Powdered Bleach Review Roof Cleaning Products

Doug Rucker

Roundtable Host 2009
I would have to say that my use of the Powdered Bleach and Green Wash was a disaster. Today I tried to clean an appx 3700 sq ft house. The roof was a Decra Steel Coated Roof.

The product has left a white cloudy type haze over everything that it came in contact with including the roof areas that were the dirtiest. I have been told by A.C. that this haze will come off after the first rain, but the problem is that even after repeated heavy rinsing the haze is still there. I sure hope that it does come off. My customer was out of town today when we did the cleaning. (Roger Lin, of USA Pressure Wash, helped me on this job today) and the customer will be in for quite a surprise when he returns on Sunday. I sure hope it has rained by then but I doubt that it will remove it. I felt so bad that I couldn’t even leave an invoice for the customer to pay me. I will have to wait till he returns to find out his opinion of the job and discuss further options. I am considering going back and cleaning with my regular roof mix before he gets home to see if that will help.

Here are some other observations about the product:
We had to constantly agitate the product in the tank. Roger had to continually go from keeping the ground areas wet to agitating the mix in the tank.

I used appx 150 gallons of mix. Which means I used 450 ounces of Powdered Bleach. I Was told for every 50 gallons of water to use 150 ounces of mix and 16 ounces of Green Wash. Seems like I used twice the amount versus my normal mix.

Instructions say to agitate for 15 minutes prior to using. I could handle this if the product cleaned faster than SH, but it did not. In fact I found it to be very slow. 15 minutes of agitation before I get started on top of continually going back to agitate the mix is a huge time waster to me. I have a few gallons left and there is a huge mound of powder in the bottom of the tank.

As I stated above, the white haze that was left on the roof is also on everything else that it came in contact with including the driveway, garbage cans, gas grill and windows. I now have to go back to clean all that and hope it comes off. I tried before leaving cleaning some of the glass and other areas with a rag and water but it would not come off.

I am sorry to say, but my experience was terrible and I will not be using this product again. It took me 7 hours today, would have taken 4 had I used my normal roof mix of SH, Water, and Amonyx Lo. Looks like what was a very profitable job will turn into a huge loss.


906161
 
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Sorry Doug, try calling delux in the morning. Hopefully they can tell you what you need to fix it. Jeff at the RCIA had said that it would leave a film. You could try to leave him a message.
 
Doug,
I am in the process of putting out the following technical briefing:

White Hazing from Powder Bleach Concentrate - Technical Briefing
Delux is committed to providing quality service and products. It is important that we making sure our customers are informed of the products they have purchased or are considering for purchase. And it is for this reason that we want to inform those that have or will be purchasing the Powder Bleach Concentrate that you be aware of the following. When using this product a white hazing can occur. To eliminate or just reduce the white hazing Green Wash should be added to the solution. When Green Wash is added the hazing should not be an issue and the solution should be rinsed off before it gets a chance to dry. But we are finding that on some surfaces there is still a hazing even when Green Wash is used. We want to let you know that it is important to always do a test on an inconspicuous area. If for some reason there is white hazing a mild acidic solution will remove the residue. We also recommend that sodium hypochlorite be used in conjunction with the Green Wash instead of the Powder Bleach Concentrate on those surfaces where this problem may occur. If you have any further question please give us a call at 1-888-42-DELUX.

Here is my cell phone number 817-401-1684. Please give me a call.
 
Doug I threw that Photo in at your request

I would have to say that my use of the Powdered Bleach and Green Wash was a disaster. Today I tried to clean an appx 3700 sq ft house. The roof was a Decra Steel Coated Roof.

The product has left a white cloudy type haze over everything that it came in contact with including the roof areas that were the dirtiest. I have been told by A.C. that this haze will come off after the first rain, but the problem is that even after repeated heavy rinsing the haze is still there. I sure hope that it does come off. My customer was out of town today when we did the cleaning. (Roger Lin, of USA Pressure Wash, helped me on this job today) and the customer will be in for quite a surprise when he returns on Sunday. I sure hope it has rained by then but I doubt that it will remove it. I felt so bad that I couldn’t even leave an invoice for the customer to pay me. I will have to wait till he returns to find out his opinion of the job and discuss further options. I am considering going back and cleaning with my regular roof mix before he gets home to see if that will help.

Here are some other observations about the product:
We had to constantly agitate the product in the tank. Roger had to continually go from keeping the ground areas wet to agitating the mix in the tank.

I used appx 150 gallons of mix. Which means I used 450 ounces of Powdered Bleach. I Was told for every 50 gallons of water to use 150 ounces of mix and 16 ounces of Green Wash. Seems like I used twice the amount versus my normal mix.

Instructions say to agitate for 15 minutes prior to using. I could handle this if the product cleaned faster than SH, but it did not. In fact I found it to be very slow. 15 minutes of agitation before I get started on top of continually going back to agitate the mix is a huge time waster to me. I have a few gallons left and there is a huge mound of powder in the bottom of the tank.

As I stated above, the white haze that was left on the roof is also on everything else that it came in contact with including the driveway, garbage cans, gas grill and windows. I now have to go back to clean all that and hope it comes off. I tried before leaving cleaning some of the glass and other areas with a rag and water but it would not come off.

I am sorry to say, but my experience was terrible and I will not be using this product again. It took me 7 hours today, would have taken 4 had I used my normal roof mix of SH, Water, and Amonyx Lo. Looks like what was a very profitable job will turn into a huge loss.


