don’t be intimidated by all of the terms and specifications, but recognize what facts you need to know to make a good business decision.

The most important thing to know is that your equipment must match the work you intend to do. If you equipment is too large or powerful, you have wasted money and you could damage what you are cleaning. If your equipment is too small, it will take too long to do the work and you will lose money. That is the simple truth.

Let’s start by looking at the different choices you will have to make in any pressure washer:

1. Gasoline vs Electric
2. Hot Water vs Cold Water
3. PSI vs GPM vs CU
4. Belt Drive vs Direct vs Gear Driven
5. Portable vs Stationary
6. Wobble vs Axial vs Camshaft Pump
7. Heavyweight vs Lightweight
8. Home Model vs Contractor

Model Gasoline vs Electric: Most pressure washers are either powered by an electric motor or a gasoline engine. A few are diesel powered. Electrics require little maintenance and are very quiet. They require a source of power nearby (because the cord length is limited). They can be used indoors without any problem. You can have electric units with lots of power, but most electrics are small units designed for specific jobs, such as mobile detailing or deck cleaning. Gas units, on the other hand, can be extremely portable. They are designed for outdoor use and can be built to deliver tons of cleaning power. They can be somewhat loud, but your customers expect to hear some noise while you are working. Gas-powered machines are used for cleaning concrete (called “flat work”), deck cleaning, fleet work, kitchen hoods and ducts, or any other job that requires portability.

Hot Water vs Cold: Most pressure waters are cold-water portables. Cold water, along with the right cleaners, can do most jobs. Some jobs, like removing heavy grease or stripping off finishes, just go better with hot water. Hot water will enable you to cut about 30% off the time it takes to do ANY job. This business is all about time, not spending less on your tools. If you have the right tools, you can compete with other contractors and get done with each job in the shortest amount of time. Many new contractors make the mistake of under-buying their tools to save money. Most experienced contractors over-buy their tools and make the difference back in no time with the added power and features. If all you are going to do is clean and seal wood, just buy a cold water machine. If you are washing anything else, such as houses or hoods or trucks or concrete, consider hot water. If you already own a cold water machine and want to have hot water, you can call us and buy a Hot Box which will heat the water coming out of your cold pressure washer.

PSI vs GPM vs CU: First of all, let’s take any mystery out of the acronyms. PSI stands for Pounds per Square Inch. This is the pressure rating of your power washer. GPM stands for Gallons Per Minute, the flow rate of your power washer. CU stands for Cleaning Units, which is PSI multiplied by GPM. All of these terms refer to the power of your pressure washer.

To clean effectively, a power washer must provide ‘agitation’ to scrub off the dirt and ‘flow’ to rinse it away. Think of the pressure (PSI) as the agitation that is applied to the surface that you are cleaning and think of the flow (GPM) as the rinsing force that carries the dirt away.

Homeowner machines tend to run between 1200 and 2700 PSI. Contractor-grade power washers tend to run between 3000 and 5000 PSI. More power means faster work, but more power also means more potential for surface damage. Wood decks, for example, are often cleaned at pressure as low as 300 PSI because 3000 PSI will rip the wood to shreds. 3000 PSI of pressure is adequate for most jobs. Truth is that most contractors would prefer to have 3500 or even 4000 PSI if they can get it. 

GPM is much more important to most contractors than PSI. Since most contractors use cleaning chemicals to do most of the work (the fastest method) their job becomes one primarily of rinsing rather than washing. The cleaners do all of the cleaning, and the contractor rinses the dirt away. When you think about that method, you realize that the more flow you have, the faster the job is rinsed. Therefore, most experienced contractors recognize that GPM is more important to them than PSI.

PSI (power) will help you break the chemical bond between the cleaning surface and the dirt. Once the bond is broken, the extra PSI does nothing to speed up the cleaning time.

The higher the GPM, however, the more surface area a pressure washer can clean. For example, a 2000- PSI model with a 2 GPM flow rate might clean approximately 5-7 square feet per minute. If the same unit had a 3 GPM flow rate, it might clean 8-10 square feet in the same amount of time.

In this business, contractors sell “the finished job”. The contractor who gets that job done in two hours might be making $50 per hour. The guy who gets the same job done in one hour makes $100 per hour. Which one do you want to be?

Dealers of homeowner machines like to refer to CUs when they show you a power washer. This number is the result of multiplying the PSI by the GPM. If you have 3000 PSI and 4 GPM, you have 12000 CUs. For homeowner machines, this is a good comparison of the power you are buying. For professionals, CUs have little meaning. GPM is most important, and PSI is less important, and the CU formula makes them both equal. The best solution is to talk to a dealer who really understands what you are trying to clean because he will steer you to the right GPM and PSI for the job.

Belt Drive vs Direct vs Gear Driven: The gasoline engines used for power washers all run at around 3450 RPM. In a Direct Drive power washer that pump is bolted to the engine shaft, so it spins at the same 3450 RPM. In a belt drive unit, the engine is tied to the pump through pulleys and a belt and the speed of the pump is reduced to either 1700 RPM or 1400 RPM. In a gear-driven machine, the engine delivers power to a transmission that in turn spins the pump at a reduced speed (1700 RPM).

Direct drive power washers transfer the vibration of the engine directly to the pump as well.

The faster pumps of direct-drive machines are spinning so fast that they cannot draw water from a tank or a lake very well. They tend to work fine when the water is forced into the machine (like when you hook it up to a hose from the house).

The slower moving pumps (belt driven or gear driven) work less and wear less, so they tend to last many years longer. They will also pull water to the machine from a tank, so your power washer shouldn’t ever be starved for water (a problem that results in destroying the pump).

Gear driven pumps still transmit the engine vibration to the pump because everything is hard-bolted together. However, the pump in a gear-driven model is running at a similar reduced speed to the belt- driven models. This kind of power washer has not been extremely popular since it was introduced because there is obviously one more part to break in the system – the transmission.

Portable vs Stationary: Stationary power washers are used in car washes, factories, etc. They are installed in place and never move. Portable power washers are used by contractors who travel to the customer to do the work. There is a crossover model called a skid unit - a stationary machine designed to be installed on a trailer so that it can be taken to the customer’s site for the work. The most common machines for contractors to use are cold water portables (for small residential work) and hot water skid units (for large commercial work or high-volume residential work).

Wobble vs Axial vs Camshaft Pump: Since your pump is the heart of your system, it is critical to understand what you are buying. Every pump manufacturer makes several grades of pumps – Good, Better, and Best.

The Wobble design requires a piston to push against the pressure in the pump and the pressure of a spring. This is an inexpensive design to build, but it is relatively inefficient, too. This is the design found on most homeowner machines. It is designed to work for limited hours at a time and very limited hours per year, which is OK for a homeowner but doubtful for a contractor who wants to work every day. Wobble pumps tend to last for around 300 hours before needing extensive service or replacement.

The Axial design is similar to the wobble design with a couple of important differences. Most axial pumps have larger oil reservoirs and bearings, which allow them to be used for longer periods of time and more hours per year. They still are inefficient (like the wobble) but several lower-priced contractor-grade machines work fine with the axial design. Axial pumps tend to last at least 600 hours before needing service.

The Camshaft design delivers the most power and durability of all these designs. It uses connecting rods on a cam with large bearings like a car engine, so it runs cooler and lasts longer. It is able to hold up to continuous use for hours and hours as long as it is kept cool. Cam pumps tend to run for 1000 hours before needing service, and tend to last 2000 hours before needing extensive service or replacement.

Heavyweight vs Lightweight: If you are buying a portable power washer, it makes sense to pay attention to the weight of the unit. After all, you are the one who is going to lug it all around and move it into and out of your truck. Aluminum frames can be fragile, and steel frames can be heavy, so talk to your dealer about how you are going to transport the machine. He may be able to steer you to a good solution for your needs.

Home Model vs Contractor Model: The final choice for you to think about is durability. We have already discussed the difference in pumps, even from the same pump manufacturer. The cheapest power washers usually have the cheapest pump, which won’t hold up well for most contractors. There are other considerations that you need to think about, too.

The finish of the machine can be very important. Powder coating holds up better and lasts longer than painted frames.

Steel frames rust. Aluminum or stainless doesn’t. Aluminum can be bent, steel is very rigid. Choices, choices.

For power washers that will be used at least 20 hours per week and sometimes up to 8 hours in a day, the lower priced machines just won’t last very long. They come with inadequate parts throughout, such as the unloaders, pumps, and even the engines. Just because it says “Honda”, for example, doesn’t mean that all Hondas are the same. This is where Grandpa’s “you get what you pay for” saying really is true.

By the way, everybody loves Honda engines. They hold up very well. Vanguard engines are built every bit as well and last as long as Hondas, and seem to deliver more real power per rated horsepower. That means I measure a little more "ooomph" from a 16 HP Vanguard than I get from a 16 HP Honda. Cheap machines are now showing up everywhere with imitation Honda engines (made in China). The earliest versions of these engines were not reliable and did not come with a network of dealers and readily available parts for maintenance. Since then, the designs have gotten much better and the parts networks are developing, so we can foresee a day when everyone will be buying Chinese engines. Until that time, we do not comfortably recommend a Chinese engine for any power tools you make a living with.

There are a lot of different pump brands to choose from out there, too. If someone states any preference when buying a new pressure washer, Cat is the most specified brand I hear. My experience is that all of the major brand pumps are excellent, and I get the most serviceable use per dollar from General Pump and AR. Other folks may have other experiences, but we specify General Pumps for the machines we bring into stock.

So, getting back to discussing value, if you buy a $900 power washer and you get six months use out of it, that purchase cost you $150 per month. If you bought a name brand commercial- grade machine of the same specifications for $1600 and you got 5 years of use from it, that purchase cost you $27 per month. Which one is less expensive?

Let me relate some of my own experiences. As a pressure washer dealer, I see homeowners dragging in dead machines that are between a couple of months and a couple of years old every week. These machines cost more to fix than to replace, so my ‘boneyard’ is full of discarded homeowner units.

I once sold two old pressure washers that I used when I was a contractor and didn’t want any more. They were each 12 years old and each ran like a top. One had needed only routine maintenance over its life. The other had to have the pump completely rebuilt about three years before. They were both belt- driven units with AR pumps and Honda engines. I paid about $1500 for each and sold them for about $300 each. When I added up all of the maintenance costs and the purchase price and then subtracted what I got for them when I sold them, those power washers costs me about $16 per month to own. Is there a better deal than that anywhere?

If the bottom line for you is how much cash you have to fork over right now, consider an alternative. A reputable dealer can get you into a quality power washer on a lease or finance contract. In the long run, you are better off with better equipment. You will spend less of your cash today and less over the life of the machine – even with the lease or loan interest added on.

Now that we have gone over the basics of these machines, let’s get a little more specific about selecting the right one for you. We will start by asking you a few questions.

What soil will you be cleaning? If you are doing primarily residential work, a cold water machine is acceptable. If you are going to primarily doing flatwork (washing drives, parking lots, etc.) then a hot water machine is your best bet. If you will be up against heavy soils or greasy soils, a hot water machine can be invaluable to you.

What surface will you be cleaning? Some surfaces, such as vinyl siding, are extremely sensitive to temperature. Hot water can warp vinyl siding in a matter of minutes. Wood decks are sensitive to pressure and heat, so whatever equipment you buy will have to be “dialed down” to work on wood.

How frequently will you be using your pressure washer? If you are only going to use it once a month, a light duty direct drive cold water pressure washer might be all you need. If you are going to run your equipment for as much as six hours in a day, you need to look for more of a heavy duty model, such as a belt drive pressure washer with a triplex piston pump. If you are going to be cleaning for 20 hours per week or more, then a belt-drive triplex pump is critical for durability.

What fuel is preferred? Gasoline powered pressure washers models give you the most portability for outdoor cleaning. Electric models are perfect for indoor use – particularly for a permanent installation (such as inside a factory). Most contractors opt for gasoline models.

What amount of cleaning power do you need? If you are going to be doing light work (washing a boat or a house or other residential duties) a direct drive pressure washer ranging between 5 HP and 13 HP pressure washer (2 to 4 GPM ratings) may be all you need. If you will be doing heavier cleaning, consider pressure washers that deliver higher GPM for your needs. Heavy soils require GPM ratings between 4 GPM and 10 GPM.

Are you trying to earn a living or just get a task done? If you are in this to earn a living, then let’s get serious. The larger the machine, the faster you will get each job done. That is a fact. The smaller the output, the longer a job will take. You will earn much more money per hour with a bigger, “badder” machine. If you can’t swing the cost of an 8 GPM hot water pressure washer as you start out, at least spend the money to buy a quality coldwater belt-driven machine with a 13 HP engine. At least you will be able to do any job and your machine will last for years and years. Many folks start out with a cold-water machine like this and then add a hot box in their second year in business – to get the benefit of hot water. One more point: that same machine will serve as a great back-up once you have made enough money to buy a serious hot water machine.

When I look at this list, I am reminded of our company motto: What do you want to wash today? Knowing what you want to clean immediately suggests what machine you need to do the job efficiently.

In addition to the points raised here, there are a couple of other considerations for you to think about.

Cold water pressure washers need very little service. Change the engine oil twice a year, change the pump oil four times a year, change the filters and spark plug once each year and you are just about set.

Hot water pressure washers require service on the burners from time to time. This is almost always a job for a mechanic, not a business owner.

You will use only half the amount of cleaners with a hot water machine.

Hot water is almost required for cleaning heavy grease and oil. Consider hot water for cleaning parking lots, dumpster pads, off-road equipment, fast-food restaurants, and the like.

Important Stuff You Should Know:

Bypass Hose When the unloader is triggered by excessive pressure build-up, the spring contracts and water is allowed to flow through a short hose to prevent the pump from being damaged by the build-up of heat and pressure. This is called the Bypass Hose. If you allow your machine to run without allowing the water to flow out through the trigger gun for several minutes, water in the pump will become excessively hot – even beyond boiling temperature. The water boils out, and the pump is essentially running dry. The pump can be damaged or destroyed by this heat and pressure. Never allow your pressure washer to run without water and never let your pressure washer idle for two minutes without pulling the trigger. If your bypass hose runs into a large tank it also allows you to run the machine longer in bypass. Failure to observe these rules will result in expensive repairs.  

