I've had a pressure washing business for 13 years, and can give you some tips. First of all, don't wear a backpack sprayer. Even diluted bleach can give you a pretty nasty chemical burn if that thing leaks on your back. The best method is to use a downstream injector to pre-spray the bleach directly through your pressure washing hose, then surface clean the driveway. This doesn't necessarily cause the driveway to come cleaner, but it loosens the dirt up and lets you wash a little faster. Then rinse, then spray the whole driveway with bleach through the pressure washing line again, and use your concentrated sprayer to hit the bad spots. Don't bother rinsing it off, let it soak into the pores. This will make the concrete look like new when it dries. Most of us in the pressure washing business refer to all of it as bleach or SH for sodium hypochlorite. We don't make much of a distinction between the different concentrations, we just assume everyone is getting the highest concentration available to them and then diluting it to what it would need for your particular job. Most of us use 12%, and yes that stuff will give you a pretty bad burn if you're not careful. If you accidentally get some on your skin you've got a few seconds to wash it off before you start to feel it. Any longer than that and it's going to leave a mark. Always wear gloves, a respirator, and and sunglasses. In fact, I always wear long pants, rubber boots, long sleeve shirt, and a hat. The combination of the hat bill and the sunglasses helps quite a bit to keep SH mist out of my eyes when I'm spraying overhead.
@@christophercordova7277 If you have run off on vegetation, you can rinse the area after you run clean water through your hoses, just thoroughly rinse. If it's coming off an SH roof treatment directly onto and soaking heavily into vegetation, a green bleach neutralizer can be used for extra safety.
To help all the lawn guys that aren't used to this. I own a pressure washing company. You can add bleach to your first wash but it won't change much. First soak down the area then use a detergent/surfactant in your sprayer to coat the area you are going to work with. If you are dealing with a large area you might do it in sections to keep it from drying out. After that wash it off using your surface cleaner(ensure your pw has the right gpm and pressure to run the surface cleaner you are using, usually they are rated for a certain gpm/pressure. I think that is where a lot of the streaking in the video is coming from) after washing it the first time rinse it off. This is key. Let dry afterward as much as you can. Not only will this allow you to see anything that you may have missed. It will stop you from diluting your after wash. Once it is dry and you are satisfied you have done as much as you think you can with the surface cleaner, That is when I take my 10% bleach and surfactant mixture and go over the driveway. I spray it on and leave it on. This will do exactly what you expect bleach to do. It will even out the color in the surface and make it much whiter/ cleaner. You can wash it off after leaving it for a day to do its job, but I usually just leave it. Let the rain wash it off. People have asked about bleach killing vegetation. It absolutely will if you don't take precautions. First precaution, soak down the vegetation around where you are going to work and keep it wet. This will help dilute any overspray down to safe levels. Lastly once everything is done rinse down the plants once again to ensure any overspray is diluted. Us wash guys don't want to keep the public in the dark about washing. We are just help when needed. ****Always understand the chemicals you are working with and their interaction with each other. Understand what to do if you are exposed to them and have a plan for emergencies if an exposure occurs****
Why don’t u just use heated water to clean the concrete? I’ve been using a trailer with a 250 gallon tank and a boiler attached to it, it gets the job done.
@@biazer9517 plenty of people do use heated water. Heated is where it's at if you have that ability. I believe this was geared more towards the do it at home variety folks. As they wouldn't go out and buy a heated unit to do their driveway. However, a lot of people own a pressure washer or might rent one for the day from somewhere like Home Depot.
Travis, I have an asbestos roof. Do you know if it's safe to apply 12% sodium hypochlorite over it, without a pressure washer? I mean, spray it using just a backpack? Thank you!
You can tilt your surface cleaner to one side before squeezing the trigger, it will prevent the initial burst pressure to the concrete causing the big circle marks.
I’ve been in the pressure washing business for awhile now and I wanted to give you a few quick tips. What you did in the beginning of the video is great actually. Now since it was sped up and there was a cut once you put the SH onto the concrete you will want to let it sit for about 7-10 minutes for it to start loosening up the organic growth and dirt. Moving the surface cleaner in circles not only will that prevent etching and streaks but you’ll have the perfect overlap as well and be able to go faster whether your surface cleaner has wheels or not. Also you are most definitely walking too fast with the surface cleaner go slower, you don’t need to do the process twice on a section you are doing. What I do and maybe you should try is cutting your sections with surface cleaner down smaller I usually walk about 6ft backwards and go over that same line forwards and move down. You’ll realize with these tips you won’t be spending 15-30 mins on a 15ft section of driveway. Instead of that driveway taking 4 hours with everything you were doing extra including all that it’d take half that time
I love how much safety you go over. Eye protection is definitely key, I got SH in my eye once and it was absolutely horrible. I was so thankful I made an eyewash station on my truck.
Giving away trade secrets Brad !!! This stuff is liquid gold ! I use a mix of blue dawn dish soap and the chlorinating liquid, the soap gets up underneath the dirt which makes for a quicker rinse.
Be very careful mixing Chlorine products with anything else. Dawn dish detergent doesn't contain ammonia, but does contain chemicals derived from ammonia. That mixture does still produce costic/ toxic fumes that can hurt you, or even cause death. I've even witnessed people who were sent to the hospital, because they put household bleach in their dish pan with dish detergent.
@@charleswise5570 Dawn does indeed contain ammonia. Dawn Ultra does not. Regardless, use a professional surfactant, not Dawn. Works better, it's designed specifically for our purpose, and you don't need to worry about dying in the process.
Wet Forget. I use it to easily clean concrete and stone from black streaks and heavy moss, Wet & Forget is safe on any type of stone or concrete material. Pre wet your area, spray and then use your surface cleaner.
Loved the 1 minute summary. It makes sense, if you don't follow the right process, there will probably be a layer of dirt that won't pressure wash. Honestly in my opinion, using chlorination liquid when pressure washing is not worth it for a better finish.
