Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Michael Hickey · Approved Exterior Cleaner

down streaming

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Michael,..Couple things,.. The higher GPM you have the weaker your mix will be. Other things that affect the strength of your soap is hose length and even the actual soap injector itself,..they wear out! I am assuming you're using with 12.5% SH and soap straight. Because obviously the stronger your concentrate is, the stronger your final mix will be.

When running long lengths of hose it is always advisable to get the soap injector one size smaller than one recommended for you GPM.

Typically house wash (12.5% and soap) is strong enough for basic residential driveways,..but there's no doubt a dedicated mix,..which can be made to any percentage you want is a faster, more effective method.

This is because on average I'd say 1:15 is the best you're gonna get out of any soap injector,..I actually get around 1:17 due to running 8 GPM. So with a little math you can see that your mix is gonna be less than 1% with any soap injector and machine combo.

Jeff

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

"There's no doubt a dedicated mix,..which can be made to any percentage you want is a faster, more effective method."

When treating something like that we prefer to use a much stronger mix. For now we have the option of two tanks for the 12V pump. Roof & house mix. We can bump the house mix or use roof mix. We only use down streaming for siding. Next year it will be easier when we switch to a proportioner.

Michael Hickey · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Thanks Jeff and Brett. I spoke to a guy in the U.K that sells pressure washing equipment yesterday and he told me he is in the process of getting a soap injector made with three inlets. He hopes to have it ready by the New Year. You put the three tubes from the inlets into the same drum to increase the strength of the mix. I use a proportioner and it is great but if I could put a stronger mix through the pressure washer hose it would speed up driveway cleaning simply because I would only be pulling off one hose instead of two.

Does anyone use a foaming nozzle on their 12v system. I got one to try out but it would require more pressure and flow than my system produces. Still would be something that I would like to pursue as it would greatly reduce overspray.