Bypass hoses mounted on pump.  

Cavitation Describes a pump that is starved for water. This occurs when the water supply to a running pressure washer is interrupted. The water in the pump boils out and the pump will begin to chatter and shudder. Extreme damage occurs in these cases. This is why many hot water skid units are designed with float tanks (a few gallons of water in reserve).

Injector This is an accessory that comes on most pressure washers. A  downstream injector adds soap to your wash water AFTER the pump. An upstream injector adds cleaner to your water BEFORE your pump. Be sure that any chemicals that go through your pump are approved for use with that pump model. Almost all effective cleaners are strong acids or caustics, so if you use an injector you can expect a shorter life for wear items like hoses, quick-connects, trigger guns, etc. When you downstream, you start injecting soap when the pressure drops. Most contractors develop techniques for starting and stopping the soap without going back to their pressure washer. Often, that might mean pulling the trigger and letting it go before the system reaches full pressure and then pulling the trigger once again to get soap started. When it is time to stop the soap for rinsing, simply stop the flow and then re-pull the trigger in 15 seconds without letting it go.

Jetters are pressure washers that pulse (used to clean out clogged drains). Any pressure washer can be changed into a drain jetter by adding a jetter valve, a jetter nozzle, and a stiff jetter hose. Most jetters are small electric machines, but any pressure washer can be made into a jetter. There are various styles of jetter nozzles available as well.

Nozzles are the small parts installed on the end of your trigger gun and lance. They are sized according to a nozzle chart for the flow and pressure of a particular pressure washer. They are available as quick-connect style or threaded nozzles. If you use quick-connect style, which is the most popular, they are color-coded for ease of use.

1. Red - 0º Not recommended for anything except blasting hard surfaces like metal
2. Yellow - 15º Used for concentrated blasting, such as stripping off flaking paint
3. Green - 25º Used for general cleaning of wood surfaces, house siding, and most other cleaning purposes
4. White - 40º Great for low-pressure cleaning and rinsing
5. Black - Soaper nozzle, ideal for down-streaming soap.  

Pressure Loss You lose about 1 PSI on average for every foot of high-pressure hose you run.

Thermal relief valve, pressure switch, flow switch These are all safety items used to protect the equipment in case of problems. Hot water machines are often made with both a thermal relief and a flow switch or pressure switch. Cold water machines might not have any of these items (depending on the manufacturer).

Trigger Gun Starts and stops the flow of water from your pressure washer.

 

Wand Any piece of equipment that extends your flow after the Trigger Gun. Wands can range from a short length of tubing between the trigger gun and the nozzle to a 24’ telescoping wand for washing high areas from the ground.

 
Typical Telescoping Wand - 18’ With Trigger Gun

Unloader This is a safety valve that opens under excessive pressure. On cold water machines, the unloader is frequently mounted on the pump. On hot water skids, this valve may be located anywhere on the skid. Unloaders are set at the factory for optimal output. Adjusting this valve (turning that big black knob) can adjust your pressure, but doing this is not widely recommended. Unloaders can wear out quickly, particularly when the machine is fitted with the wrong size nozzles (causing frequent pressure build-up and release by the valve). If your pressure washer “cycles” or you can see or feel the unloader opening and closing, you have a mechanical problem that requires immediate attention. Unloaders are generally replaced every few years because the spring in them can wear out (soften). There are many different styles of unloaders. Most OEM unloaders are simple mechanisms, but many aftermarket unloaders change how the water is handled. Some are called “easy start unloaders” because they do not allow pressure to build until after you have started the engine. Others are “flow activated unloaders” so that they come up to full pressure only after 10 to 20 seconds after you pull the trigger.

Hot Box This is an adaptation of the burner section normally found on a hot water skid unit, without the pressure washer engine or pump. A hot box is added to a coldwater pressure washer to upgrade it and produce hot water  under pressure. The burner operates on diesel fuel (or similar) and heats the water in a coil as it exits your pressure washer. The hot box requires power to operate the burner, usually provided by either a battery or your vehicle’s power system or by plugging it into an electrical outlet.

12-Volt DC vs. 120-Volt AC Burners When you purchase a hot water pressure washer or a hot box, you have to choose between a 12-volt system or a 120-volt system. The 12-volt burner is ignited by a 12-volt DC source, either from the engine’s recharging circuit (the pressure washer engine) or from a separate source like a battery or a vehicle’s charging system. The 120-volt AC burners often get their power from a generator, either a stand-alone generator or one mounted on the pressure washer itself. 120-volt Hot Boxes are usually plugged in to a 120-volt AC outlet for power, or possibly a separate generator. The 120-volt systems are usually more expensive to purchase, so why do manufacturers offer this choice? Over the years, contractors have found 120-volt AC systems to be more reliable over time. Any problem using 12-volt DC burners usually doesn’t appear until the equipment has some age on it, such as 3-5 years down the road – unless the operator makes an elementary mistake in how he uses the equipment. In order to assure a steady voltage to feed the burner igniter of a 12-volt system, for example, the engine of the pressure washer has to run at full-speed. Black Knight 12-volt hot water skids do not allow users to reduce the speed of the engine so that the burner always gets a full 12-volts of power. Repeated attempts to fire a burner when you have less than 12-volts DC can damage that igniter. If you look at a 12-volt Black Knight pressure washer and would be interested in looking at the 120-volt version, all you have to do is scroll down the page to find the 120-volt version. For example, a Black Knight 12-volt 5.5 GPM machine is a Model 620, while the 120-volt version is called a Model 620-G (for the Generator that is included on that skid unit).

Accessories:

There are a large number of labor-saving devices designed for pressure washing. These accessories quickly become indispensable in any cleaning service company. New accessories are invented every day in this industry, usually the brainstorm of people out in the field trying to cut their time investment and improve the overall quality of their results. You need to look critically at every new accessory, because the time you spend on any job determines the overall profitability of your company. You should only consider buying accessories that will pay for themselves within a reasonable amount of time, however.

How do you determine whether or not any accessory is a good investment for you? A little later in this booklet we will discuss hourly earning targets, but for now let’s assume that you are targeting earnings of $100 per hour for your services. If a tool saves you 15 minutes on a job, it just paid you 15 minutes – or $25. Pretty simple math. Once a tool pays for itself, it continues to save you time (money). That’s the real payback for making the investment in the first place.

Here are a few examples of accessories and their payback time (based on that typical $100 per hour figure):

Surface Cleaner A flat surface cleaner is that thing that looks a little like a lawnmower that is used for cleaning driveways and other flat areas (like roofs, walkways, walls, buildings, decks, etc.) Some contractors hesitate to invest in one of these  cleaners because of the cost, only to discover after they buy one that it pays for itself in just a few jobs.

The payback on a surface cleaner is determined by how much time it saves you. If it cuts your time by half over using your trigger gun and wand (a claim made by some manufacturers, others often estimate even higher savings) then in will save you $100 for every hour of use. If the average driveway takes you two hours to clean with a trigger gun and wand, the estimated time to clean that same area can be just one hour with a surface cleaner. If you spend $600 to $650 to buy this equipment, the tool is paid for in six hours or six jobs. To some contractors, this could be a 1-week payback time. For others, this might mean a 90-day payback. If a tool like this will pay for itself in six months or less, you would be short-sighted (even foolish) not to buy one.

These cleaners have come down in price so much over the last five years that the smaller ones are practical and affordable even for casual users. Buying the right flat surface cleaner for your needs requires some homework to maximize your cleaning power.

The swivel is the heart of any flat surface cleaner. Cheap swivels fail frequently, while quality swivels for surface cleaners can run for years with little or no maintenance. More swivels are being made in China these days than ever before, with mixed reviews on their quality. At this time, none are more durable than European-made swivels. Swivels are the most expensive part on any surface cleaner, and skimping here is a waste of time and money. Swivels do all of the work under very tough conditions, spinning as fast as 1500 or even 2000 RPM while standing up to high-pressure, high-temperature water. The hood or dome of the surface cleaner can be made of a number of materials, including fiberglass, steel, stainless, aluminum, plastic, vinyl, etc. Plastics, which are on the most budget-friendly units, can warp if left in a hot truck in August. Metal domes tend to give the longest service. Aluminum is lighter than steel. Stamped stainless can be even lighter than aluminum.

There are several design characteristics beyond the construction materials to think about. The handle must be comfortable to use and allow you to maneuver the surface cleaner easily. The diameter, or size, can make a huge difference. The spray bar may have 2, 3, or 4 nozzles. The equipment may have casters or a brush skirt – or both.

Floating surface cleaners (units that float over the surface when under pressure - no wheels, just a brush skirt) allow great maneuverability. Wheeled surface cleaners maintain a uniform distance from the surface, but can be slightly more difficult to move into a tight area. Some wheeled units have fixed axles and are easiest to use in a front-to-back straight line approach, while floating units and those with casters can be swung from side to side without much difficulty.

The purpose of the brush skirt is to protect the operator from flying debris and to prevent the water from being thrown all over. Once in a while an over-zealous salesman might suggest that the brush skirt actually provides some scrubbing to the surface, but if it actually did that it would add significant drag to moving the surface cleaner around.

Casters can present a small problem of their own if they are allowed to run off the side of pavement. With the bar spinning at high RPM, any contact of the nozzles or the bar with the edge of the concrete can be an expensive mistake. Remember that replacement spinner bars for surface cleaners are available.

The pressure going into a surface cleaner is the same pressure at the tip of each nozzle on the bar. Pressure is not divided by the number of nozzles. On the other hand, the flow (GPM) of your power washer is divided by the number of nozzles on your surface cleaner.

What size of surface cleaner to buy is what confuses most buyers. Whether to buy a 30” surface cleaner or an 21” surface cleaner is a function of the volume of the power washer that will be supplying the surface cleaner. No matter what the output of your power washer is, it will clean the same area over the same period of time whether you use a 30” model or an 18” model. The difference between the two will be in how fast you move the cleaner while you are working.

To decide which size to buy, keep this in mind. We know that the output of the power washer (in gallons per minute) is divided among the number of nozzles. Our target has to be to get as close to 2 GPM per nozzle as possible for cleaning power. If we have a 4 GPM power washer and we are considering a 3-nozzle surface cleaner, then our flow at each nozzle is (4 / 3 =) 1.33 GPM. That is too low for effective cleaning. I suggest that the smallest volume of water per nozzle should be at least 1.5 GPM, and closer to 2 GPM is better.

Now that we know the number of nozzles we want, we need only determine the diameter, or “cleaning path”. The larger the cleaning path, the slower we have to move to clean properly. The larger the cleaning path, the fewer steps we have to take. The smaller the cleaning path, the lower the relative price for the equipment. Inversely, larger equipment costs more. Your personal preference comes into play at this point.

The most scientific approach to selecting the right surface cleaner requires you to take another look at the power washer you will be using. If the GPM is under 4 GPM, then you are sending less than 2 GPM to each nozzle. The more you are under 2 GPM per nozzle, the smaller the diameter (cleaning path) I would recommend. I would suggest that a 3 GPM power washer should be connected to a 16” or 18”. A 3.5 GPM machine might best be matched to an 18” to a 21” surface cleaner. A 4 GPM power washer will easily work with a 21” or 24”. Once you get to 5.5 GPM or more, you should definitely consider a 3-arm surface cleaner.

Now too nozzle sizes. Most surface cleaners are equipped with nozzles from the factory. Those nozzles are not sized exactly for your equipment, but are a general size to fit the average buyer’s pressure washer. Using a standard nozzle chart, look up the PSI and GPM at each nozzle. If you have a 4000 PSI, 4 GPM power washer, and you are buying a 2-arm surface cleaner, then look on the nozzle chart for 4000 PSI and 2 GPM (accounting for the flow being split between two nozzles). That will tell you that you need a 2.0 nozzle orifice. The angle of the nozzle, such as 15º, is of less importance than the orifice size to most operations. I have seen effective use of 25-degree nozzles and zero degree nozzles, but 5 to15 degree nozzles remain the favorites.

When you order a new surface cleaner, you can specify your desired nozzle size. Don’t be surprised if there is a small up-charge to have the nozzles changed out for you before shipping the surface cleaner to you.

Just when you think you have seen everything, something new comes along that just makes good sense. There are surface cleaners for cleaning roofs, which is a blessing when you look at some of these roofs with pitches like church steeples.

Another variation on styles is a surface cleaner with vacuum ports installed. These are designed to allow the user to vacuum the water while they are cleaning. This is an ideal configuration when using these tools indoors or when you have to capture all of your used water (for environmental reasons).

In the end, a good surface cleaner will speed up your job and add greatly to the uniformity of the overall cleaning. They pay for themselves reasonably quickly, and they give your company a professional image.

Turbo Nozzle (Rotating Nozzle) A turbo nozzle replaces your regular nozzle at the end of the wand. It converts the output of water to a cone-shaped circular area of 0-degree impact. These nozzles accomplish this transformation by passing the water over a ceramic part that, by its very design, rotates at high RPM inside the nozzle. This rotation creates the circular pattern of water on the surface.  This patter can range from 4” to around 10”, depending on the brand and the distance from the surface being cleaned.

Every turbo nozzle has its own characteristic output. The smaller the circular pattern, the more concentrated the cleaning action is. The wider the circle, the more area you cover with every pass. Finding the balance between these two attributes calls for experimentation by the contractor. Once a contractor finds the particular nozzle that works for him, he usually sticks with that model for years and years.

Rotating nozzles are reliable if handled properly. Always aim the turbo nozzle downward when starting or stopping the flow to prevent damage to the ceramic spinner inside. Many rotating nozzles are rebuild-able, an important distinction for overall value.