This is factually incorrect. Surface cleaning 2 times with a strong post treat will FAR outlast the clean of 5 passes with a surface cleaner. All about killing the organic growth so it doesn’t come back. Same idea when washing a house. Not trying to be bitter, just trying to inform :)
SH and a surfactant is the first thing you should do. Spray it on, let it dwell and then pressure wash. Prefect results every time. Use a sealant afterwards if you want to make it last longer
I've been doing some powerwashing jobs this spring and have been using a cleaner/degreaser instead of bleach. I just wet down the surface, spray it with cleaner, let it sit for 15 minutes then with my surface cleaner that I attach to the end of the wand clean it with one pass and rinse. Looks great with no streaks and less time doing the job.
Mix bleach with simple green and when you do surface cleaner do not go to fast not too slow,also never stop moving surface cleaner and when you see lines do it sircular nice video man.
I know you’ve probably figured this out by now but do a pass up and then go backwards on the same run at the same speed. Make sure when you do the next run you have the surface cleaner an inch or two over lapping the previous run. That should eliminate those streaks and also it’ll do a better job at cleaning the moss and gunk off.
I've pressured washed since 1989 and found that using proper equipment for the job is key. High GPM with proper pressure is what's needed for stripeless, clean results almost every time. I've used SH maybe 10 times in 30+ years. Using a Kohler 20hp, AR 8gpm pump along with a Landa surface cleaner for great results. Thanks for the video and suggestions 👍
You might want to use a less dilute solution. You also might want to try letting the first quick spray off dry first so that water doesn't dilute your bleach solution.
First use a blower to blow off the driveway, then pre wet the grass along the edges of the concrete with water, then downstream the SH into the concrete, wait a few minutes, run surface cleaner, rinse, then post treat. Amazing results every time
From what I learned starting out and watching videos. Downstream injector, apply at the end. You're not using it for "streaks" You are using it for the mold that will show back up after you leave or even before because mold takes more time to remove with just pressure and even then it's not enough.
I wanna thank you Sir for taking the time to make these videos. They are highly educational and help with my work in landscaping. I look forward to seeing many more form you and I thank you again for everything your doing. God bless you Sir. Sir I had questions will these chemicals harm the grass?
Great looking job, it really brightened it up. That's a good tip I think that somebody left about using a backpack sprayer with bleach. If you had a hose blow out, or a leak, and it ran down your back, that could be very bad. Be careful. Good work, and video. Thanks
Pro tip. 50/50 water and chlorinating liquid mix, throw in 8-10 oz of dawn dish soap. Post treat using the a downstreamer. It’ll be 10-1 ratio. With it being so thin you won’t have to rinse again. Just make sure you rinse off anything that should have bleach on. It’ll dry into pure clean.
@@nicksgunreviews8846 I've seen the same but there is apparently a version of dawn that works alright with bleach, just have to read the labels. Maybe Platinum Dawn is fine with it but OG isn't? I can't remember
Would you do the 50/50 mix with a 10% strength or just 12.5%? Also, what do you think would be best to remove the dark stains at the 8:00 minute mark of the video? Thanks!
Thanks for the video. IME, the best way to use bleach as a concrete cleaner is to mop it on to the concrete rather than using any sort of spraying device. 1/ Remove all surface debris with a blower or broom 2/ Mix up a cleaning solution that contains between 2.5% and 5% concentration of SH. 3/ Use a mop to distribute the SH solution over the area to be cleaned. 4/ Leave the SH to do its work for at least 15 minutes. 5/ Use a stiff broom to scrub the surface especially taking note of dirtier areas. 6/ Use pressure washer to clean and rise the surface. If cleaning an area bordered by grass / plants, protect the vegetation by wetting it prior to cleaning or covering it to avoid any SH coming into contact with it. Using a mop to distribute the cleaning solutions allows one to target dirtier areas easily. It also maximises the amount of SH that ends up on the surface compared to using a sprayer.
thank you for this! this is being filed in my homeowner recipes. i search for ways to do outside house maintenance relatively economically, using things I have. I keep recipes for things that work, like weed killer and oil stain remover. I'll be trying this out on my concrete patio that needs some love.
I have Reynauds. For my hands, I must keep them warm. Even the slightest chill (cool water, even in the summer) will set it off and take hours to recover. In the summer, when I go to the food store, I have to bundle up. That shock of going from hot to really cold just makes my hands go completely numb. By the time I get to checkout I can barely put my food up on the belt. Takes hours to recover. In the cooler temps I wear a down vest all day long in the house. Dr says keeping your core warm helps.
Looks good! Concrete is very inconsistent in my opinion. Age, type of concrete and severity of stains all play a roll obviously. Some need a pre treatment, some don’t. Some need a post treatment, some don’t and I’ve experienced the weird striping with just a pre treat. Some don’t need either. With all that in mind, I pre and post treat most driveways. If it’s not close to suitable when it’s time for the post treatment I break out the soft wash setup and apply a stronger mix.
I have the Hudson 4 gal backpack sprayer. I cut the hose and spliced it into a poly air hose. Now, I can sit the tank down and cover 50 feet. Just easier than loading 4 gallons on my back.
If you have another person rinsing right away, those lines are not going to be a problem anymore, That happens because as you are working doing the surface cleaning believe it or not it gets dry real quick and at the time you star to rinse is to late already, I know it seems wet but trust me is drying fast. Or try to do small sections at the time but rinse right away.
Hi from Daytona! Just wanted to suggest getting rid of the gun and using a high pressure ball valve with stainless steel quick connects. I like just turning a valve and having the machine work vs holding onto a gun(which also break) The guys below that are talking about down stream injecting chemicals are right also, Josh Davis and Travis Pittman detail everything I was also going to mention.
I think Surface Cleaner it has to be 4 inch per gallon , for example for a 4gpm machine we need a 16-inch Surface Cleaner ,and we have to clean slow, as faster you go More stricks you'll get
I just experimented with my sisters driveway. Did 1 slowe pass with the werly bird then bleach let that set for 10-15 min then a faster pass with the werly bird. No streaks looked awesome. I will be getting a stronger bleach soon. My pool store only has a 20% bleach product thats way to strong for the way im trying to start
All the stripes you are getting is also because of moving too quickly on the first pass or poor equipment. I am far from a professional or owning a business. But I do this quite a bit on the side for extra cash. Even with the basic equipment I have going at the proper pace keeps me from ever having tiger stripes. And I've only had to use bleach on the worst back patios and shaded areas never on driveways that get full sun like they do there in Florida and Jacksonville in particular where I'm a native. Pretty sure that's where you are too from what I've gathered. Yes I know surfactant and chemicals help but a slow steady Pace works just as well in a lot of situations... At one point in your video I saw where you had great results just from a second pass. My equipment gets that same result from the first pass. So either you're moving too fast or your equipment needs to be looked at.
