How Harsh is your Cleaner?

homer

Equipment Sales
Is it a cleaner, paint stripper or oven cleaner?
This is the question!

As both an ex-mobile washer and a cleaning chemical developer/compounder I can offer this information. The hydroxide family of chemicals should only be used as Exhaust Hood Cleaners and Paint Strippers. Yes, many contractors use hydroxide formulations to clean painted, vinyl, wood & brick surfaces - and at one time or another – most wish they hadn’t.

The next time you are in a hardware store look at the back of some of the cans of Paint Stripper and you will find that many are sodium hydroxide. Or, the next time in the grocery store check out the isle that sells oven cleaners and you will find those products are mostly sodium hydroxide. Now I ask – would you purchase either of those products to clean your personal automobile? Your house?

Most contractors use these products because they are fast acting and in most cases – much less expensive than “job matched” cleaners. We spray these product on to the surface and “whamo” – the dirt starts to roll off. Actually what is happening is the illusion of “cleaning” has been created when really all we are doing is removing microscopic layers of paint and the dirt is rolling off with it.

In many cases when you see efflorescence (chalking) on brick it is the result of an unsuspecting contractor or property owner using a product in the hydroxide family as a cleaner.

Many compounders favor the hydroxides because they are cheap to build. If memory serves me correctly – sodium hydroxide cost around .35-.40 cents a pound and a gallon weighs around 12 pounds. So if you are using a product formulated from the hydroxide family and the product weighs closer to 8 lbs per gallon / 41-42 lbs per five – you know you are purchasing mostly water since a 5 gallon pail of pure hydroxide product will weigh in at around 60 lbs.

At one time we made several products that were hydroxide based but with the UPS HAZMAT charges along with the increased insurance exposure we decided to go another way and here it is.

We manufacture a product called “Performance Builder Plus” which is, for a lack of a better description, the “horsepower” that makes sodium/potassium hydroxide work. This product is a unique blend of a “sugar” based surfactant ($2.75 per lb while most surfactants utilized by others are in the $0.60 per pound) and solvents specifically formulated to hold up in the harsh environment of hydroxides. The less expensive surfactants will fail quickly and offer little more that a few bubbles and little-to-no performance enhancement.

The intention here was to provide you with the chemistry and you purchase the “base” product locally – the “hydroxide.” When you do the math I feel that you will have a superior product for less than ½ the cost.

The reason we came up with this idea was because a few years back when we pulled all of our HAZMAT product off the market - droves of customers who had been purchasing our Exhaust Hood Cleaner – “CLING” went berserk! Our brainstorming came up with the idea of – you buy the Base (sodium/potassium hydroxide) and we will sell you the Chemistry that makes things happen.

In closing let me assure you that this is not a plug for our product product. Nor is it intended to take anything away from other products. For years, every chance I get, I have been encouraging contractors to get away for hydroxides except for paint stripping and exhaust hood cleaning. There are better and safer ways to clean and yes – more often that not – the correct way does cost a little more and requires a little more work. I say this because of years I followed contractors around the house wash industry cleaning up hydroxide messes. I honestly believe (based on the experience of washing, on average, over 20 houses per week) that the contractor who cleans with hydroxide in the House Wash Market – more often than not – will not clean the same house twice. Or at least they wouldn’t if I were in their market because a big part of my sales presentation is built around the things that my competitors do or DO NOT do.

If you are interested – a few years back I wrote an exterior house wash manual that some of you might find interesting. It covers everything from advertising House Washing to “closing” the deal. I have taken people right off the street, day 1 and had them close 8 out of 10 house wash jobs right over the phone – never leaving the office – never seeing the house and for much, much more money that my competition – and I have done this time after time. I used to charge $29.95 for this manual. If you are interested it is yours for nothing – just e-mail me. The only thing is that it will be for your personal use only and it is copyrighted. If you find it interesting enough – perhaps you will make a donation to Suzie’s Friends – our local animal shelter that my wife and I have built for our community. Check it out at www.suziesfriends.org.

Good luck and remember – as they say in the automobile industry – “there is a butt built for every seat” meaning that our products are great product, their products are great product, purple – pink – green – yellow – whatever STUFF are all great products and we ALL, as compounders and product developers, hope your butt finds it’s way to our seat.

Have a great day
 
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