Turbo nozzles are ideal for washing uneven surfaces like curbs. They can be used for de-scaling metal, removing rust, paint removal, washing flat surfaces like drives and walks, boat cleaning, and the list goes on and on. Some contractors use their turbo nozzles instead of a surface cleaner, while most use one as a complement to their surface cleaner (for corners, curbs, and other areas where a round surface cleaner is not practical).

Generally speaking, a turbo nozzle will clean much faster than an ordinary nozzle. Estimates range all the way to cutting your time by 30%, but that may be a slight exaggeration. If you spend $100 on a turbo nozzle and save 25% of the time it takes to do a job, your turbo nozzle will pay for itself in 4 hours of use.

When shopping for a turbo nozzle, be sure to buy the right size for your pressure washer. The nozzle chart will tell you what size to buy. Price out rebuild kits for the nozzle you are considering, because this is an element of the overall cost to own this tool. You will likely rebuild your turbo nozzle every other year (or more frequently if you don’t take good care of it).

X-Jet Washing houses or low-rise buildings with the X-Jet can keep you off ladders while delivering acceptable quality to your customers. The concept is to do all of the work with good chemical cleaners rather than with physical scrubbing or pressure.

X-Jet is named that because it is an “external” injection system, introducing the cleaner to the water after all of the hoses and fittings. Using an X-Jet prolongs the life of all of your wear items such as hoses and quick-connects.

The X-Jet is simply a chemical delivery system disguised as a pressure-wash tool. While keeping you off of ladders for house washing, it will deliver any chemical to places up to 35 feet up in the air without requiring that chemical to go through the pump, hoses, fittings, etc. Instead of replacing brass QC fittings in as little as three months or replacing hoses as frequently as once each year (which happens when you downstream strong cleaners) these wear items can last for years when all they ever touch is water. In the end, owners of X-Jet stay off ladders more often, save lots of money on replacement parts, and save time and labor dollars.

When power washing with an X-Jet, you automatically dilute the cleaner at some ratio. It comes with proportioners (little plastic inserts that determine how much cleaner is added to the water). You can dilute at ratios ranging from .8:1 all the way to 766:1 with an X-Jet. Excellent flexibility allows you to fine-tune your cleaning process.

No claims are made by the manufacturer of the X-Jet about how much labor this device can save. In my case, I went from washing houses using a telescoping wand to an X-Jet and cut my time by well more than half. With the price range from $100 to $180 (depending on model and source) an X-Jet will likely pay for itself in a couple of house wash jobs.  

Telescoping Wand These telescoping wands replace your trigger gun and wand to help you reach difficult spots high up. They range in reach from 12’ long to 24’ long fully extended. The cleaning pattern of a telescoping wand is the same as the nozzle in the end. If you use a typical fan tip nozzle (like the one that comes with your new pressure washer) it will clean in the same pattern and time as your trigger gun and wand. If you put a turbo nozzle on the end of your telescoping wand, it will clean in a same pattern as it does on the ground.

Telescoping wands vary greatly in price, weight, and durability. Fiberglass is the common construction material used in entry-level telescoping wands, which tends to be heavy but durable. The weak point in these lower-priced wands is at the section joints (where the wand telescopes). The plastic tighteners can break (but can also be replaced on many models).

Aluminum Telescoping Wand (24’) w/Cam Lock Fittings  

Aluminum construction gives you more rigidity with lower weight, which makes them more desirable and more expensive. Less expensive telescoping wands that are fully extended have a considerable amount of flex in them.

Telescoping wands are an alternative to an X-Jet, but the cost as least as much or more and require much more physical strength to use. They deliver abrasive water power to the surface, which an X-Jet does not (X-Jets clean chemically while telescoping wands clean with water power).

The only payback on a telescoping wand is the fact that you won’t have to get up on a ladder to clean. You will be able to reach the surface from the ground. This is a valuable difference, but it is difficult to calculate what the exact value of this is.

Your Vehicle One of the most important elements of your set-up is your rig. You may be tempted to throw your used direct-drive 1700 PSI pressure washer in the back of an old Buick station wagon and head out to the job, but your  customers probably won’t believe that this is much of a professional appearance. Instead, picture pulling up in a clean vehicle with lettering on the side, commercial tags, and well maintained equipment.  

A van gives you terrific image and a natural place for signage. An enclosed trailer will give you the same thing. An open trailer, however, is still the most common vehicle for hot water set-ups.

Sun Brite Supply creates beautiful custom trailer rigs for contractors. We ‘scale-balance’ every trailer we build for proper balance and weight distribution (for safe pulling). I started out in the business pulling a small trailer, and that rig is still being used today by the fellow that bought my business. The advantage for me to do this was the initial investment and the idea that I could use my pickup for business and for personal use. I gradually moved up to van rigs, which worked very well for wood restoration.

Other Accessories

The list of available accessories for pressure washing are almost innumerable.

Hoses that don’t mark concrete

Hose reels for organizing your work vehicle

Hose line swivels that minimize the natural curling of your high-pressure hose

Quick-connects in brass, steel, or stainless steel    

Specialized trigger guns for different uses  

 

Flexible wands Gutter cleaning attachments

Rollover or specialty nozzles that allow you to switch nozzles with a twist of the hand

Duct spinners for kitchen exhaust cleaning Shooter tips for shooting down-streamed cleaners

 

Specialized injector systems

Wet sandblaster systems

And any number of valves, filters, pumps, brushes, and more.

Most of these items only offer a reasonable payback time under specific job conditions. Many of these items simply offer convenience to the operator, which is always worth some investment.

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What You Should Buy Starting Out:

This is the big question that everyone wants a short answer to. It comes down to your budget and what sort of cleaning you will be doing. The better tools you buy, the more money you are going to make per hour. Simple.

If you are starting out to do essentially residential work, I recommend that you consider the following package:

1. 13 HP cold-water belt-driven pressure washer
2. 18” to 24“ surface cleaner
3. Turbo Nozzle
4. X-Jet with the Closed System Pail
5. Non-marking hoses

…at a cost of $2400 to $3000 ...or simply order our Cold-Water Package for New Contractors!  

As you gain efficiency and begin to tackle other work, in the following year you might add other specialty tools and possibly a Hot Box to give you the option of washing with hot water.

If you are starting out to do primarily commercial work, I would change that base package to:

1. Hot-water skid unit mounted on a trailer with a water tank 21” to 30” surface cleaner
2. Turbo Nozzle
3. X-Jet with Closed System Pail
4. Non-marking hoses

 …at a cost of $8000 to $14,000 ...or simply order either our Entry-Level Hot Water Package or our Commercial-Duty Hot Water Package

If you intend to do environmental cleaning, you will be best served by using the above lists and adding a vacuum, a pick-up boom, and substituting a vacuum surface cleaner for the one above. The cost for these items can add $2500 to $12,000 for new items.

Should you consider used equipment? Many contractors start out buy buying an equipment package from someone else who is leaving the business. Often, the deal they get is not really what they bargained for. Think about this: that seller is leaving the business because something wasn’t working out for him. Perhaps he didn’t understand cleaning or marketing or the service business in general. What choices he made in equipment might not be right for the work he was doing, either. The care he took of that equipment may be questionable. (I won’t buy a used car that was used by a car rental place because I believe the drivers of that car didn’t care too much about taking care of it. I also won’t buy one that was repossessed for the same reason.) I would look skeptically at used equipment for similar reasons – unless I really understand the equipment and can judge the condition and value with some confidence. If you know and understand equipment, you can find a lot of great deals on used equipment.

Most folks shopping for used equipment are not familiar enough to know if what they are buying is workable for the jobs they want to do. Often, they take the word of the seller that everything is properly sized and in good working order.

If they buy this equipment through a private party, the end up with no support structure either.

How does a new contractor judge the value of used equipment? How do you tell the difference between a good deal and one that is too good to be true? The private party seller will tell you what he paid for the equipment (not a very trustworthy source) but what does that have to do with the real value to you? Consider taking any used equipment package to your local power wash supply dealer for an appraisal. Ask him how much he would pay to buy the equipment package from you. That will give you a much better idea of its worth. Consider offering to pay your local dealer for a written appraisal that you can use as a bargaining tool. This will start off your relationship with that dealer on the right foot. This cost adds to the overall cost of the equipment, but might end up saving you from paying too much or buying the wrong things.

Buying new or used equipment from a dealer will give you the support structure you will need and some assurance that everything you buy is properly sized and in good working order. This support is essential for a person just entering the industry. Buying from a local dealer will give you a place to go for repairs and replacement parts. Buying new or used equipment from an online source can get you tech support but no mechanical services.

In the end, used equipment is only a good deal for an experienced hand. An inexperienced contractor who buys used equipment often finds himself with things that are worn out and not exactly the bargain pictured.

Care & Maintenance:

Operating any pressure washer responsibly means checking the oil levels in both the pump and the engine (different oils) before you start up. Never aim the trigger gun any place you wouldn’t aim a loaded pistol. Do not let your machine run without releasing pressure frequently, and never fueling the machine while it is running. In addition, don’t run your machine on a slope and always test your washing method in an inconspicuous area before you start blasting away.

Caring for your equipment lengthens the service life. As already mentioned, change the pump oil and engine oil according to your manufacturer’s recommendations. If you don’t have the recommended service intervals, engines are typically serviced every six months and pumps are serviced every three months. Or you can use a meter to track engine hours. Check for belt wear from time to time, and replace cracked or frayed belts immediately.

Whenever you store your power wash equipment over an extended period of time in a place where the temperature drops into the thirties or below, you run the risk of damage to your equipment due to freezing. Failing to properly prepare your power wash equipment can cost you dearly. If you allow water to sit in the pump and freeze, the resulting expansion will damage the  ump. Problem areas beyond the pump include the unloader, the lines, and the coil.

This is not new stuff, nor is it rocket science. Yet every year we get a number of repair jobs from folks who forgot to thoroughly winterize their machines when they hung up their wands for the winter – even in the southern half of the country. If you are lucky, it will only be the unloader that will need to be replaced.

Here is the typical advice within our industry: Whenever you are storing a power washer for extended periods in cold climates, drain all liquids from the pump and flush the wet-end of the system with an antifreeze solution to prevent freezing. Never run the pump with any frozen liquid in it.

Blow water out of the system with compressed air if possible. Prepare an antifreeze mix using automotive antifreeze mixed 1:1 with water. You will only need 2-5 gallons to fill your system.

1. For hot water skid units with a float tank, replace your regular hose with a short whip line and attach your trigger gun. Add the antifreeze mix to the float tank and run your system until the antifreeze solution comes out the trigger gun. You can aim the trigger gun back into your float tank and keep running until you are confident that your entire system is protected. Cycle the trigger gun several times to engage the unloader and displace any water inside it with the antifreeze solution.
2. For hot water machines that pull from a water tank and do not have a float tank, I would disconnect the pressure washer feed line from the water tank and drop the feed line into a 5 gallon pail of antifreeze mix. For hot water skids with upstream injection (but no float tank) you can pull undiluted antifreeze into your system using your injector system.
3. For typical cold-water portable power washers, the downstream injector is not suitable for introducing antifreeze because it will typically mix at 4:1 (too light). You can feed your pump with a short piece of garden hose (used as a suction line) into a container of the antifreeze mix. Start your power washer and hold open the trigger gun long enough to see the antifreeze mix coming out. Cycle the trigger un several times to engage the unloader and displace any water inside it with the antifreeze mix.

If you continue working through the winter (which is pretty common south of the Mason-Dixon) you may find yourself winterizing your equipment repeatedly each season (whenever the temp drops severely overnight).

Preparing your equipment like this will prevent most problems, but there are other things you can do. Keeping your equipment in a heated garage is always the best situation, but not always practical. Keeping the equipment inside even an unheated building is a big improvement over leaving it outside. If you can get it into a building, aim for a spot that is away from an outside wall and as close to a wall that connects to a heated area as possible. Consider covering the equipment with a tarp and placing a warmer under the tarp. (I used a clip-on flood light holder for heat, a $5 item at your favorite big box home store.) Be careful not to create a fire hazard by letting the tarp touch the light fixture. A 50W light bulb, left on continuously for about 4 months, will only use about $15 worth of electricity. If you are indoors and covered with a tarp, the 50W solution will probably be enough added heat to prevent any problems.

While you are winterizing, don’t forget the rest of your system. Either run the machine completely out of gas or fill the tank completely and add a fuel stabilizer. Change the oil in the engine, too. Disconnect the battery from the system and connect it to an automatic trickle charger (one that shuts off by itself when the battery is fully charged). Taking care of your equipment adds years to its life and saves you both money and down-time.

Learning to Use Your Washer:

There are a few basic keys to using a pressure washer properly.

Never aim at any person, animal, or surface when you pull the trigger. The sudden burst of high-pressure water can harm living creatures and most surfaces. Start off aiming into the air or a reasonable distance from any surface and then move in to begin cleaning.

When you begin powering off the dirt, try to avoid stopping and starting your flow. It can leave marks and the end result may be uneven. Instead, try to make your movements smooth and fluid. Practice easy fluid motions every time you use the pressure washer and develop proper cleaning technique.

Never use more force than necessary. You can reduce the force put out by your pressure washer by using an oversized nozzle or by using a dual-lance wand.

Only use as much cleaner as necessary. Always soap from the bottom up and always wash from the top down.

Add powders gradually to liquids, never add liquids to powders.

Bio-Barrier and Wet Wax are both terrific 'up-sell' treatments for house-washing and similar work.

Always carry something whenever you travel between the truck and the job. It will save you time and trips on every job.

When doing flatwork with a surface cleaner, watch your effluent (used water). If it has a milky look, then you are moving too slow and abrading the "cream" right off of the concrete. If you are moving too fast, you will leave stripes.

Use a Nozzle Chart to figure out the proper tips for your surface cleaner. Divide your GPM by the number of nozzles, and then look up the proper size. Make sure your nozzles are on a 15-degree angle.