To correctly do this. Pre and Post Treat with a 1.5-2% bleach mix. Spray before pressure washing, covering all of the concrete. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Pressure wash. Rinse Concrete. Spray with bleach mix again. Leave the mixture. Do not rinse it off. Tip: Do not use bleach for asphalt. It will discolor it.
I always pre and post treat using a 10 to 1 mix of SH with a surfactant. You should use a minimum of 4 gpm pw for concrete and have a correlating surface cleaner to handle the gpm and be aure the tips are in good shape. There's alot of factors, the most being experience
In your experience, does the bleach in the runoff water kill grass on the edges? I know you try to keep the cleaners away from plants from the get-go, but I imagine it's hard to contain all that on the edges unless you have a perfectly placed drain every time.
I was wondering the same thing. Is there a more organic chemical to use for that matter? The last thing you want to hear from your clients is that you killed their lawn/plants.
@@ryanforbus9436 The percentage of bleach is diluted with the water you are rinsing it with. It's also diluted down to the appropriate levels of the surface you are attempting to clean before applying. There is an alternative to using Sodium Hypochlorite (Active ingredient aka liquid bleach), which is to use Sodium Percarbonate (aka peroxide, not to be confused with Sodium Carbonate which is Soda Ash). Sodium percarbonate comes dry (powder) and needs to be mixed with water to create Hydrogen Peroxide. 6-8oz of Sodium Percarbonate to 1 gal of warm water is all you need. Be sure to mix it well within your pump sprayer as it does not dilute well (especially in cold water) and add a filter if possible to prevent your sprayer from clogging. Using Sodium Percarbonate is not as strong of a cleaning solution than Sodium Hypochlorite is and therefore will require agitation using a deck brush or similar to work in the solution. Let it dwell on the surface for 10-15 mins, then pressure/soft wash depending on the material you're cleaning. Sodium Percarbonate is an oxygen based non-chlorine bleach, although not as strong as chlorine bleach, it's safer to use around people, pets and plants because it breaks down into water and oxygen. Sodium percarbonate will only last 3-4hrs mixed before its strength begins to deteriorate. Hope this helps! 🙏🏽
Pool shock scrub brush any garden hose with to start spray the pool shock you can get in a liquid from Lowe's for like 10 bucks scrub it with a scrub brush keep it wet and just use the pressure washer wand on it and it'll come up like dust super easy one out of Florida
To keep from leaving marking from the pressure washer you need to be using a down streaming tip . , these kind of tips disburse heavy water flow and not pressure.
Came back to the video for tips again since im a still new to the game. He wasnt lying about the chemical burn lol i forgot about it when i was cleaning a house and as i was spraying the under side of the gutters and the siding it got on my hands and ran down my arm and arm pit.....boy did it leave my skin feeling like sand paper so glad i used a super diluted batch
Change your tips -post treat @ 5% sh after you make your first past either up and down or left and right move in a 8 and remember for every gpm is 4” in surface cleaner size. So if you have a 4 gpm 16-18” cleaner size
Brad, I've seen others use muriatic acid( hydrochloric acid) with good results. I've also seen people use cleaning strength vinegar, also with good results. I think it comes down too what kind of stains you're trying to clean. Thanks for the video! Much appreciated!
A word of caution to anyone reading this that may be a dumbass like me... Never mix vinegar and bleach under any circumstances. It sounds like it would be a great cleaner with a lot of power. The only thing it will clean is your genes out of the gene pool. Gotta pick one or the other, but never both.
What I do is take a foam canon and attach an 8ft tubing to it, one end in the chlorine and the other on the cannon. But when I pretreat, I do it when it is dry, and I make sure I am shooting the concrete straight down from the top to get into the crevices. (You wouldn't shoot at an enemy in a foxhole from angle) and pretreat with the right surfactant (Cling On) it will make the dirt come together as a solid film and will come off a lot easier. Usually I can post treat with the canon as well(when surface is dry). If it is super porous, then when it is dry I will come back over with a 50/50 mix in a 2 gal pump sprayer with 2 oz of surfactant. I promise you this will eliminate any remaining mold spores (enemy) that the surface cleaner (carpet bomb) did not take care of. Just pre & post wet the grass. If lines are remaining due to extremely light iron on the concrete. When dry, hit it with oxalic acid. Which is very very rare..
Is bleach okay to use on all houses for power washing? I need to know what bleach can be used on and what it cannot for power washing. What ratios/percentages do you guys use? Will it discolor any surfaces that aren’t white? Will it kill grass/vegetation? Can it be used on asphalt driveways?
There are lots of videos out there to answer your questions. Stop being lazy, no one owes you anything, and remember, a "please and thank you" goes a long way.
So what do you do with your runoff when you’re using chemicals? Do you make it a point to tell the customers you’re using chemicals up front? Do some ask you to just use water? And what happens to the run off when it hits grass or plants? Do people complain about that?
The Walmart chlorinating bleach doesn't seem to affect me. I get the slippery stuff all over my hands, arms and face. Even runs down to the armpits when I'm using a pole to scrub up high. It does spot t shirts however, but I like the look, blue shirts show the spots the best and I wear them around town and get interesting looks, lol.
@@iROXBEDDA Speaking from experience or just saying something? If the bleach has time to clean concrete before the final pass then i’m pretty sure its going to ruin your soil. Last winter i accidentally dropped some roadsalt onto the lawn, removed as much as possible, but that bit has still become bare dirt. Chemicals & grass don’t mix. Perhaps the channel owner can explain the trick with the bleach on the lawn.
@@Engineer9736 I'm speaking from experience, I own my own company and use this method frequently. I've never harmed or damaged any soil/turf using chlorinating liquid mixed with blue dawn dish soap. I've done this on driveways, for house washes and to clean vinyl and wood fences.
