Here's a short list of some of the usual chemicals used in commercial pressure washing: Oxalic acid – useful in rust removal and other similar cleaning processes. Citric acid – stain removal and cleaning of concrete driveways or wooden decks. Sodium hypochlorite – disinfects and removes stains.
There are a number of commercial exterior house washing solutions available, or you can make your own solution. To keep it truly simple, just squirt dish soap into a bucket of warm water and mix thoroughly. For vinyl siding or painted homes, you can add vinegar for extra cleaning power.
Applying a degreaser will loosen stains in the concrete, allowing you to pressure wash them away. Some pressure washers have an attachment tool for applying degreaser. Otherwise, scrub the degreaser into the concrete with a stiff-bristled brush or push broom.
It's not necessary, but you can absolutely use soap or detergent when pressure washing your house. Washing with a mixture of soap and water will ensure your siding is spotless when you're finished. However, in many cases it is not necessary to use soap and you can still achieve a powerful result without any product.
Best Time of Day to Power Wash
House washing can be performed at basically any time of the day, as long as you have sufficient light needed to safely complete the job. Extreme summer heat can make it difficult to properly wash your house, especially while working with certain chemicals.
Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
1. Best Overall Concrete Cleaner—ZEP Purple Pressure Wash. Zep concrete cleaner has several great products, and the ZEP Purple Pressure Wash outdoor cleaner is no exception. This alkaline cleaner is low foaming and easy to rinse from the concrete surface.
Clean From the Bottom Up
Using the cleaning solution, start power washing at the bottom of the house and work your way up. Working from the top down can cause water and suds to run down the side of the house, making it more likely you'll miss a section.
A recipient of the Safer Choice label, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can be used in pressure washers and on all washable surfaces, and easily removes tough dirt and grime without the use of caustic chemicals.
Krud Kutter House and Siding Pressure Washing Concentrate
This pressure washing concentrate from Krud Kutter is eco-friendly and biodegradable, and you can also use it to clean other surfaces such as brick, cement, stucco, and wood, and you won't have to worry about scrubbing the surface hard.
Cleaning concrete with muriatic acid can be a highly effective solution if used correctly, providing ultra-bright white concrete and removal of many types of stains. In one application, you can remove rust stains, oil stains, algae, and paint splatter with a quick chemical application followed by pressure washing.
Pressure washing itself is safer than other forms of cleaning. Water itself, being a natural resource, is already safer than cleans that rely on chemicals. We also augment our pressure washing services with other techniques that improve the effectiveness of the clean while also helping to protect the environment.
Never Use Bleach with Pressure Washers
But, when you see mold or mildew growing on your siding or walkway, don't even consider running bleach through your power washer. Bleach will corrode your pump's seals and essentially render the pressure washer useless.
Use a mild grease-cutting detergent such as Dawn or Ajax dishwashing liquid mixed with water and a natural or synthetic bristle scrub brush to help brighten the patio surface. NOTE: Never use a wire brush as it can leave rust stains and scratch the concrete surface.
Pressure washing a house with bleach is a good approach to get rid of mold, moss, and substantial dirt. On the other hand, Chlorine is an excellent choice for removing oil stains from concrete floors. To avoid long-term damage, chlorine is ideal if you plan to pressure wash your backyard floor or driveway on your own.
If you want to clean your driveway quickly and efficiently, use a pressure washer of at least 3100 PSI. Using pressure washers with pressures ranging from 1000 to 2300 PSI will also help you clean your driveway, but it will take a long time.
If you have leaf and/or acorn stains on your driveway, the only way to remove those stains is to use a pre and post treatment. Typically these stains will not come up with a general pressure wash cleaning and will need additional chemicals (chlorine in this case) to remove the stains.
What's being sprayed on the concrete pavement is a curing compound. It goes on pink so crews can see where it has been applied, but it dries clear. This curing compound is sprayed on to prevent moisture from evaporating from the freshly placed concrete.
OxiClean Outdoor Multipurpose Ready to Use - Cleaning Supplies - Cleaning Products - Cleaner for Concrete, Vinyl, Grill, Patio Furniture - Degreaser for Cement and Brick (1 Gallon)
For preparing soap, sodium hydroxide is heated, glycerol and fatty acid produces sodium salt. The preparation of soap is known as saponification. The mixture is heated at a certain temperature, after a while the soap forms a layer at the top and all the glycerin gets settled down.
The head of the molecule is attracted to water (hydrophilic) and the tail is attracted to grease and dirt (hydrophobic). When the detergent molecules meet grease on clothes, the tails are drawn into the grease but the heads still sit in the water.
Wetting your hands with clean water before applying soap helps you get a better lather than applying soap to dry hands. A good lather forms pockets called micelles that trap and remove germs, harmful chemicals, and dirt from your hands.