When doing house washes, set your equipment up so that you can get two sides of the house from one position. Then you only relocate once to finish the job.

When pouring any liquid from the spout of a 5-gallon pail, pour with the spout at the top of the pail rather than the bottom. You will eliminate "glugs".

Carrying spare O-Rings in your toolbox will keep you working when one fails or blows out.

As you are learning how to use your pressure washer, take this step to learn how much pressure you need to accomplish the cleaning task you are trying to do. Start several feet away from the surface you want to clean and pull the trigger. Slowly advance towards the surface, paying close attention to what is happening to the soil. As soon as the soil starts to move, you have discovered the distance you ought to be cleaning at. This easy technique will teach you a lot about your system and will prevent damage to the surface. After a while, you will automatically know what distance to maintain when power washing.

To get uniform results, you have to use uniform techniques. Apply the cleaner uniformly. Maintain a uniform distance while cleaning. Use the same cleaners on similar jobs, because the more you repeat the techniques you use the more professional your results will be. Changing cleaners or application methods will give you different results every time. My barber cuts my hair the same way every time, so I know what to expect from him. Look at your cleaning methods and techniques the same way. Practice makes perfect.

Rinse, rinse, rinse. After the dirt you were aiming at is gone, make sure that the entire area around this dirt is completely rinsed. Be aware that cleaners and rinse water splash everywhere, and rinse appropriately.

The biggest key to cleaning faster with the lowest amount of labor (and pressure too) is to use chemical cleaners to speed the job along. Most folks with time in the trade understand that $5 worth of cleaner can save you $25 worth of time. Never use cleaners stronger that necessary. There is a lot of power in a good detergent, but not every job needs that much power. You can dilute cleaners to the optimal strength.

The instructions on many cleaners assume that the contractor uses the dwell method for the product, which is not always the case. This is a great opportunity to look at the impact of different application methods on your business from a time (labor cost) standpoint. There are two primary application techniques contractors use when they apply cleaners to a surface:

 The Injection method, including:

1. Upstream Injection
2. Downstream Injection

The Dwell method, usually involving

1. mechanical spraying
2. (or a hand application such as brushing).

The “Injection” method describes introducing the cleaner through the water being used to clean the surface. Let’s discuss the various styles of injection applications.

Upstream injection describes a system where the cleaner is introduced into the stream of the pressure washer before the pump. That means that the internal parts of the pressure washer, such as the pump itself, are exposed to the cleaning chemical. Since so many good cleaners are either strong caustics or strong acids, the pressure washer must be designed and built to handle these cleaners.

Downstream injection occurs when the cleaning chemical is not introduced into the water until after the pump. The only equipment exposed to harmful corrosives like acid or caustic, then, are the hoses, quick-connects, trigger gun, wand, and nozzles.

The “Dwell” method, on the other hand, describes introducing the cleaner directly to the substrate at a pre-determined strength and allowing it to sit and work on the dirt for a pre-determined amount of time. For the dwell method, no cleaning chemical comes into contact with your pressure washer.

The differences between using the Injection Method and the Dwell Method are plentiful. They include:

1.  Type of cleaning equipment used
2. The surface being cleaned
3. The soil being cleaned
4. Amount of product consumed
5. Wear and tear on equipment
6. Speed of application
7. Control of cleaning action

When we talk about the type of cleaning equipment being used, we are looking first at the pressure washer. Many hot water machines come with upstream injectors because of the desirability of being able to use the cleaner at a wide range of concentrations with the full amount of water pressure available that the machine can produce. The comparably higher cost of an upstream injection system can be easily justified on a piece of equipment priced at $5000 and up. The limitations of using an upstream injector include the fact that you must go back to the power washer to  regulate the flow of cleaner (turning it up or down or off). With upstream injection, you are truly applying the cleaner and the cleaning force of the water at the same time. The greatest advantage of using an upstream injector is that you can either ‘heat up’ the mix or cool it down with the turn of a knob – based on how the cleaner is working on the soil.

Many cold water machines (which have price points well below hot water machines) come equipped with downstream injection systems because these systems are less expensive and adapt well to both belt drive and direct drive applications. The best advantage of a downstream system is that you can start the cleaner flowing and stop it from flowing right at the wand. With downstream injection, you will by default be applying the cleaner at a low pressure and use a high pressure rinse to complete the cleaning job. The disadvantage of using a downstream injector is that, in order to get the perfect strength, you may have to play with the concentration of the cleaner before it goes through your injector. Most downstream injectors are “fixed” to dilute at 4:1. Some are fixed at other values. Some are adjustable. When we discuss the surface being cleaned and how that affects the cleaner application, first consider soft surfaces like wood. Unable to withstand high pressure, these softer surfaces require the use of either a downstream system or the dwell method to clean with a minimum of damage. Harder surfaces such as steel or masonry respond best to cleaning with high pressure (so any cleaner application method will work).

The dirt being cleaned may require extended chemical action before it can be rinsed away. A case in point is the job of stripping a tough finish off of a deck. In that case, we have to keep the pressure light and yet we need an effective chemical cleaning action. This is a classic case for using the dwell method, where the cleaner can be allowed to sit for an extensive period and then rinsed away at low pressure after it has done its job.

Your application method greatly affects the amount of cleaning chemical you will use to get the results you want. Since a wide range of concentrations are available with upstream injector applications, and since the application and the rinse process take place at the same moment as you apply the cleaner, you will tend to use much more cleaner than with other systems. Since the output ratio of most downstream injectors is fixed, you will be limited in the strength of the cleaner but you will likely use less product. You will tend to use the least amount of cleaner for any job by using the dwell method because the product is applied at a controlled rate and allowed to work without further dilution.

When it comes to wear and tear on the equipment, remember that the cleaners we all really love - the ones that get us off the job quickest - are extremely strong. These acids and caustics react on materials including metals like brass and aluminum, so everything from your pump, quick-connects, hoses, trigger guns, and tips can be affected by contact with them. Using upstream and downstream injectors for strong cleaners will force us to replace “wear items” (like hoses and quick-connects) more frequently because of the damage caused. In situations like this, it is often much more economical for a contractor to switch to stainless quick-connects that will last a year instead of using brass (which will need to be replaced about every 3 months with exposure to strong cleaners). Besides quick- connects, tips and guns are among the first things to show premature wear – requiring more frequent replacement.

Nothing is faster than using an injector system to apply cleaners. With the dwell method, you must apply the cleaner and wait for it to finish its work before you begin the pressure washing process – a process that usually means about 10 minutes of wait time. With the injector method, you skip that whole step (and the associated time). You simply start washing.

The dwell method, on the other hand, gives you an extraordinary amount of control over the chemical action taking place. You control the exact concentration of product (its strength) and the exact amount of exposure time. The extra time invested for the applying pays a handsome dividend in the results possible.

If you are considering using the dwell method, you will likely be applying the product with a mechanical sprayer. This can range anywhere from the simplest “pump-up” mechanical sprayer to a complete application system like a Deckster. Many contractors have also built sprayers themselves using off-the- shelf parts like ShurFlo motors.  

Pump-up sprayers vary widely in quality, function, and price. Cheaper units have fragile plastic wands and tips, and the output can be spotty. Better units have brass wands and brass tips. The ones we sell come with a brass wand and a brass cone jet tip and a lifetime warranty. Avoid using backpack sprayers. They are a great idea in theory, but if they ever leak some pretty strong chemicals will be dripping into places you would rather not have them. (I am speaking from personal experience, so I know!)

Electric sprayers can be powered at 12 VDC or 120 VAC, depending on your situation. ShurFlo pumps are diaphragm pumps, which require Viton kits to be added if you are dealing with strong cleaners. These motors are available from Sun Brite and work very well, with the exception of the problems that occur if they are not cleaned properly after use or when the diaphragm develops a minor leak. We often got anywhere from a year or so of service out of one of these pumps, to as little as two months (depending on the product we put through it and the way it was cared for by the employees).

Of course we want to mention the battery-operated Deckster, since that is the only application tool (power sprayer) we used for years. This is a  different pump from a ShurFlo-style because it is a piston pump. The pump stands up to a lot of abuse and keeps going, which is why we chose it in the first place. The Deckster will apply any thin cleaning product, acid or caustic. Required maintenance is minimal. The pump is economical and fast to rebuild if anything wears out. The first one we ever put into service is still in daily use today.

We have preached the gospel of the dwell method for years and years here at Sun Brite Supply. Because we started in the business as wood guys, that method was our natural direction. It allowed us to harness the power of the cleaner at its optimal strength, and to rinse the cleaner off the surface when the dirt is ready to move easily.

Decisions About Cleaners:

If the soil you are cleaning is oily or contains atmospheric dirt, use an alkaline cleaner like Power House. If it contains minerals (such as rust or mortar splash) use an acid cleaner like ProBRC. Alkalines (also known as caustics or base chemicals) will break an oil molecule (hydrocarbon) and enable you to wash it away. An acid cleaner will attack a mineral like rust or lime, allowing you to remove it. If it sounds too simple, it is. It is often the surfactants and solvents in a cleaner that give you a different kind of cleaning power, not the action element of acid or alkaline.

Years ago, the art of cleaning was simply to power-wash with as much pressure as one could muster. Unfortunately, this method is still used by people who don’t keep on top of current practices. Smart contractors today allow chemicals to do most of the work for them.

Power washing is a combination of agitation, breakdown, lift, and rinse. The pressure of the water provides the agitation. Breakdown is usually accomplished with a chemical application (such as using a caustic on oily dirt). Lift is the function of the surfactants added to the chemical, and is the separation of the dirt from the surface. Rinsing washes the dirt away so that it does not resettle on the surface. If you don’t use a cleaner, then you must accomplish everything with just the pressure of the water. This presents an unnecessary risk to the surface.

We have already discussed using either the dwell or injection method for applying a cleaner. Whatever choice you make, the cleaner you use for any particular job will be the same either way.

A cleaner is a chemical “action” agent combined with surfactants. A chemical is just the action agent without the surfactants. A straight chemical by itself does not clean the dirt, it just “breaks” it. Adding the surfactant (soap) allows the broken dirt to be rinsed away easily.

Some surfactants are high-sudsing, some are low-sudsing. Different surfactants affect different soils and surfaces. While most of the cleaners we use in the power washing industry are caustics (specifically sodium hydroxide) the surfactants vary widely between wood cleaners, concrete cleaners, and fleet washes. That is why there are so many different cleaners available out there. Each one has a different concentration of its chemical agent and different combinations of surfactants.

The concentration of cleaners makes a huge difference in the cost of using them. It is much cheaper to use a cleaner that dilutes 15:1 and costs twice as much as a cleaner that dilutes 4:1. Think about it. If you don’t know the “spread rate” for a cleaner, and the label is not clear, you can assume that the coverage is meant to be 150 sq. ft. per gallon.

Some contractors try to clean everything with bleach or some other home-made concoction. I came across a recipe cookbook for home-made cleaners a few years back. It was chock full of recipes, but also contained quite a few glaring (and some dangerous) mistakes. Too many contractors play at being chemists these days. It’s pretty easy to do. Most of the ingredients are listed on the label or on the MSDS sheets, right?

Actually, the only ingredients identified on the label or the MSDS are the ones required to be identified by OSHA and other government bodies. These are the “action” ingredients, but a far cry from the whole picture. Missing from the list are all of the ingredients that aren’t harmful but create the right environment for the action ingredients to work in. Just because an MSDS says the product contains sodium hydroxide does not mean that you can have “almost as good” by mixing sodium hydroxide and a little dish soap. In fact, what happens most often is that the home-made recipe does not work well at first. The answer? More sodium hydroxide, please. That is often what happens with field creations like this. So now you have a product that is almost as good, but it is over the top in caustic content. So what!?! You saved a couple of bucks, and who really cares how much sodium hydroxide you use on your customer’s property?

This is done strictly to save money, not to create a better cleaner. The guys in lab coats spent years and tons of money creating the best cleaners possible already. So we do this experimentation to save a couple of bucks.

Actually, what the manufacturer spends to bring his product to market is huge, and that is the reason for the higher price. First, the manufacturer does R & D to think up the product and test all of the possible formulations. Once the ingredients have been determined (by people with degrees in chemistry) the manufacturer gets insurance to cover his manufacturing process - to protect you and your customers should the product not be what it is supposed to be. Then the manufacturer creates an MSDS, so that you have the legal paperwork required (to have a cleaner in your possession). Your home-made recipe has none of those other ‘ingredients’. Being cited by OSHA for not having a proper MSDS, for example, will cost you as much as $70,000. On your first offense, the actual fine might be as low as $2000. Would that put a dent in this week’s earnings? So, if you use your own home-made cleaners, what are you telling your customers? Does Mrs. Jones, who hired you to strip and seal her deck, understand that you might be a ‘garage chemist’ experimenting on her property? Are the ingredients you use today acceptable to your customers, today and tomorrow? If you buy manufactured cleaners you don’t need to worry. You are covered by the manufacturer. If you make your own, you are the manufacturer and you need to provide protection for your customers from your products.

While this sounds a little extreme, remember that just a few decades ago we used a lot of chemicals that are currently banned because of problems that have shown up over time. Canada, for example, is on the verge of banning some siloxanes and phenols - common cleaner ingredients that Canada just now is deciding might be toxic to the environment. It helps you sleep if you know that the manufacturer carries insurance to protect your customers.

And what about your safety? Let’s consider a few common wood cleaning products.. For example, pure sodium hydroxide beads and oxalic acid powders can be devastating to your body if you breathe their dust. Do you wear a full respirator when you are mixing ingredients in your garage? Full-length rubber gloves? A rubber apron?

Cleaner Times magazine wrote the following sad example about someone mixing cleaners: October 22, 1999 Robert Belk, a 48-year-old business owner, died at Grady Memorial Hospital (in Atlanta) after an exposure to hydrofluoric acid. Belk owned a company called Chemical Packaging near Atlanta, GA, which produced solutions for high-pressure washing. At the time of the accident, Belk was mixing a solution when a hose slipped, saturating his clothes with 70% hydrofluoric acid. He hosed off with water, but rather than have his secretary call the paramedics, he drove himself to the hospital. Burns were found on both lower legs and his left arm, but it was the HF that went through his skin that caused his death the following day from respiratory and heart failure.