@@Engineer9736Salt strips moisture from the lawn's soil. This prevents your grass from getting the oxygen and water it needs to withstand winter weather. Because the salt absorbs water in the lawn's roots, the grass is left dehydrated and in a drought-like state
I don’t want to be “that guy” but you may wanna check your local laws regarding chemical runoff. I know another popular RUclipsr “Dans vlog” uses the exact same chemical but he runs it through his chemical injector. He loves using it on houses but never used it on sidewalk/driveway clean ups.
Dude this is the kind of video I’ve been looking for! Thank you! I have two questions on bleach, can someone provide their experience? 1) do you put the full concentrate 12.5% in and just down stream that and let the water coming out dilute it, or do you dilute if first and then put it through as well? So diluting it twice? 2)When do you use it? Here in AZ most of the grime is just dirt. Not organics. Will bleach still help or is it unnecessary?
I don't dilute it at all, I just pour it from the jug to the sprayer. I have not played around with downstream injection, only used the backpack sprayer to apply. I use it every time. It helps hide swirl marks and brightens the concrete.
When downstreaming I do not dilute it. Go full strength and let the injector dilute it for you. If you still have organics left on the surface after rinsing, use a pump strayer and go as strong as needed (usually 1:3 or 1:2).
I was just reading something about EPA guidelines for using bleach. While some might argue that a small amount of chlorine is in most tap water, the EPA can fine people if they find you are using bleach that goes into public waterways. Have you done any research on using citrus based cleaners and how they compare to bleach?
No one talks about the customer - if i spray bleach and then rinse the concrete, will it be safe for children to play on (they fall on there hands alot) or should they wait a day?
I dont use bleach or chemicals with a 24 " hammerhead surface cleaner. I can't see any difference when I clean concrete. I think the surface cleaner is powerful enough alone.
I so enjoy your videos! Really relaxing and, with this one, informative. Two questions for you...(1) how do you protect the flora from the bleach, and (2) why concrete paths and driveways? Is it something to do with the sun? I'm Scottish so have heard about the sun but we're not closely acquainted!!! Lol 🤭
Quick is the common denominator.. don’t do quick do efficient lol.. you should double pass each line to not get streaks unless you have like a 8 gpm washer or something.. thanks for the content though
So, other than avoiding not getting it on them when you are spraying, what sort of precautions or damage should we be aware of when using bleach/chlorinating fluid around ornamentals/landscaping?
I don't think 4GPM is sufficient to feed your surface cleaner. It looks like a big one, 24"? I think 16-20 is kinda the limit with the correct nozzles for 4GPM.
i just use the pressure with no cleaner. good enough, cheaper, no chemical worries, and less work. everything doesn't have to be 100% perfect. it reminds me of when my mother in-law saw my kids got some marker on the table. "oh, no the table is ruined!" I mean sure we'll try to get it off, but worse case, who cares, the table still functions like new.
But someone who uses chemicals and cleans concrete the correct way, can charge far more and provide a far premium service over the “$99 guy” for those customers wanting perfection.
@@aviationlocation7993 yeah. I do 95% of the work on my property myself, so I'm just talking non-business. It IS different when you're not your own customer.
With the surface scrubber, instead of just going back and forth try doing small circular rotations or swirls as you do your passes. This eliminates the tiger stripes/streaks. Give it a try and see, you may be really happy with the results.
I've had a pressure washing business for 13 years, and can give you some tips. First of all, don't wear a backpack sprayer. Even diluted bleach can give you a pretty nasty chemical burn if that thing leaks on your back.
The best method is to use a downstream injector to pre-spray the bleach directly through your pressure washing hose, then surface clean the driveway. This doesn't necessarily cause the driveway to come cleaner, but it loosens the dirt up and lets you wash a little faster. Then rinse, then spray the whole driveway with bleach through the pressure washing line again, and use your concentrated sprayer to hit the bad spots. Don't bother rinsing it off, let it soak into the pores. This will make the concrete look like new when it dries.
Most of us in the pressure washing business refer to all of it as bleach or SH for sodium hypochlorite. We don't make much of a distinction between the different concentrations, we just assume everyone is getting the highest concentration available to them and then diluting it to what it would need for your particular job. Most of us use 12%, and yes that stuff will give you a pretty bad burn if you're not careful. If you accidentally get some on your skin you've got a few seconds to wash it off before you start to feel it. Any longer than that and it's going to leave a mark. Always wear gloves, a respirator, and and sunglasses. In fact, I always wear long pants, rubber boots, long sleeve shirt, and a hat. The combination of the hat bill and the sunglasses helps quite a bit to keep SH mist out of my eyes when I'm spraying overhead.
Wait- the last part you said “don’t bother rinsing it off”. Are you saying when you post treat you don’t rinse the bleach off?
@@00700556 yeah, not on concrete. Bleach won't hurt concrete.
Thank you for those tips. That helped me a lot.
Will the SH kill the grass
@@christophercordova7277 If you have run off on vegetation, you can rinse the area after you run clean water through your hoses, just thoroughly rinse. If it's coming off an SH roof treatment directly onto and soaking heavily into vegetation, a green bleach neutralizer can be used for extra safety.
To help all the lawn guys that aren't used to this. I own a pressure washing company. You can add bleach to your first wash but it won't change much. First soak down the area then use a detergent/surfactant in your sprayer to coat the area you are going to work with. If you are dealing with a large area you might do it in sections to keep it from drying out. After that wash it off using your surface cleaner(ensure your pw has the right gpm and pressure to run the surface cleaner you are using, usually they are rated for a certain gpm/pressure. I think that is where a lot of the streaking in the video is coming from) after washing it the first time rinse it off. This is key. Let dry afterward as much as you can. Not only will this allow you to see anything that you may have missed. It will stop you from diluting your after wash. Once it is dry and you are satisfied you have done as much as you think you can with the surface cleaner, That is when I take my 10% bleach and surfactant mixture and go over the driveway. I spray it on and leave it on. This will do exactly what you expect bleach to do. It will even out the color in the surface and make it much whiter/ cleaner. You can wash it off after leaving it for a day to do its job, but I usually just leave it. Let the rain wash it off.
People have asked about bleach killing vegetation. It absolutely will if you don't take precautions. First precaution, soak down the vegetation around where you are going to work and keep it wet. This will help dilute any overspray down to safe levels. Lastly once everything is done rinse down the plants once again to ensure any overspray is diluted. Us wash guys don't want to keep the public in the dark about washing. We are just help when needed.
