Pressure washer detergent -- is it worth using?

lightninboy · Oct 8, 2009

Scooby074 said:
not a waste of time. Check out all the industrial wash guys, they all use soap injection.

If I was at a car wash, I suppose I would use their soap, but I just tried to degrease an engine with some Mean Green and some degreaser made for pressure washers and none of it did a thing. So I say soap is a waste of time unless it is something good like Superclean.

Scooby074 · Oct 9, 2009

lightninboy said:
So I say soap is a waste of time unless it is something good like Superclean.

Exactly. When i said soap works, i wasnt referring to crap. GOOD soap will work fine through a pressure washer. WalMart specials or environmentally friendly stuff doesnt count.

Superclean, Zep Purple or pretty much anything commercial with Sodium Hydroxide as the active will clean most materials fine.

J_J · Oct 9, 2009

I guess a lot of people don't know that you are supposed to let the chemical sit awhile and work before washing it off, or what the ratio of chemical /soap ratio to set when mixing. The ratio is about 12:1 to 18:1. I usually run mine a little stronger. Most of the time , when I have sprayed the building, and back to the starting point, the mold and mildew, dirt are gone. I then just rinse with high pressure. It is not a good idea to run chemicals through the pump.

There are three kinds of injectors. before pump, after pump, and at the pressure head itself. The last one, the pressure head unit simply draws a vacuum and suck the chemicals from the container. Good for chimney, high walls, etc. You can spray any chemical with this unit, up to 49 ft. It runs about $120. I also have a sand blaster kit I use occasionally on the PW for paint removal, graffiti, etc.

lightninboy · Oct 9, 2009

Scooby074 said:
Exactly. When i said soap works, i wasnt referring to crap. GOOD soap will work fine through a pressure washer. WalMart specials or environmentally friendly stuff doesnt count.

Superclean, Zep Purple or pretty much anything commercial with Sodium Hydroxide as the active will clean most materials fine.

Cheers to sodium hydroxide! It's the real thing! SuperClean and Granny's lye soap!