And what about your family’s safety? Are you buying 100# of sodium hydroxide and storing what you haven’t used in your garage? Have you properly protected your children by locking this stuff away? Are you keeping it in an absolutely airtight container (because of it’s affinity for moisture, sodium hydroxide will pull water out of the air and “mix” itself.) And what about performance? It is doubtful, for example, that someone considering buying raw oxalic acid to use as a deck brightener will take the extra step that virtually all manufacturers have learned – blending other acids with the oxalic will create better results with a less toxic formula.

Now let’s take a look at cleaning decks and fences again. There is a real problem with using “home brews” such as sodium hydroxide mixed with dish detergent. It is extremely difficult to rinse this mix out of the wood.

One manufacturer explains that the new oil sealer can end up becoming “saponified” if the cleaner is not completely rinsed out of the wood. This means that the oil of the sealer is turned into soap by the residue of sodium hydroxide and simply washes away at the next rain. Common results of using a mix like this is poor sealer adhesion and poor sealer absorption. The result, depending on the nature of the sealer, is a splotchy finish or peeling and fading. While these problems sometimes take months to appear, rest assured they will affect your profitability. You will get a call asking you to “redo” the deck at your own expense. This is a great way to add to your reputation: “We fix whatever we ruin”. One manufacturer put it best when he said “A manufacturer merges chemistry and technology to solve your needs. The balancing of surfactants, the order of addition of those other chemicals, proper rheological agents, and many other factors go into the final product. These subtle additives and manufacturing techniques play a much larger role in the effectiveness of a product than the bulk chemical itself.”

In conclusion, it is apparent that the amount of money saved by using home brews instead of properly formulated products is not worth the hazard to yourself, your customers, and your work. Sun Brite Supply offers you products that will get the job done as fast as possible, with results as good as you expect, for about $3 per gallon or less. These products remain the best value in the market today.

On the topic of using bleach, old-time pressure washing contractors have tried to clean everything with a “one-cleaner-fits-all’ approach that just doesn’t work very well. A number of old-timers talk about a mixture of bleach and dish soap as if it was the best answer for all occasions, mostly because it is easy to get and the user can create a mix that becomes his “trade secret”. Those who understand the chemistry involved hold this approach in low regard. Bleach is a great disinfectant and mold killer, but its cleaning ability depends more on the surfactant used than on the power of the bleach itself. Other caustics, such as sodium hydroxide, have a better shelf life and are stronger and better suited to the jobs we do than bleach.

The best use of bleach is as a mold killer – something that can be added to a good alkaline cleaner to make it work better against mold and algae.

Safety & MSD Sheet:

An MSDS (MSD Sheet or Material Safety Data Sheet) lists the required information needed to understand the hazard that a cleaner may present. As I stated earlier, contractors want exceptionally powerful cleaners to work with so that they can combat any soil, but these strong cleaners can present hazards to contractors, their customers, and the people they come into contact with.

You are required by OSHA to have the MSD Sheet for every cleaner that is present – wherever it is present. That means every cleaner in your shop or garage or in your truck or on the job. Manufacturers will give you an MSDS on request. I recommend taping a copy of every MSDS on your shop wall, and placing a copy of each one in the glove box of the truck. Some contractors carry a book of their MSD Sheets. Some go as far as taping a specific MSDS to the jug of cleaner itself.

Sun Brite Supply makes MSD Sheets extremely easy to get. The MSDS for every cleaner is posted on our web store in PDF format for you to download as needed. An MSDS is not standardized, so some are harder to read and understand than others. All identify the elements of the cleaner that may be harmful and tells us how to deal with that potential harm. Chemicals are tools, after all, and learning about any tool you use will make that tool safer to use. 

The best format for manufacturers to use for the MSDS is the ANSI 16 format, where information is presented in a specific order. Terms to look for include “chronic” (which means that the effect of the cleaner builds up over time) and “acute” (which means that the harm occurs immediately with contact). MSD Sheets include a CAS number, which is a unique identifier assigned to the cleaner or the element of that cleaner that represent potential harm.  

MSD Sheets identify the hazardous substance, the effect of that substance, and the immediate first aid for that substance. MSD Sheets may tell you how to store and maintain that substance as well. Hints like “Do not store in temperatures above 110°F” present important information for any chemical handler to have. BTW, extremes in temperatures, either hot or cold, often affect (or even change) many cleaners. Sunlight also negatively affects many common cleaning chemicals (such as sodium hypochlorite, aka bleach).

Liquid cleaners present handling and spill issues more so than powdered cleaners. In spite of this, liquids remain a safer choice for contractors and their employees than powdered cleaners. The dust present in powders will settle on your clothing and stay there throughout the day, for example – even to the time when you go home and pick your kids up to hug them. If you prefer the convenience of powders, consider providing yourself with a clothes-changing station prior to entering your home after a day of work.

Some dangers are just not worth exposing yourself to. A common home-brew cleaner recipe includes adding borax to the mix, for example. While  his may sound harmless enough (since this product is sold in grocery stores) I learned from a chemist that sodium borate can, if the dust is inhaled repeatedly by a male, affect his reproductive system.

We will soon begin a discussion of specific cleaning methods in this book, but before we do, I want to make a point about cleaners. Proper preparation of your work area will prevent a lot of headaches. People always call me and ask questions like “Will bleach harm the landscape plants next to my work area?”. Of course it will! Take care of plants and grass in simple ways and save yourself problems and money. If it is practical, use drop cloths to protect plant life. Even if you can’t do that, there is a simple way to minimize the impact of cleaners on plant life. Water the plants well before you start the application of a cleaner. This helps two ways – first to put water on the leaves that will dilute any cleaner that hits that leaf and secondly to fill the roots with clean water. Once the roots absorb the clean water, they are full and likely won’t soak up the water containing chemicals. We always tried to pre-wet the plants and cover them up with a soft, lightweight drop cloth (never sheet plastic) before applying a cleaner. Then we uncover the area while we are washing, pausing to thoroughly rinse the area when our washing is done. This extra care pays off by avoiding dead flowers and grass.

How Much to Charge:

You will make a lot of decisions as a business owner. You have to identify your customer and his expectations, and then you have to figure out how you can meet his expectations and how much to charge to satisfy those expectations. Sounds a little complicated, but going into business involves decisions and risk every day.

Everyone is an optimist on day one. Outstanding service, unexcelled cleaning, low prices, and lots of profit left over at the end of the day is what we see with our mind’s eye. The practicality of experience tells you that this is an impossible mix. More likely is that you will try to steal customers with low prices and will lose money by providing more than the customer is paying for.

Think about this: a customer you get with price will leave you for the next guy with an even lower price. This is the typical death spiral for new service companies and the reason so many of them fail in the first year.

You can provide an “A” job for an “A” price or you can deliver a “B” job for a “B” price. Those are your only options. There are customers for both kinds of service. Decide who your customer is and what he is willing to pay and then provide exactly what the customer is looking for.

Let’s look at this from another perspective. A $500 job is a $500 job, and you won’t be able to get most folks to pay you $600 to do that job just because you are not as fast and efficient as the next guy. It is up to you to get good and efficient, in order to make your hourly earnings hit the right level so that you can make a living and potentially get ahead.

One element you need to know is what to target in hourly earnings so that you can pay all of the bills and make a buck at the same time. We have been preaching to contractors for years that their hourly target ought to be in the $100 range, because our experiences showed us that getting much less than that amount meant not surviving in business.

What is your hourly target for revenues? One thing is for sure – I can’t figure that out for you. No two businesses are alike in this figure. All we can do is help you think about how to figure out your ideal target.

Any basic Business Plan requires you to look at your business from an hourly “break-even” amount, similar to the way we have below. Take a look:

1. If my business insurance costs $500 per year
2. And my truck costs me $500 per month
3. And my vehicle insurance costs $1500 per year
4. And I spend $10,000 each year on advertising
5. And I am spending about $10 per hour on fuel for my equipment.
6. And I spend $800/month on rent and utilities
7. And the telephone costs $200 per month
8. And I spend $600 per month on gasoline for my truck
9. And I want to make $50,000 as my base salary (which is around $37 per hour for 1500 hours, with taxes and stuff)
10. PLUS I want a profit of $25,000 per year in my business for my bonus at the end of the year (as a reward for hitting these numbers)
11. And I need to set aside about $3000 per year for repairing or replacing equipment
12. And accepting credit cards costs me 2% of what I sell

So how much should I charge per hour?

To start with, most of us do not manage to earn income for every hour we invest in our businesses. We give away free quotes (which actually cost us a small fortune to do) and we need time to create ads and collect debts and pay bills and the thousand other things business owners do.

Besides, many of us lose out to days of bad weather and the personal issues that come up from time to time.

So we are lucky to be able to bill somewhere around 1500 hours every year with our one-truck shop. This means that we expect to average 125 hours (billable) per month. Now that we understand this, we can apply the costs and determine our target hourly charge.

For example, spreading the $500 for business insurance over 1500 hours means we need to get $0.30 / hour for this

1. If my truck costs $500 per month, then I need to get $4 per hour to cover this item.
2. If my vehicle insurance costs $1500 per year, then I need to get $1 per hour to cover the cost.
3. If I spend $10,000 annually on marketing, then I need to include $6.67 per hour to cover this amount.
4. If I spend $10 per hour to run my equipment, this has to add to our hourly rate.
5. If I spend $800 for my shop rent and utilities, that breaks down to $6.40 per hour.
6. If I spend $200/month for my telephone expense, then I must add $1.60 to my hourly charge.
7. If I spend $600 per month on gasoline, then I am adding $4 per hour on to my hourly rate.
8. If I want to make $37 per billable hour for my base wage, then I have to add that amount to my hourly charge).
9. If I want to set aside a year-end bonus of $25,000, then I need another $16.67 on my hourly rate.
10. If I plan to set aside $3000 towards equipment replacement and repair, that comes to about $2 per hour.
11. If some of my customers pay by credit card, then I only get 98 cents out of every dollar I collect.

The costs used in this example tell you that you must generate at least $91 per hour for every billable hour you work, plus whatever materials cost you. And you had better be able to bill for at least 1500 hours or you will fall sadly short of the target.

If you spend about 25% of what you take in on cleaners, sealers, and supplies, like most deck guys do, then we can determine that you must charge approximately $122 per hour in order to meet your business planning numbers. If what you do is clean houses and driveways, you probably will only spend about 6% on cleaners and supplies. Then I only have to average $97 per hour to make my numbers work.

Obviously, if I don’t hit this hourly average charge, my $25,000 annual bonus is going down the drain. If you don’t hit your target two or three years in a row, a good counselor might suggest that business ownership is not for you.

The number we have reached here is a hypothetical one. You might spend more or less on any one of these budget lines. The important thing is that you do at least this much planning every year, with a clear idea of what you need and what you want as a business owner.

You have to do some homework like this every year to help you make the right decisions on what to charge for every hour you bill for. I remind you each year around this time to do some sort of a Business Plan. You can get as detailed as you want in this Plan (and, in fact, the more detailed you are the better). In the end, however, if this is all you do to prepare your self for another year of business ownership you will likely be “successful”. Chances are that you are doing more to prepare yourself for business than your competitors are doing.

One other point: whatever your Business Plan predicts will be “wrong” to some degree. None of us is perfect at predicting how many times the phone will ring or when it will rain. What we can do is be prepared, be professional, and be ready to adjust our Plan as we go through the year. Finally, please understand that you will not hit your target on Day One. You are not nearly as efficient washing your first house as you will be after your hundredth house wash. That is just the nature of the business. Your goal may be $100 per hour, but your actual earnings may be sadly short of that in your first few months. Don’t lose heart. Practice, practice, practice and your earnings will go up.

Another way to improve your earnings quickly is to take related courses from experienced teachers. These Instructors will teach you the shortcuts and peculiarities it may have taken them years to learn through experience. There are a few good schools available for this industry, and whatever you pay for tuition will likely be earned back by avoiding mistakes and problems in your first few months in the business. I have found that when you take a course you are usually invited by the Instructor to call back for support for some period of time. This alone could be worth the cost of the class.

Ultimately, I include typical charges at the end of each section of cleaning techniques outlined in the next chapter. 

Specific Cleaning Jobs:

The following sections are meant to help you select a specialty within power washing. Contractors who specialize become experts in their field because that is all they do – day in and day out. You will be creating your business plan based on your estimate of the potential of the market in your area and the potential earnings from performing those jobs.

Some contractors believe they do not specialize in any single job. Instead, they concentrate on a certain customer. A residential contractor, for example, cleans mostly houses, drives, and decks. Although each of these wash jobs are different, they limit what they do to these three jobs (which is a form of specialization).

Whatever you decide to do in your new company, it is a help to have an overview of the different cleaning jobs out there. This next section introduces you to different cleaning jobs, any one of which can be made into a specialty by a contractor.

Houses & Buildings

Washing houses (or low-rise buildings) can be accomplished using either a high-pressure method or a low-pressure method. The high-pressure method  requires ladders or a telescoping wand and washing every square inch. It is time consuming and can be dangerous. The low-pressure method uses an X-Jet to apply the cleaner and rinse it off. We recommend washing with the low-pressure method.

Choosing a cleaner is the easy part. It makes no difference in this case what the surface of the home is (brick, stucco, vinyl, or aluminum). The dirt is still the same – mold and mildew, splash-up, and atmospheric dirt. Use a degreaser like Power House or Citrus Cleaner mixed with bleach to clean this kind of dirt. You can find a formula for mixing up a good house wash cleaner at the bottom of the Power House page on the Sun Brite Supply web store.

We suggest using a face shield whenever you transfer chemicals or when you are pressure washing to protect your eyes.