****Always understand the chemicals you are working with and their interaction with each other. Understand what to do if you are exposed to them and have a plan for emergencies if an exposure occurs****
Why don’t u just use heated water to clean the concrete? I’ve been using a trailer with a 250 gallon tank and a boiler attached to it, it gets the job done.
@@biazer9517 plenty of people do use heated water. Heated is where it's at if you have that ability. I believe this was geared more towards the do it at home variety folks. As they wouldn't go out and buy a heated unit to do their driveway. However, a lot of people own a pressure washer or might rent one for the day from somewhere like Home Depot.
@@travispittman5287 Absolutely correct, I just want to do my own driveway and the patio. Never even heard of heated pressure washer.
Travis, I have an asbestos roof. Do you know if it's safe to apply 12% sodium hypochlorite over it, without a pressure washer? I mean, spray it using just a backpack? Thank you!
Can you please help me find the right sueface cleaner for my power washer? Its 2300 PSI and 1.2GPM
You can tilt your surface cleaner to one side before squeezing the trigger, it will prevent the initial burst pressure to the concrete causing the big circle marks.
Good tip
Another method is making sure it’s moving before pulling the trigger
I’ve been in the pressure washing business for awhile now and I wanted to give you a few quick tips. What you did in the beginning of the video is great actually. Now since it was sped up and there was a cut once you put the SH onto the concrete you will want to let it sit for about 7-10 minutes for it to start loosening up the organic growth and dirt. Moving the surface cleaner in circles not only will that prevent etching and streaks but you’ll have the perfect overlap as well and be able to go faster whether your surface cleaner has wheels or not. Also you are most definitely walking too fast with the surface cleaner go slower, you don’t need to do the process twice on a section you are doing. What I do and maybe you should try is cutting your sections with surface cleaner down smaller I usually walk about 6ft backwards and go over that same line forwards and move down. You’ll realize with these tips you won’t be spending 15-30 mins on a 15ft section of driveway. Instead of that driveway taking 4 hours with everything you were doing extra including all that it’d take half that time
What is SH ?
How do you not destroy the grass with the bleach?
Water down the grass down prior.
@@kimberlylewis8148 sodium hypochlorite
Man thanks a lot for that pro tip.
I love how much safety you go over. Eye protection is definitely key, I got SH in my eye once and it was absolutely horrible. I was so thankful I made an eyewash station on my truck.
Giving away trade secrets Brad !!! This stuff is liquid gold ! I use a mix of blue dawn dish soap and the chlorinating liquid, the soap gets up underneath the dirt which makes for a quicker rinse.
Be very careful mixing Chlorine products with anything else. Dawn dish detergent doesn't contain ammonia, but does contain chemicals derived from ammonia. That mixture does still produce costic/ toxic fumes that can hurt you, or even cause death.
I've even witnessed people who were sent to the hospital, because they put household bleach in their dish pan with dish detergent.
@@charleswise5570 I know what im going to do today
@@charleswise5570
Dawn does indeed contain ammonia.
Dawn Ultra does not.
Regardless, use a professional surfactant, not Dawn. Works better, it's designed specifically for our purpose, and you don't need to worry about dying in the process.
@@charleswise5570 bruh my mom been washing the dishes like that for ever they must be using some stuff thats stonger then what this guy is using!
Wet Forget. I use it to easily clean concrete and stone from black streaks and heavy moss, Wet & Forget is safe on any type of stone or concrete material. Pre wet your area, spray and then use your surface cleaner.
Love that stuff! But it's spendy.
Loved the 1 minute summary. It makes sense, if you don't follow the right process, there will probably be a layer of dirt that won't pressure wash.
Honestly in my opinion, using chlorination liquid when pressure washing is not worth it for a better finish.
This is factually incorrect. Surface cleaning 2 times with a strong post treat will FAR outlast the clean of 5 passes with a surface cleaner. All about killing the organic growth so it doesn’t come back. Same idea when washing a house. Not trying to be bitter, just trying to inform :)
SH and a surfactant is the first thing you should do. Spray it on, let it dwell and then pressure wash. Prefect results every time. Use a sealant afterwards if you want to make it last longer
I've been doing some powerwashing jobs this spring and have been using a cleaner/degreaser instead of bleach. I just wet down the surface, spray it with cleaner, let it sit for 15 minutes then with my surface cleaner that I attach to the end of the wand clean it with one pass and rinse. Looks great with no streaks and less time doing the job.
what brand do you use?
What brand of degreaser do you use?
Morning Brad! Look at you dropping all this knowledge, it's really interesting.
I appreciate the description section and the video. Thanks
Excellent job! Good to hear all the safety information! Safety can never be stressed enough. Great information! Thank you!
Mix bleach with simple green and when you do surface cleaner do not go to fast not too slow,also never stop moving surface cleaner and when you see lines do it sircular nice video man.
I know you’ve probably figured this out by now but do a pass up and then go backwards on the same run at the same speed. Make sure when you do the next run you have the surface cleaner an inch or two over lapping the previous run. That should eliminate those streaks and also it’ll do a better job at cleaning the moss and gunk off.
Thank you for the tips!
I've pressured washed since 1989 and found that using proper equipment for the job is key. High GPM with proper pressure is what's needed for stripeless, clean results almost every time. I've used SH maybe 10 times in 30+ years.
Using a Kohler 20hp, AR 8gpm pump along with a Landa surface cleaner for great results.
Thanks for the video and suggestions 👍
Thank you for the tip!
Can u give a little more details on the pressure washer your describing please? What is "AR" when u say AR 8gpm?
Thank you
It's a brand of pump Annovi Reverberi his pressure washer is probably a XWAM8G35N pump and Kolher CH641/CH20 engine
"Atomize" I believe is the word you were looking for. ;)
You might want to use a less dilute solution. You also might want to try letting the first quick spray off dry first so that water doesn't dilute your bleach solution.
First use a blower to blow off the driveway, then pre wet the grass along the edges of the concrete with water, then downstream the SH into the concrete, wait a few minutes, run surface cleaner, rinse, then post treat. Amazing results every time
From what I learned starting out and watching videos. Downstream injector, apply at the end. You're not using it for "streaks" You are using it for the mold that will show back up after you leave or even before because mold takes more time to remove with just pressure and even then it's not enough.