Start by walking around the property to make sure all of the windows are closed and the dog is leashed. If the customer is home, spend a moment to discuss problems that you see and set his expectations properly. Make sure that there are waterproof covers on all electrical outlets, too. While you are at it, you might consider putting a plastic bag over the porch light. This light can be hand-wiped later.

Connect your pressure washer to a water supply. Often you can position your portable pressure washer at one corner of the house and clean two sides of the house from that position.

If this is a hot sunny day, imagine what the surface temperature of the siding and glass might be. Pre-rinse the house to cool it and prevent flash-drying your cleaner. Pre-rinse the landscape features near the house to minimize any shock to the plants from your cleaner.

Attach your X-Jet to the end of your wand and trigger gun. If you are pre-rinsing, use the X-Jet without putting the hose into your detergent mix. Once you are ready to apply the cleaner, drop the hose from your X-Jet into the cleaner. Start the pressure washer, and start the flow of cleaner by opening and closing the trigger once or twice to drop the pressure. Once soap begins to flow, shoot it in an arc towards the side of the house working from the bottom to the top. Once the soap is applied to that side, you can take a 10 minute break (allowing the soap to work).

Pay close attention to the term “arc”. A house is designed to keep moisture out that falls from the sky – not moisture that is shot up from the ground. You need to aim for a spot that is a couple of feet out from the house, allowing the spray to begin falling downward when it hits the house – much like rain. That will prevent damaging the property.

Once the cleaner has had the proper dwell time (about 10 minutes) you can change your set-up and rinse the house. All you need to do is to turn the in-line valve on the X-Jet’s detergent hose to shut it off. That will stop the flow of cleaner, and leave you with clear rinse water.

Rinse from the top down, always being careful to arc your spray. Be careful to completely rinse off any landscaping features near the house so that no cleaner is left on the leaves.

Repeat this process for each side of the house. As a one-man work crew, you should be done with the project and off the property in about an hour and a half for a 2000 sq. ft. house. Most contractors charge around $1 per running foot of house per story. This is an old number and likely ought to be increased in many areas of the country. The average charge to your customer will be plus or minus of around $250 for this work.

Allowing for one way of travel, you will have about two hours invested and about $10 to $15 in cleaner and you will be averaging about $125 per hour in revenues.

The high-pressure method down-streams the soap and incorporates using a telescoping wand in most cases. If you wash this way, use a 25º nozzle (or even a 40º) and maintain a uniform and reasonable distance from the surface. Be careful to avoid hitting glass with high pressure, or you might end up buying new windows for the homeowner.

As a one-man work crew, you should be able to clean the entire 2000 sq. ft. house in about three hours or so using this method. Avoid the use of ladders for house washing, as this is a very dangerous way to clean for both you and the house.

If the wash you are doing is to prepare the surface for re-painting, increase the amount of bleach you are using significantly. You want to get rid of the dirt and any loose paint and you will be etching the existing paint at the same time.

Make sure that you rinse everything very well, particularly the glass. If you let a cleaner dry on the glass it could permanently mark it.

If the home has storm windows or screens in place, water will collect behind the frame on the sill. Be sure to rinse these areas carefully. Watch for dripping from weep holes on storm windows, as the draining might continue for quite a while after you are done rinsing. If you see tracks from these drains, you did not rinse enough and you will have to go back over this area.

Roof Cleaning

Roof cleaning is a profitable service to offer but there is a safety factor to consider. Roofs can be damaged by either excessive force (PSI) or excessively strong cleaners. Your cleaning method should avoid both of these potential problems.

Any time you walk a roof (particularly a soapy roof) you are in danger of falling. Contractors should have a safety harness that wraps around the body (shoulders to thighs, not just a belt around your waist). A good  harness absorbs shock through a spring on the harness. I recommend that the tether that ties the harness to a strong anchor be only long enough to allow you to get close to the edge of the roof – not over the edge. This anchor can be the big oak tree in the back yard or even the bumper of your work van.

I cleaned asphalt roofs using Super Roof Kleen by shooting the cleaner on to the roof from the ground using an X-Jet. After a suitable dwell time (around 10 – 15 minutes) I climbed on to the roof and began pressure washing (rinsing)  from the peak with around 500 PSI and a 25° tip. If I needed additional pressure for stubborn mold stains I would crank up the power a little. I was careful not to force water up under any shingles. Obviously I never climbed up on one of these church-steeple roofs, instead only cleaning 3:12 and 4:12 pitch roofs.

As long as I pre-watered the landscape and was careful about where I shot the cleaner, I did not have to protect the plants and other landscape features. The gutters caught the cleaner as I washed the roof and the diluted cleaner came down the gutters into the flower beds. Most cleaners break down in the soil pretty quickly, so that was all I had to do.

When you run into a steeper roof, I would walk away from the job. Many contractors have adopted a method of roof cleaning called a “soft wash” just for this situation and it works for them. They shoot a strong home-made bleach cleaner on to the roof from the ground and let it dwell. Then they simply rinse the roof from the ground. This sounds like a tempting method because you never have to climb on to the roof, but there can be significant problems with this method. First, the recipe for a cleaner strong enough to accomplish cleaning without any agitation includes bleach at around 6% concentration plus borax, TSP, and more. This mix is exceptionally strong and may damage the roof shingles. This damage won’t appear for months, but it will likely appear at some point. Second, the likelihood of secondary damage to the customer’s property is high. For example, if any of this cleaner hits paint, it can damage or even strip the paint. Third, the potential for harm to plant and animal life goes way up as the cleaner increases in strength. Finally, any time someone creates their own home-brewed cleaner there is a tendency to overdo the concoction. After all, if 2 gallons of bleach in my mix is good, then 3 must be even better. I have taught for years that bleach is safe to use if the concentration is limited to the range of 1% to 3% strength. Since the soft-wash method has been used by contractors, I have heard of some concentrations all the way to straight 12.5% bleach being used. This is irresponsible, unsafe and can damage roofs beyond repair.

The only other type of roof I cleaned was a wood shake roof. I used the same wood cleaners I normally used on decks and fences, but I never walked on these roofs. The wood shakes, which may be cedar or redwood or almost any kind of wood, were usually too brittle to stand up to being walked on. Afraid of breaking these shingles and damaging the roof using any direct contact, I opted for using a man-lift to work from.

If you have barrel tile roofs in your area, they can be fragile as well. I would consider using the soft-wash method for that situation. Another method for roof cleaning is touse a specially made Mosmatic roof  cleaning surface cleaner. To use it, you perch on the peak of the roof and lower and raise the surface cleaner with a rope. It has a ball valve so that you can shut it off right at the unit.  

Another alternative technique is to use a tool called a Pitch Witch. This is a water broom used on a telescoping wand. The idea is that you can clean a low roof from the ground and a high roof from a ladder at the edge of the roof. I used this method but never had good luck with it. I sold the tool after a few months and went back to walking the roofs.

oof cleaning is priced all over the map by different companies. Considering the dangers and physical demands of roof cleaning, I would not go up there for less than 15 cents per square foot. I’d prefer to get 20 or even 25 cents per square foot. That means that a 2000 sq. ft. roof should price out at $300 at the lowest, and prices like $400 to $500 are fairer to all. The higher the roof, the steeper the roof, the more the customer has to pay to get it cleaned.  

Gutters  

Cleaning gutters is usually one of two functions. Either you are talking about cleaning out the crud that collects in an eave trough or you are cleaning off the painted outside of the gutter.  

Cleaning debris from inside the gutter is a messy job that pays well. It is done many different ways. One way is to move along with a ladder and scoop out the glop with your gloved hand. Be careful doing this as there may be sharp edges. I carried a bucket on the ladder and tossed the glop into the bucket. Another method is to use a telescoping wand with a gutter-cleaning attachment. This method blows the glop all over the place, including the roof  and the house siding. You can minimize this blow-out effect by turning your PSI down to around 500 PSI (by using an oversize tip in the attachment). You will have to rinse everything down when you are done. I have also seen contractors who walk the edge of the roof with a good powerful leaf blower to clean the gutters. This is fast, and you get to see the work as you do it. There is added danger in walking a roof line, but this works in some areas of the country where single story ranch homes with low-pitched roofs are prevalent.

Gutter cleaning also refers to cleaning off the painted outside of the gutters. I did this as an extra-charge service when doing a house wash. I shot a short section (30 – 40 feet) of the dry surface of the gutters with my X-Jet and some Gutter Zap. As soon as I got it wet with cleaner I then started back and rinsed this same section off. This removed 90% - 100% of the black streaks on the gutter, which is what my customers wanted. This method does not work as well if 1) the gutters were pre-wet; and 2) there was anything but factory-applied enamel on the gutter (house paint will not release the black streaks) and 3) if I allowed the cleaner to dry in any spot before I rinsed it off.

I know of contractors who wipe the surface of the gutters with Gutter Zap, but that means ladder work. Any time I can avoid using a ladder, I believe I am better off. This method reduces the amount of cleaner you would use dramatically but adds dramatically to your labor cost. It is almost always cheaper to use more cleaner and less labor.

Other cleaners that will remove those pesky black streaks from gutters: Powerhouse – Use between 4:1 and 10:1 (4:1 preferred). Bleach is only needed if growth is apparent. Do not pre-wet. Use caution applying as splatter marks can occur on painted surfaces. Apply to dry surface and after about 30 seconds to two minutes, when the black streaks start to run, Rinse clean. All Brite – Do not dilute All Brite when applying to gutters. Use caution applying as splatter marks can occur on painted surfaces. Pre-wet adjoining surfaces, or soap prior to applying gutter cleaner. Do not prewet gutter. Apply to dry surface and after about 30 seconds to two minutes, when the black streaks start to run, Rinse clean.

Most contractors charge around $1 per running foot to clean the inside of gutters and $1 per running foot to clean the outside of gutters.

Driveways & Other Concrete Surfaces

This kind of work (on flat surfaces) is respectfully called “flatwork” in our industry. Cleaning drives is one of the easiest jobs to do, but you must be aware of the pitfalls of cleaning concrete to be successful.

Use Concrete Cleaner to spot-treat oil and tire marks. Then apply a light  coat of Concrete Cleaner to the entire area to be cleaned. Allow this to sit for 10 minutes or so.

Set your pressure washer up near the street end of the drive so that you are cleaning from the farthest part of the driveway towards your equipment (near the street). This way, you are never pulling hoses across a clean section of the drive as you clean. Using a surface cleaner (or a turbo nozzle if that is the tool you have) move from side to side, getting closer to the street with each pass.

If you are using a surface cleaner and can see that your run-off is milky in appearance, you are moving too slow and washing the cream right off of the concrete. This is problematic on new concrete in particular, as new concrete is very soft (and continues hardening for 99 years). If you are moving too quickly, you will see black stripes (areas missed by the surface cleaner). Correct your speed, and wash so that all you see in the run-off is dirty water.

Rust stains require a completely different cleaner. Use Pro BRC to clean the rust stains prior to cleaning the entire drive. Once the rust is gone, revert to the Concrete Cleaner and techniques mentioned before.

Once I finished the concrete, I often sprayed a light mist of bleach on to the entire drive while the cement was still wet and allowed it to dry in place. This left the drive very clean and sparkly, and got me lots of jobs from neighbors who admired the results I got.

Most small areas (less than 10,000 square feet) are priced between 10 cents and 15 cents per square foot. Larger jobs are charged less per square foot, while troublesome jobs are priced higher.

Asphalt Drives & Parking Areas

Use caution when selecting a cleaner for an asphalt area. Often, asphalt is better off cleaned with no chemicals. Strong degreasers can attack the asphalt, which contains oil/tar. If you want to use a cleaner to speed up cleaning, use a gentle degreaser like All Brite and rinse the area thoroughly when you are done.

Decks & Fences – Wood Restoration

This was our forte as a service company and how we built the value of our business. Cleaning and sealing wood professionally requires a lot of information and experience, and we do not have room to put everything in this booklet. To get a complete education about wood, we recommend that you attend Alliance Training’s Wood Restoration course. You can contact them at (866) 621-7511. I am an Alliance instructor, and I have seen the quality of their classes first hand.   In the meantime, we can give you the high points right here.

STEP 1 - PREPARATION

PREPARATION is the KEY. Prep right, and the deck will turn out great. Rush through prep, skip a step (or two) to save money and/or time, and the deck won’t look nearly as good.  

Thorough cleaning of the deck or fence is essential to get good results. If the wood was previously sealed, you must strip off the old sealer rather than just clean the wood. If any old sealer remains, it will interfere with Ready Seal soaking into the wood. If the wood has not been sealed within the last five years, a deep cleaning is probably all that is needed. If you are not sure if the deck or fence must be stripped, do a splash test. Sprinkle a little water from your fingertips on to the dry wood. If the droplets soak in to the wood right away, you don’t need to strip. If they form little droplets on the surface, you do have to strip the wood. Pressure-washing wood is not necessary or advisable. Instead, use the proper-strength wood cleaning chemicals to do all the work. Then you simply RINSE using your pressure-washer. Doing it the right way means using your pressure washer to agitate slightly with MODERATE pressure and HIGH water volume. Use the pressure washer responsibly. Too much pressure on the surface of the wood will cause furring damage.

The ideal pressure washer for cleaning wood will use at least 3-4 GPM (or more) at about 300 – 1000 PSI for most outdoor wood.

Since your pressure washer probably puts out at least 3000 PSI, you need to ‘detune’ the pressure. There are three methods for reducing the pressure while keeping the volume of water. First one is to hold the tip farther from the surface of the wood. The pressure falls as the water is fanned out from the tip, so greater distance from the surface means less pressure reaching the surface. This is not a scientific adjustment, and is not the recommended method. The second way is to invest in a proper nozzle that will reduce the pressure to an acceptable range without restricting water flow. These nozzles can be purchased from Sun Brite Supply. The absolute easiest way to accomplish this reduction of pressure is to use a dual-lance wand (also called a chemical injection wand). This wand has a valve built in that, when opened, allows water to be diverted to the second tube (or lance). With the chemical injector tip on that second tube (black in color) the water going through that tip has little or no pressure behind it. The more you open the valve, the lower the overall pressure delivered by the wand is. With this set-up, you can use low pressure for the deck and run full pressure to clean the driveway afterwards – without stopping to change tips or wands.

Cleaners and strippers have to be used carefully, too. Too much chemical or too much “dwell” time will cause the surface of the wood to develop severe “fuzzies”.

Before applying any cleaner or stripper to the deck, wet down the adjoining surfaces (such as plants, lawn, or house siding) with a hose. Plants need to be saturated with water before you start applying cleaners. Until you develop your application skills fully, consider shielding the house siding with plastic sheeting. Protect plants and grass with lightweight drop cloths to prevent contact with the stripper.

Sun Brite’s SEVERE STRIP, REMOVE, or RIP IT strippers can be applied through a DECKSTER sprayer, but can also be applied using a pump-up sprayer in an emergency. Allow the stripper to sit on the wood for about 10 minutes to loosen the dirt and/or the old sealer. When stripping, be careful to avoid getting caustics on any painted or aluminum adjacent surfaces. If you accidentally get stripper on one of these surfaces, rinse them gently as soon as possible.

Use the pressure washer to rinse the surface. Avoid holding the nozzle too close to the wood or holding it in any one spot too long. Hold the pressure wand about 8” away from the wood and “sweep” it off in a rinsing motion. Use a “golf swing” motion, and avoid washing each square inch of the wood. Keep the wand moving smoothly over the surface to avoid leaving marks on the wood. Proper technique determines the results, so take some time to practice when you are able to.

Once the entire surface has been washed (and is still wet, but without puddles) apply Wood Britener to the wood with your Deckster sprayer. This will neutralize the pH of the wood and brighten it. After a dwell time of about 20 minutes, you can rinse the brightener off. After I finished washing and brightening, I began packing my stuff back on the van. By the time I had everything picked up, the 20 minutes had passed and I simply rinsed the wood with the customer’s hose and left. The wood is now clean, and it needs to thoroughly dry before it can be sealed (at least a couple of days). As the wood dries, you will see a bright, clean, new-looking surface

STEP 2 - SEALING THE WOOD

Allow the wood to dry for at least 48 hours before you seal it. Once you believe the wood is dry, test it with a moisture meter. Be sure to test the areas that do not get much sun, such as the areas near the house. You are looking for 12% moisture or less. In a pinch, you can seal wood at 15%, but you are pushing the edge with that and could get into trouble.

Take a little time to protect the yard plants and lawn around the deck. Sun Brite Supply has lightweight inexpensive paper-poly drop-cloths that will prevent sealer from landing on vegetation. Sealer blocks the pores of vegetation, so the leaf cannot breathe. Cover up and be safe. NOTE: Never use sheet plastic over vegetation.

Using a sanding block with medium grit (or a brass wire brush or stiff deck brush) go over the entire surface you have cleaned to eliminate any “fuzzies” from the wood. This step will help assure professional looking results.

Remember that Ready Seal is made with inert oil that contains no sugars or starches. We caution you to avoid any sealer that contains linseed oil (even in small amounts, linseed oil supports the growth of mildew with its natural sugars and starches). We also caution you about using any sealer without superior UV protection. That includes all clear sealers. Generally speaking, darker sealant colors contain more UV protection. Ready Seal contains some of the finest pigments available today, combined with exclusive resins that help the stain be absorbed completely into the wood very quickly. Ready Seal is permeable, which means it allows the wood to breathe naturally but will not allow moisture drops to enter the wood.

Using a good brush with white china bristles, apply the sealer along the edge  of the deck nearest the house. Cover about 12” to 18” out from the house, being very careful to feather the edges so that you avoid a straight, visible line where the brushing stops and the spraying will begin. Cutting-in the edge like this allows you to begin spraying away from the house, minimizing your clean-up at the end of the job. Many contractors spray the entire deck,  avoiding the extra labor needed for cutting-in by using sheet plastic or a flexible painter’s shield to protect the house from spray.

A Deckster sprayer is the quickest method to apply Ready Seal deck sealera when used by a professional. It can lead to a lot of clean up problems when used by an inexperienced hand. On a windy day, the Hurricane Brush will be the fastest way to apply Ready Seal without creating a clean-up headache. Ready Seal can also be applied by pump-up sprayer, but that is more labor-intensive and a lot less even application than you get when using a Deckster. You may also use a brush or roller, but those methods are more labor-intensive and usually don’t get the sealer on to the sides of the boards like the sprayer does.

Take time to protect any patio under the deck. Sealer that drips onto concrete is extremely difficult to remove later on. If you spray the sealer, also protect plants and house surfaces. If you must clean up spilled sealer or overspray, use mineral spirits or denatured alcohol. Mineral spirits is the best all-around cleaner, while denatured alcohol works very well for cleaning it off glass.  

Two light coats (applied wet-on-wet) are better than one heavy one. Once the first coat of sealer has been on the wood for at least 15 – 30 minutes, it will accept a moderate second coat. Once the second coat of sealer has been on the wood for about 20 minutes, the wood has absorbed all it will take. If there are any wet or shiny spots visible, they can be wiped with a clean rag or back-brushed with a flat stain pad to remove them.

As you might assume, the sealed wood is ready to stand up to rain within minutes of applying Ready Seal. The deck is ready to use immediately, but the sealer continues to dry beneath the surface of the wood for about two weeks. Advise your customers that it is possible to pick up small amounts of sealer and track it into the house during those next two weeks or so. We always recommend use of a doormat during that time.

Expect the color of the newly-sealed wood to be somewhat darker that the color sample indicated. The wood may also have a mottled or splotchy appearance. The color will lighten considerably and even out over the next two weeks or so.

The color will continue to lighten gradually, depending on use and exposure to sun. Typically, this process should be repeated every two years or so to maintain optimal appearance and protection.

Bidding wood restoration can be complicated. Alliance Training has a course covering this topic if you are interested. You can contact them at (866) 621-7511. I am an Alliance instructor, and I have seen the quality of their classes first hand.

I suggest that you price out floors at $1.20 per sq. ft. or thereabouts. Railings are much more time consuming, so I suggest that you price out railing at $7.50 per running foot to cover both sides of the railing. These prices include the cost of sealer and cleaners.

Your materials should cost you around 20% of your bid price, including freight to ship the products right to your door. We averaged 16% year in and year out. You can easily reach averages of $150 per hour and more for this work once you are experienced and fast. Mistakes will cost you a lot, so I suggest you go very slow at the start and gradually speed up as you gain skill.  

Cleaning Composite Wood

Composite lumber varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but all of the popular ones contain wood particles (these ground particles are called “wood flour” by the industry). That means that any of these particles on or near the surface of the board, no matter what they are mixed with, will react to Mother Nature the same way all wood does. Graying and staining are common problems – and the stuff of nightmares for deck owners. Manufacturers are getting calls every day from end users about these issues, and deck restoration contractors are stepping in with the fix.

Most pressure washing contractors who do deck renewal are finding success through products made especially for this problem, such as EZ Off Composite Wood Cleaner. The key to this composite wood cleaner is in the surfactants and cleaning chemicals in its formula. TimberTech® has approved EZ Off as a preferred cleaner for their composite wood.

First, sweep debris like leaves, twigs and dirt off the deck. Then rinse off the composite lumber to cool it off and remove heavy built up deposits of dirt and mud. Rinsing off the composite deck first also prevent the possibility of flash drying the composite cleaner when it's applied. Also wet down plants and grass around the deck and if necessary, cover plants, grass, concrete and any other areas you don't want the composite cleaner getting on.

Use Wood Britener before cleaning the deck to spot-treat rust stains from metal furniture. It will also help remove leaf stains. Use commercial degreasers containing sodium hydroxide and various detergents for removing grease and oil stains.

Spot removers or mineral spirits may be used carefully on stubborn grease or oil stains but should be washed off quickly with water, as it can damage the grain pattern. Spot removers normally include petroleum distillates, xylene, methanol, acetone, or other organic solvents. Use caution if the composite lumber has embedded color, as some solvents may affect the appearance. As always, test your cleaner on an inconspicuous spot.

To remove mold, mildew, and months of accumulated dirt, wash the deck periodically with EZ Off.   Apply EZ Off on the railings and floor in manageable sections. Cleaning too large of an area at a time may allow it to dry on the surface which can cause discoloration in some materials. Once the composite cleaner has sat on the surface according to the directions, carefully power wash the surface in the direction of the grain, using less than 800 PSI. Use the pressure washer to “rinse” the surface. Avoid holding the nozzle too close to the composite surface or holding it in any one spot too long. Hold the pressure wand about 8” away from the surface and “sweep” it off in a rinsing motion. Use a “golf swing” motion, and avoid washing each square inch of the surface. Keep the wand moving smoothly over the surface to avoid leaving marks. Proper technique determines the results, so take some time to practice when you are able to. Once you have completed that section, treat the next area and continue until the job is completed.

For regular maintenance, rinse off your composite deck periodically with a hose. Even if your deck appears clean, it is important to prevent build-up of pollen and other debris. Mildew stains may occur where moisture, pollens, and/or dirt are present. Mildew needs a food source to grow, which can be grass, pollens, dirt, debris, wood and wood resins.

To repair scratches, nicks, cuts and grooves in some (un-colored) composite decking materials you can try using a soft brass wire brush. Brushing will need to be consistent with the grain of the composite material and the brushed area will weather back in approximately 8-10 weeks. Make sure you try this in a hidden area first! Some materials could become discolored or damaged from wire brushing!

High-pressure washing of composite decks is not necessary or advisable. Instead, use the proper-strength composite lumber cleaners like EZ Off to do all the work for you. Then you simply RINSE using your pressure-washer. Doing it the right way means using your pressure washer to agitate slightly with MODERATE pressure and HIGH water volume. Use the pressure washer responsibly. Too much pressure on the surface of composite lumber can cause damage.

New Construction Clean-Up

As this relates to pressure washing, we are discussing exterior cleaning here. The most common challenges in new construction clean-up are mortar splash and red clay stains. Most commonly you will be asked to clean brickwork and other masonry, the exterior of the home or building, and the flatwork.

You will remember that acid-based cleaners attack minerals, and mortar splash is just exactly that. When the masons are laying brick and block, mortar cement gets splashed in places where it shouldn’t be. Pro BRC is ideal for cleaning mortar splash. Spray it on, let it dwell, and pressure wash it off. If you are cleaning block walls, you can use more pressure. When cleaning brick, consider less pressure (since bricks can be damaged by high pressure). The less pressure you use, the more (and better) cleaner you need to use. Always experiment in areas that are not obvious to see what strength of cleaner you may need for each job.

Another use of Pro BRC is for efflorescence. This is a mineral stain, usually whitish, that appears on masonry walls. It is caused by the leaching of minerals like lime from the brick or block. In order to have efflorescence, there is water seeping into the wall (from the buried side or from above) and when that water escapes out the front it carries the minerals with it. You can clean efflorescence off successfully, but it will reappear if you don’t correct the water problem. 

Some old-timers may suggest that you use plain muriatic acid for situations like this. There is a problem with that advice. Without having surfactants, the acid simply attacks the mortar or cement or efflorescence and breaks it down, but never lifts it so you can rinse it away. You often end up going too deep with plain acid and cause visible damage to the surface.

Cleaning new concrete driveways is a particular challenge for new contractors. The concrete is exceptionally soft and damageable. The soil on them is often red clay from construction vehicles – and is seldom the oil drips and stains that you clean off of older driveways. To remove red clay stains use Pro BRC, but you have to be very careful with both the strength of the cleaner and the amount of pressure you use on new concrete.

Surface cleaners with adjustable height features are particularly useful for a job like this. Raising the surface cleaner up 2” or so will minimize the impact of pressure and will likely prevent any scarring. As always, proceed slowly and test areas with your cleaner and your surface cleaner before attempting to clean the entire drive. Pay close attention to your run-off, as it will turn milky if you are tearing the cream off of the concrete.

To get rain splash off the side of a building (particularly red clay stains) use Pro BRC for that as well. Wet the areas with the splash with Pro BRC and let it sit for ten minutes. Then power wash it off with the appropriate pressure for the surface you are cleaning.

Most new construction clean-up goes for around 20 cents per square foot. Builders will always try to beat your price down. On top of that, you might experience some problems collecting for your work.

Any time you are unsure about how much pressure to use, do some homework. Almost every building material manufacturer can recommend the proper washing pressure to use. Often there is an association that has done testing and can recommend a pressure as well, such as the Brick Industry Association or the Stucco Manufacturers Association.

Mobile Homes & RVs

Any factory-painted metal (or fiberglass) surface such as an RV or a Butler building or a mobile home gets dirty. Black streaks (like those found on gutters) are prominent on these surfaces, as well as the road grime that RVs will have. Gutter Zap and Power House are two excellent cleaners for this kind of surface. Be sure that you apply the cleaner to a dry surface and work in small sections, rinsing the surface before the cleaner dries anywhere. Make sure you have diluted the cleaner properly, because this kind of cleaner can damage paint if applied too strong or left too long on the surface.

A soft truck-washing brush is ideal for washing an RV. Soap from the bottom up and rinse from the top down. RVs range is price to clean between $20 and $30. Mobile homes are priced just like permanent homes.

Environmental Cleaning

Sooner or later all exterior cleaning will have to comply with environmental standards. Federal laws have been on the books since the 70’s, and environmental laws are being enacted and enforced by more local authorities every day.

The principal of environmental cleaning is to limit what enters our storm drains, as these drains connect directly with rivers, lakes, and the oceans without any filtering. “Nothing down the drain but rain” is the battle cry.