I wanna thank you Sir for taking the time to make these videos. They are highly educational and help with my work in landscaping. I look forward to seeing many more form you and I thank you again for everything your doing. God bless you Sir.
Sir I had questions will these chemicals harm the grass?
Thanks for doing this type of video and not just milking the “ASMR” style videos lol. I love to learn!
its not milking its just giving what the audience wants, thats why they get more views, but it is nice to also have these types of videos.
Great looking job, it really brightened it up. That's a good tip I think that somebody left about using a backpack sprayer with bleach. If you had a hose blow out, or a leak, and it ran down your back, that could be very bad. Be careful. Good work, and video. Thanks
Pro tip. 50/50 water and chlorinating liquid mix, throw in 8-10 oz of dawn dish soap. Post treat using the a downstreamer. It’ll be 10-1 ratio. With it being so thin you won’t have to rinse again. Just make sure you rinse off anything that should have bleach on. It’ll dry into pure clean.
Nice! Thanks!
Dawn is not supposed to be mixed with bleach....read the label my guy
Doing a bunch of research myself and ive repeatedly read to not use dish soap, but to rather use laundry detergent.
@@nicksgunreviews8846 I've seen the same but there is apparently a version of dawn that works alright with bleach, just have to read the labels. Maybe Platinum Dawn is fine with it but OG isn't? I can't remember
Would you do the 50/50 mix with a 10% strength or just 12.5%? Also, what do you think would be best to remove the dark stains at the 8:00 minute mark of the video? Thanks!
Thanks for the video. IME, the best way to use bleach as a concrete cleaner is to mop it on to the concrete rather than using any sort of spraying device.
1/ Remove all surface debris with a blower or broom
2/ Mix up a cleaning solution that contains between 2.5% and 5% concentration of SH.
3/ Use a mop to distribute the SH solution over the area to be cleaned.
4/ Leave the SH to do its work for at least 15 minutes.
5/ Use a stiff broom to scrub the surface especially taking note of dirtier areas.
6/ Use pressure washer to clean and rise the surface.
If cleaning an area bordered by grass / plants, protect the vegetation by wetting it prior to cleaning or covering it to avoid any SH coming into contact with it.
Using a mop to distribute the cleaning solutions allows one to target dirtier areas easily. It also maximises the amount of SH that ends up on the surface compared to using a sprayer.
thank you for this! this is being filed in my homeowner recipes. i search for ways to do outside house maintenance relatively economically, using things I have. I keep recipes for things that work, like weed killer and oil stain remover. I'll be trying this out on my concrete patio that needs some love.
I have Reynauds. For my hands, I must keep them warm. Even the slightest chill (cool water, even in the summer) will set it off and take hours to recover. In the summer, when I go to the food store, I have to bundle up. That shock of going from hot to really cold just makes my hands go completely numb. By the time I get to checkout I can barely put my food up on the belt. Takes hours to recover. In the cooler temps I wear a down vest all day long in the house. Dr says keeping your core warm helps.
He’s a bit misinformed about Raynauds. It’s arterial spasm usually related to cool/cold exposure.
Thanks for all the safety tips and for generating all the comments and helpful conversations.
Great video, you're helping me learn and wanting to get into pressure washing
Vinegar works better & less toxic
Looks good! Concrete is very inconsistent in my opinion. Age, type of concrete and severity of stains all play a roll obviously. Some need a pre treatment, some don’t. Some need a post treatment, some don’t and I’ve experienced the weird striping with just a pre treat. Some don’t need either. With all that in mind, I pre and post treat most driveways. If it’s not close to suitable when it’s time for the post treatment I break out the soft wash setup and apply a stronger mix.
I have the Hudson 4 gal backpack sprayer. I cut the hose and spliced it into a poly air hose. Now, I can sit the tank down and cover 50 feet. Just easier than loading 4 gallons on my back.
Consider trying a post treat with some NMD80 or SureKleen 600. Dwell for 10ish minutes and a quick rinse. It is mind blowing.
If you have another person rinsing right away, those lines are not going to be a problem anymore, That happens because as you are working doing the surface cleaning believe it or not it gets dry real quick and at the time you star to rinse is to late already, I know it seems wet but trust me is drying fast. Or try to do small sections at the time but rinse right away.
Nope😂
Hi from Daytona! Just wanted to suggest getting rid of the gun and using a high pressure ball valve with stainless steel quick connects. I like just turning a valve and having the machine work vs holding onto a gun(which also break) The guys below that are talking about down stream injecting chemicals are right also, Josh Davis and Travis Pittman detail everything I was also going to mention.
I would love to know more!!!!!
Definitely want a 1000 round review.
Absolutely knew she would take brass.
I think Surface Cleaner it has to be 4 inch per gallon , for example for a 4gpm machine we need a 16-inch Surface Cleaner ,and we have to clean slow, as faster you go More stricks you'll get
^^^
I just experimented with my sisters driveway. Did 1 slowe pass with the werly bird then bleach let that set for 10-15 min then a faster pass with the werly bird. No streaks looked awesome. I will be getting a stronger bleach soon. My pool store only has a 20% bleach product thats way to strong for the way im trying to start
All the stripes you are getting is also because of moving too quickly on the first pass or poor equipment. I am far from a professional or owning a business. But I do this quite a bit on the side for extra cash. Even with the basic equipment I have going at the proper pace keeps me from ever having tiger stripes. And I've only had to use bleach on the worst back patios and shaded areas never on driveways that get full sun like they do there in Florida and Jacksonville in particular where I'm a native. Pretty sure that's where you are too from what I've gathered. Yes I know surfactant and chemicals help but a slow steady Pace works just as well in a lot of situations... At one point in your video I saw where you had great results just from a second pass. My equipment gets that same result from the first pass. So either you're moving too fast or your equipment needs to be looked at.
To correctly do this. Pre and Post Treat with a 1.5-2% bleach mix. Spray before pressure washing, covering all of the concrete. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Pressure wash. Rinse Concrete. Spray with bleach mix again. Leave the mixture. Do not rinse it off. Tip: Do not use bleach for asphalt. It will discolor it.