Learning how to clean according to environmental standards is not hard. Doing this takes extra time and extra equipment, however, and many customers aren’t willing to pay the added costs until faced with fines by enforcers. It is up to you to stay abreast of current regulations (local, state, and federal) that affect you. It is also up to you to make sure that your  customer is informed. If a customer refuses to pay the increased charges for environmental cleaning, and you elect to not comply with the law because of that, then both you and the property owner are subject to fines. These fines can be excessive, such as the $10,000 first offense that one of our contractor customers received.

You can comply with most environmental regulations with an investment as small as $500. Cutting to the heart of the matter, most contractors who do environmental cleaning spend between $2,500 and $12,000 extra for environmental cleaning equipment and supplies. Sun Brite Supply is a leader is developing and providing environmental cleaning equipment. Give us a call to talk about your local regulations and how we can help.

Typically, environmental cleaning refers to damming low-lying areas to collect your used wash water (preventing it from going down the storm drain). On its way to this area, the water passes through oil socks to remove the hydrocarbons (oil molecules) freed by our cleaning activity. The water is then moved to a suitable area, usually by a sump pump or vacuum auto-pump-out. The used wash water is usually either disposed of on the property (bioremediation) or hauled off to a waste water treatment facility.

Environmental cleaning adds between 30% and 100% to the value of the cleaning job in most areas.

There is little to be gained by discussing the tools of the trade for environmental cleaning or how to use them beyond what we have already laid out here. Every contractor’s needs are a little different, and new items come available all the time. Training for water reclamation or EPA compliant cleaning is taught by Alliance Training as well. You can contact them at (866) 621-7511.

Off-Road Equipment

This category includes large earth-moving equipment, paving equipment, and the like. The soils on this type of equipment are extreme, and aggressive cleaners are needed.

To attack heavy grease, we suggest using our most powerful degreaser called Bulldozer. Other products to consider include Grease Beater, All Brite, Powerhouse, Fleet Brite, and Emulsion Breaker

To clean cement splash on a vehicle, use our CTC product (concrete truck cleaner). To remove tar, we have a product called Tar & Asphalt Remover.

Many of these cleaners are not gentle enough to use on other types of vehicles, as they are not gentle on paint.

When using a pressure washer on off-road equipment, be aware of hydraulic and grease seals. Excessive pressure can drive water into places that are meant to be moisture-free. Use compressed air after washing to help dry surfaces, and we suggest that you operate the equipment for 10 to 20 minutes to help shake water from hard to reach places. Off-road equipment varies by size, condition, and severity of soil, but most items fall between $50 and $150 per piece to clean.

Farm Equipment, ATVs

The difference in cleaning farm equipment is the amount of mud you run up against and all the places that mud can hide. In addition, livestock haulers need to be kept clean and sanitized.

For ordinary cleaning, any fleet wash cleaner is acceptable. We recommend Big Truck Brite, because it leaves the equipment with a nice near-wax shine. Wet Wax, also available from Sun Brite Supply, is an excellent addition to  the rinse water. For heavy duty cleaning, Fleet Brite is even more aggressive than Big Truck Brite.

For heavy grease, we recommend Bulldozer degreaser. Strong degreasers will remove chain lubrication so reapply chain lube after cleaning the unit.

For wood surfaces in livestock trailers we suggest bleach mixed with a small amount of All Brite and followed by a neutralizer like Wood Britener.

When using a pressure washer on off-road equipment, be aware of hydraulic and grease seals. Excessive pressure can drive water into places that are meant to be moisture-free. Use compressed air after washing to help dry surfaces, and we suggest that you operate the equipment for 10 to 20 minutes to help shake water from hard to reach places.

When cleaning ATVs, there is a tool called a Mud Cat you might find useful. It is a surface cleaner turned upside-down, so that the nozzles point upward. Originally developed for 4-wheel-drive off-road trucks, this is a great tool for cleaning the mud build-up on the vehicle underside.

Prices for cleaning farm equipment depend on the size and severity, but a range between $25 and $75 per piece is reasonable for this work.  

Mobile Fleet Washing

This topic covers everything from maintaining fleets of trucks to cleaning a lot full of used cars. This is a highly specialized field, and most contractors who are successful cleaning fleets do not do any other type of pressure washing.

Before you take a job like this, be sure you understand the expectations of local authorities and the fleet manager.

Does the used wash water need to be captured? If so, this is environmental washing and you need to have special equipment to do the job easily and profitably. Call us for specifics, but you need either a wash pit to collect the water (like the one pictured here) or some other method of pooling the used water and then sending it to the best place for treatment.

If you capture used water, there is even a cleaner for automotive finishes that allows hydrocarbons to regroup in the used wash water after a few minutes of sitting (Emulsion Breaker). This permits the operator to remove the oil molecules and either re-use the water or dispose of it more readily.

Products designed for fleet washing include Big Truck Brite, Glimmer, Fleet Brite, Aluma Brite, Aluma Safe, Citric Aluminum Cleaner, SoSoft, Wet Wax, and Alkaline Foamer. You will try many cleaners to find what works best for the cost in your area. We suggest that Big Truck Brite will be the choice of most since it is a moderately aggressive cleaner that leaves a painted or clear-coated surface looking shiny clean. Somewhat more aggressive is our Fleet Brite, which works extremely well on painted surfaces.

Pre-wet the surface to cool it before applying cleaner if the surface is hot to the touch (from being out in the sun).

If your cleaner is working properly, brushing may not be required or just minimally required. Heavy soils are the exception (because you will always brush heavy soils).

Used cars on a lot, on the other hand, are seldom dirty – sometimes requiring just a quick rinse with de-ionized water. The de-ionized water speeds drying and eliminates water spots.

There are many additives available for the fleet wash contractor. SoSoft potentially replaces de-ionized water for both window cleaning and rinsing off car lot vehicles, for example (depending on the hardness of your local water). Wet Wax adds sheen to automotive finishes, and can be used either in the wash water or the rinse water. There are a number of different methods for fleet washing, particularly for washing big rigs. Some companies wash using a two-step process, while others wash in a single step.

The typical technique used for single-step washing is to cover the vehicle with a cleaner aggressive enough to address both road film and heavy soil. This can be done with an X-Jet, a shooter tip, or any other similar method. Allow the cleaner to work (dwell) for about ten minutes. Then wash the surface using a telescoping wand or rinse the vehicle using the X-Jet or shooter tip.

“Two-Stepping” is a very different approach. In two-stepping, we first apply an acid cleaner to the surface and follow that with an alkaline (caustic) solution. The abrupt change in pH causes a reaction in the soil that releases it immediately from the surface. All types of soil respond to two-stepping. Mineral deposits like lime are freed by the acid step, and oily soils are released by the alkaline step. Two-stepping often relies on a hydrofluoric acid-based cleaner in the first step, which is a very dangerous chemical for anyone to handle. Some two-steppers have made a switch to friendlier acids for safety purposes, only to find that the process takes a little longer.

Sun Brite Supply has a terrific source of proven products for mobile detailers. From scents to tire cleaners, and everything in between, give us a call.

Pricing for this kind of work depends on competition in your area. As an example, a UPS van might be done for as little as $6 or as much as $30, depending on how many are being done at a time, where you are located, and how many contractors are bidding on the work.  

Boats

Boats need to be kept clean on the surface below the water line to maintain performance. They need to be kept generally clean to maintain usefulness and value. Scum, algae, and barnacles present the biggest challenges.

For cleaning boat hulls try acid-based cleaners like Pro BRC. Upholstery, tops, and decks can be cleaned with the same products used for fleet cleaning.

Restaurants - Kitchen Exhaust & Other Chores

This is one of the most lucrative fields a pressure wash contractor can specialize in. Driven by the safety standards of the insurers of restaurants, most chains will only hire certified contractors for this kind of work. This work is done primarily at night on a regular schedule.

Cleaning kitchen exhaust hoods is accomplished by first removing the exhaust fan and hood from the mounting curb on the roof. The fan is cleaned by hand and set to the side until the duct is cleaned. Down in the kitchen, another person on the team is installing temporary plastic sheeting that will direct the flow of dirty water to an appropriate collection point or drain and away from the cooking appliances. The fire suppression system has heads located in the hood that must be protected or de-activated prior to cleaning to avoid an accidental (and costly) discharge of the system during the cleaning process.

Electric pressure washers are popular for this kind of work because they can be run indoors. A gasoline unit can be run outdoors with hoses run into the building for your work as well. NOTE: Do not feed your pressure washer with water from the hot water heater unless your pump has been built with hot water packings.

The duct is cleaned by applying strong caustic kitchen exhaust cleaners like Hood Monster or Smoke House. To add cling, consider adding Alkaline  Foamer to either of these products. The cleaner can be applied with a sprayer or a foaming nozzle and allowed to dwell until the built-up grease begins to move. The accessible portions of the ductwork may be scraped to remove excess before the application of the cleaner, or may not. Some contractors use down-streaming for their cleaner application, using a duct spinner to apply pressure and cleaner at the same time.

A certified kitchen exhaust contractor may be required to install access panels (if the entire interior of the duct is not currently accessible for cleaning). This is an extra-charge service. In addition, many KEC contractors are prepared to install other conveniences such as oil-absorbers for the roof area (to prevent grease from building up and damaging roof integrity).

KEC work is done on a regular schedule agreed upon between the certified contractor and the property owner. If a restaurant manager elects not to have the work done on the scheduled proposed by the certified contractor, the contractor may withdraw his certification sticker and inform the insurer of the decision of that manager.

Bidding on this work may be very competitive, but your credentials, experience, and certifications make a huge difference to the customer. Once you have an account, it will be hard for someone else to displace you unless they have similar credentials to your own.

A typical fast food outlet will pay $200 - $350 per cleaning for this work, and have the job done 2 – 4 times per year. The first cleaning may be at higher rates than regular ongoing cleaning.

Beyond the kitchen exhaust, you may also be asked to clean the building exterior, the kitchen itself along with counters, cooking appliances, and more. Be sure to call us if you have any questions about techniques and cleaners. NOTE: We offer many cleaners that are USDA approved for use in kitchens.

Dumpsters and the pads they sit on are cleaned best using a potassium hydroxide based cleaner, like Concrete Cleaner. Use between full strength to 15:1. Allow to dwell about 15 minutes, keeping moist. Power wash. Dispose of the used wash water in compliance with local and federal laws.

HINT: Many restaurants have large underground grease traps installed. These tanks intercept water going down interior drains. It is acceptable in some areas of the country to let your used wash water enter this system.    

Awnings

Typically made from vinyl or a cloth canvas.

Always test for colorfastness prior to applying any cleaners. I suggest using Powerhouse, All Brite, or SoSimple for cleaning awnings in most cases, as these are gentle cleaners. Bleach can be added to cleaners to use at about 1% strength if growth is evident, but this is a dangerous step. Bleach can damage cloth fibers, causing the awning to disintegrate once it has been cleaned. Always test for colorfastness if you want to use bleach.

Powerhouse – Use from 15:1 to 50:1 depending on soil severity. Use with extreme caution at level less than 15:1. Apply from bottom up and rinse from top down. Dwell about 5 minutes, and do not allow cleaner to dry on the surface. Light brushing can aid in soil removal.

All Brite – Use from concentrate, up to 50:1 depending on soil severity. Use with extreme caution at levels less than 15:1. Light brushing can aid in soil removal.

SoSimple – Use depending on soil severity. Good general cleaner for all substrates. Adjust strength as need per job.

NOTE: If you clean a cloth/canvas awning, you will likely damage the waterproofing. Waterproofing treatments are readily available at camping stores for re-application to the awning.

Gas Stations

Service stations collect an amazing amount of spilled gasoline, dripped oil, and many other problematic soils every day on their concrete. Too often, these soils accumulate for weeks before cleaning takes place.

As you might imagine, washing these hydrocarbons down the storm drain is one of the most obvious polluting activities to authorities. Most communities enforce regulations that control this activity, so be sure to investigate the regulations before agreeing to do any gas station cleaning.

If you do have to follow environmental cleaning rules, you will collect the used wash water. Often you will run that water through oil socks to eliminate any obvious oil sheen (and some of the heavy metals present). You might further run the water through an oil water separator or any number of filters to make the used wash water acceptable for disposal on-site or into the sanitary sewer system.

Gas stations vary widely in both size and traffic, which affects the price of cleaning. Hot water will help clean faster.

Graffiti Removal

Graffiti removal is a thriving business in urban and suburban areas. The cleaners used for most graffiti removal are highly specialized. Sun Brite Supply offers two brands of excellent graffiti cleaners: Dorado Fix 1400 and Taginator. We cannot list Taginator on our web store, so please call us if that product interests you.

What makes these cleaners unique is that they are designed to remove spray paint from a surface without removing the original paint underneath the tag.

Some contractors use wet sandblasting to remove graffiti from suitable surfaces like limestone and concrete. Wet sandblasting kits are inexpensive and do not require a lot of skill to operate. In principle, the wet sandblasters consist of a nozzle designed to handle abrasive sand that replaces your regular nozzle. This nozzle attaches to a tube that you drop into a vat of sand. Water passing over the tube creates a venture-action that pulls the sand up the tube and mixes it with the water from your pressure washer. This process is purely abrasive, but not as abrasive as dry sand blasting.

Pressures used on hard surfaces like concrete can go up to 4000 PSI for blasting graffiti away. On soft surfaces like limestone, wood, and some brick, very low pressure is used along with the specialized cleaners we have talked about to remove graffiti. Typically, hot water improves your chances of getting the graffiti off the surface, particularly on metal surfaces like signs. Turbo nozzles are effective for hard surfaces, while fan tips are the norm for soft surfaces.

Removing the graffiti is just the start for most contractors. From there, anti-graffiti coatings (both sacrificial and non-sacrificial) may be applied to minimize the impact of future tagging.

This can add greatly to the satisfaction a contractor can give his customer – and to the contractor’s bottom line. Sun Brite Supply has coatings that will help you solve your customers’ needs. This is a specialty job that contractors learn over time with experience. It is a lucrative field, often billed out at between $4 and $8 per square foot for the cleaning process (depending on size of job). Replacement or additional coatings add to this amount.

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