Try running the surface washer horizontally and vertically.
I have 4gpm Pressure washer with a 16 inch BE surface cleaner. No Chemicals used. No streaks. Why use bleach on a driveway i will never know.
Wonder if it’s a good idea to seal it after cleaning to that extent. One would think it wouldn’t get that bad if it had a sealer applied.
Excellent work my friend.
I always pre and post treat using a 10 to 1 mix of SH with a surfactant. You should use a minimum of 4 gpm pw for concrete and have a correlating surface cleaner to handle the gpm and be aure the tips are in good shape. There's alot of factors, the most being experience
Wdym 10:1 What is your final batch mix %. 10:1 is confusing for me
Post treating after the pre treat and cleaning usually takes care of left over streaking
You are the only. Guy on RUclips. That gives you. Good information. Do you have more videos
Excellent - Really good, thorough video - I learnt a lot.
Many thanks........all the way from London !
Thank you so much!
Nice video Brad, driveway looks much better. 👍👍👍👍🎉😉
In your experience, does the bleach in the runoff water kill grass on the edges? I know you try to keep the cleaners away from plants from the get-go, but I imagine it's hard to contain all that on the edges unless you have a perfectly placed drain every time.
might get watered down enough that it doesnt do much harm
I was wondering the same thing. Is there a more organic chemical to use for that matter? The last thing you want to hear from your clients is that you killed their lawn/plants.
@@ryanforbus9436 The percentage of bleach is diluted with the water you are rinsing it with. It's also diluted down to the appropriate levels of the surface you are attempting to clean before applying. There is an alternative to using Sodium Hypochlorite (Active ingredient aka liquid bleach), which is to use Sodium Percarbonate (aka peroxide, not to be confused with Sodium Carbonate which is Soda Ash). Sodium percarbonate comes dry (powder) and needs to be mixed with water to create Hydrogen Peroxide. 6-8oz of Sodium Percarbonate to 1 gal of warm water is all you need. Be sure to mix it well within your pump sprayer as it does not dilute well (especially in cold water) and add a filter if possible to prevent your sprayer from clogging. Using Sodium Percarbonate is not as strong of a cleaning solution than Sodium Hypochlorite is and therefore will require agitation using a deck brush or similar to work in the solution. Let it dwell on the surface for 10-15 mins, then pressure/soft wash depending on the material you're cleaning. Sodium Percarbonate is an oxygen based non-chlorine bleach, although not as strong as chlorine bleach, it's safer to use around people, pets and plants because it breaks down into water and oxygen. Sodium percarbonate will only last 3-4hrs mixed before its strength begins to deteriorate. Hope this helps! 🙏🏽
Pool shock scrub brush any garden hose with to start spray the pool shock you can get in a liquid from Lowe's for like 10 bucks scrub it with a scrub brush keep it wet and just use the pressure washer wand on it and it'll come up like dust super easy one out of Florida
To keep from leaving marking from the pressure washer you need to be using a down streaming tip . , these kind of tips disburse heavy water flow and not pressure.
Came back to the video for tips again since im a still new to the game. He wasnt lying about the chemical burn lol i forgot about it when i was cleaning a house and as i was spraying the under side of the gutters and the siding it got on my hands and ran down my arm and arm pit.....boy did it leave my skin feeling like sand paper so glad i used a super diluted batch
Change your tips -post treat @ 5% sh after you make your first past either up and down or left and right move in a 8 and remember for every gpm is 4” in surface cleaner size. So if you have a 4 gpm 16-18” cleaner size
Nice video but I don't think the numbness in your hands is called Reynauds syndrome or phenomena, it's called HAVS( hands-arm vibration syndrome).
Slow and easy is the name of the game
Brad, I've seen others use muriatic acid( hydrochloric acid) with good results. I've also seen people use cleaning strength vinegar, also with good results.
I think it comes down too what kind of stains you're trying to clean.
Thanks for the video! Much appreciated!
Those acids will etch concrete so be very careful SH will not
A word of caution to anyone reading this that may be a dumbass like me... Never mix vinegar and bleach under any circumstances. It sounds like it would be a great cleaner with a lot of power. The only thing it will clean is your genes out of the gene pool. Gotta pick one or the other, but never both.
Keep it up man! Loving the content. I get my SH from Pinch a Penny
Where did you get your boots from?
Also 4" Per Gpm on your pressure washer is the recommendation
Thank you for sharing loads of great and honest tips 😊💕
Nice vid! I saw you in a Facebook ad for small business insurance!
What I do is take a foam canon and attach an 8ft tubing to it, one end in the chlorine and the other on the cannon. But when I pretreat, I do it when it is dry, and I make sure I am shooting the concrete straight down from the top to get into the crevices. (You wouldn't shoot at an enemy in a foxhole from angle) and pretreat with the right surfactant (Cling On) it will make the dirt come together as a solid film and will come off a lot easier. Usually I can post treat with the canon as well(when surface is dry). If it is super porous, then when it is dry I will come back over with a 50/50 mix in a 2 gal pump sprayer with 2 oz of surfactant. I promise you this will eliminate any remaining mold spores (enemy) that the surface cleaner (carpet bomb) did not take care of. Just pre & post wet the grass. If lines are remaining due to extremely light iron on the concrete. When dry, hit it with oxalic acid. Which is very very rare..
Good tips, thank you!
Wow great tip I have 6000 sqft of side walk to power wash on Monday I am in NYC Manhattan
Is bleach okay to use on all houses for power washing?
I need to know what bleach can be used on and what it cannot for power washing. What ratios/percentages do you guys use? Will it discolor any surfaces that aren’t white? Will it kill grass/vegetation? Can it be used on asphalt driveways?
There are lots of videos out there to answer your questions. Stop being lazy, no one owes you anything, and remember, a "please and thank you" goes a long way.
I have the Petra sprayer, love it
Yo your do an amazing job on anything
Some very wise advice here, thanks!
So what do you do with your runoff when you’re using chemicals? Do you make it a point to tell the customers you’re using chemicals up front? Do some ask you to just use water? And what happens to the run off when it hits grass or plants? Do people complain about that?
With my experience using a hard Surface Cleaner you can solve your line stripe Problem by changing your jet tips on your hard Surface Cleaner
Wouldn’t the bleach kill the grass near the driveway?
Thank you for all the great tips you shared very honestly.
The Walmart chlorinating bleach doesn't seem to affect me. I get the slippery stuff all over my hands, arms and face. Even runs down to the armpits when I'm using a pole to scrub up high. It does spot t shirts however, but I like the look, blue shirts show the spots the best and I wear them around town and get interesting looks, lol.
best video hands down. Trial and arror. Exactly what I needed to watch before I start my operation ;)
Good tutorial & share. Curious, what are the pressure washer specs?
Question: Do I need to worry about grass or plants when using the bleach? Thank you!
Your gonna want to spray all plants before and after you use chemical with water to prevent any burning.
Grass also
@@iROXBEDDA Speaking from experience or just saying something? If the bleach has time to clean concrete before the final pass then i’m pretty sure its going to ruin your soil. Last winter i accidentally dropped some roadsalt onto the lawn, removed as much as possible, but that bit has still become bare dirt. Chemicals & grass don’t mix. Perhaps the channel owner can explain the trick with the bleach on the lawn.
@@Engineer9736 I'm speaking from experience, I own my own company and use this method frequently. I've never harmed or damaged any soil/turf using chlorinating liquid mixed with blue dawn dish soap. I've done this on driveways, for house washes and to clean vinyl and wood fences.
@@Engineer9736Salt strips moisture from the lawn's soil. This prevents your grass from getting the oxygen and water it needs to withstand winter weather. Because the salt absorbs water in the lawn's roots, the grass is left dehydrated and in a drought-like state
Sir, when you post treat the driveway after cleaning do you use straight bleach or do you mix it ? If so what percent do you mix ?
Thank you,
On second pass go opposite way as in vertical / horizontal seems to help too
And thanks for your channel. Have fun!
Good video man, learned something here.
I don’t want to be “that guy” but you may wanna check your local laws regarding chemical runoff. I know another popular RUclipsr “Dans vlog” uses the exact same chemical but he runs it through his chemical injector. He loves using it on houses but never used it on sidewalk/driveway clean ups.
Thanks for the information I have a 4000 psi pressure washer I just started my lil business and it’s hard on my hands
Dude this is the kind of video I’ve been looking for! Thank you! I have two questions on bleach, can someone provide their experience? 1) do you put the full concentrate 12.5% in and just down stream that and let the water coming out dilute it, or do you dilute if first and then put it through as well? So diluting it twice? 2)When do you use it? Here in AZ most of the grime is just dirt. Not organics. Will bleach still help or is it unnecessary?
I don't dilute it at all, I just pour it from the jug to the sprayer. I have not played around with downstream injection, only used the backpack sprayer to apply.
I use it every time. It helps hide swirl marks and brightens the concrete.
When downstreaming I do not dilute it. Go full strength and let the injector dilute it for you. If you still have organics left on the surface after rinsing, use a pump strayer and go as strong as needed (usually 1:3 or 1:2).
Shady areas are a lot harder to clean. That has been my experience...
I was just reading something about EPA guidelines for using bleach. While some might argue that a small amount of chlorine is in most tap water, the EPA can fine people if they find you are using bleach that goes into public waterways. Have you done any research on using citrus based cleaners and how they compare to bleach?
I like copper sulfate works great!
No one talks about the customer - if i spray bleach and then rinse the concrete, will it be safe for children to play on (they fall on there hands alot) or should they wait a day?
Can you show us a full video what you do before working please. thank you!
I dont use bleach or chemicals with a 24 " hammerhead surface cleaner. I can't see any difference when I clean concrete. I think the surface cleaner is powerful enough alone.
I so enjoy your videos! Really relaxing and, with this one, informative.
Two questions for you...(1) how do you protect the flora from the bleach, and (2) why concrete paths and driveways? Is it something to do with the sun? I'm Scottish so have heard about the sun but we're not closely acquainted!!! Lol 🤭
Do y'all generally have gravel driveways there? Most neighborhoods here are always concrete paved.
@@JustinLaNoue ...it can be gravel, paving stones, brick and asphalt. Not sure I've ever seen concrete paths here. Don't know why.
Quick is the common denominator.. don’t do quick do efficient lol.. you should double pass each line to not get streaks unless you have like a 8 gpm washer or something.. thanks for the content though
Tips on removing iron stains from our SW Florida concrete? From the sprinklers
Product called white ox. It’s oxalic acid crystals and it removes iron stains
Most pool chlorine is 12% not 10%. I recommend going to a pool store. That may help. Dawn dishwashing liquid?
can't find 12 percent here in area of florida-- 10.5 is the max any place carries.
So, other than avoiding not getting it on them when you are spraying, what sort of precautions or damage should we be aware of when using bleach/chlorinating fluid around ornamentals/landscaping?
Hose them down good with water before and after of you think you can't avoid overspray.
Lay down heavy bleach and let sit, stay away from edges of grass. Always got rid of my stripes and also do not overlap stripes with surface cleaner
I don't think 4GPM is sufficient to feed your surface cleaner. It looks like a big one, 24"? I think 16-20 is kinda the limit with the correct nozzles for 4GPM.
i just use the pressure with no cleaner. good enough, cheaper, no chemical worries, and less work. everything doesn't have to be 100% perfect. it reminds me of when my mother in-law saw my kids got some marker on the table. "oh, no the table is ruined!" I mean sure we'll try to get it off, but worse case, who cares, the table still functions like new.
But someone who uses chemicals and cleans concrete the correct way, can charge far more and provide a far premium service over the “$99 guy” for those customers wanting perfection.
@@aviationlocation7993 yeah. I do 95% of the work on my property myself, so I'm just talking non-business. It IS different when you're not your own customer.
Helpful and Cool video, keep it up 👍
Bleach, let set for 15 to 20 minutes, then surface clean rinse. Take your time.
This is great! Thank you
Hi Brad
With the surface scrubber, instead of just going back and forth try doing small circular rotations or swirls as you do your passes. This eliminates the tiger stripes/streaks. Give it a try and see, you may be really happy with the results.
Nope😂
Hey everyone Make sure you use a respirator cartridge that is rated for bleach. Look into 3m cartridges . Stay safe everyone