906161
 
Thanks for the response Mike, I'm sure you will get this worked out.

Doug,
I am in the process of putting out the following technical briefing:

White Hazing from Powder Bleach Concentrate - Technical Briefing
Delux is committed to providing quality service and products. It is important that we making sure our customers are informed of the products they have purchased or are considering for purchase. And it is for this reason that we want to inform those that have or will be purchasing the Powder Bleach Concentrate that you be aware of the following. When using this product a white hazing can occur. To eliminate or just reduce the white hazing Green Wash should be added to the solution. When Green Wash is added the hazing should not be an issue and the solution should be rinsed off before it gets a chance to dry. But we are finding that on some surfaces there is still a hazing even when Green Wash is used. We want to let you know that it is important to always do a test on an inconspicuous area. If for some reason there is white hazing a mild acidic solution will remove the residue. We also recommend that sodium hypochlorite be used in conjunction with the Green Wash instead of the Powder Bleach Concentrate on those surfaces where this problem may occur. If you have any further question please give us a call at 1-888-42-DELUX.

Here is my cell phone number 817-401-1684. Please give me a call.
 
Sorry Doug, try calling delux in the morning. Hopefully they can tell you what you need to fix it. Jeff at the RCIA had said that it would leave a film. You could try to leave him a message.
There is not a whole lot that has not been tried in an attempt to find an alternative to sodium hypochlorite for roof cleaning. Here is an old RCIA Thread about us investigating Calcium Hypochlorite as a possible roof cleaning substitute for Sodium Hypochlorite. A Long time ago, I asked a question on a Forum where plant scientists (Botanists) hang out. Calcium Hypochlorite was suggested to me as a possible alternative. Here is why. Calcium Hypochlorite is free of the Salt (Sodium) in Sodium Hypochlorite. Calcium will not kill plants the same was Salt will. So, I tried it years ago, and found w/o a booster, it was not as good for cleaning. It also left a terrible film I was unable to get rid of. The film did respond to a light acid rinse, or a rinse with PLENTY of WARM water. What really sucked was this. You would rinse it real good, and THINK you got it, but surprise surprise surprise, that chit would dry, and the white film came back!!!!!!!!
I will say this, and Jeff from RCIA will agree, for SOME reason, roofs cleaned with Calcium Hypochlorite say clean for a LONG time. Perhaps it is simply because that god dang white chalky film stays around, even when it appears to be all rinsed off ?
So, I abandoned Calcium Hypochlorite as just another dead end I choose to call a "learning experience". From my research into finding activators to make it stronger and clean better, I learned some things about bleach activators that are still valid today.

The RCIA was actually "in existence" back in 1999, it was called the roof cleaners institute, and existed in my mind.
 
Wow, I asked AC about how this stuff mixes up and about the residue. I knew alot of people that have used this stuff previous had the same problems. White residue everywhere. Sorry to hear the bad results. I didn't think this stuff would be any diffrent.....
Here is how it is removed from swimming pool filters. A mild acid wash will remove the film.

What is the procedure to clean my cartridge?

  1. Remove the cartridge from the filter housing following the manufacturer's instructions.
  2. Use a garden hose with a straight flow nozzle to wash down the filter element. Work from the bottom down, holding the nozzle at a 45-degree angle, and wash all the pleats with emphasis between pleats.
  3. Rinse until all dirt and debris is gone.
  4. For all spa cartridges and elements used in swimming pools where perspiration, suntan lotions, and other oils are present, soak the element for at least one hour (over night is most effective) in (1) a filter cleaner; or (2) one cup tri-sodium phosphate (tsp.) to five gallons of water.
  5. Rinse the cartridge again to remove oils and cleaning solution.
  6. If the filter has a coating of algae, calcium carbonate (residue form the calcium hypochlorite), iron, or other minerals, soak the cartridge in a solution of one part muriatic acid to twenty parts water until all bubbling stops. WARNING: failure to remove all oils and cleaning solution before acid soaking will result in a permanent restriction of water flow and cause premature cartridge failure.
  7. Rinse the cartridge clean and reassemble housing.
 
Doug,
I am in the process of putting out the following technical briefing:

White Hazing from Powder Bleach Concentrate - Technical Briefing
Delux is committed to providing quality service and products. It is important that we making sure our customers are informed of the products they have purchased or are considering for purchase. And it is for this reason that we want to inform those that have or will be purchasing the Powder Bleach Concentrate that you be aware of the following. When using this product a white hazing can occur. To eliminate or just reduce the white hazing Green Wash should be added to the solution. When Green Wash is added the hazing should not be an issue and the solution should be rinsed off before it gets a chance to dry. But we are finding that on some surfaces there is still a hazing even when Green Wash is used. We want to let you know that it is important to always do a test on an inconspicuous area. If for some reason there is white hazing a mild acidic solution will remove the residue. We also recommend that sodium hypochlorite be used in conjunction with the Green Wash instead of the Powder Bleach Concentrate on those surfaces where this problem may occur. If you have any further question please give us a call at 1-888-42-DELUX.

Here is my cell phone number 817-401-1684. Please give me a call.

I have a question,..why did you guys send this suff out to people without even knowing anything about it's properties. I like the way you guys marketed this product and then in your answer here it says to use sodium hypochlorite instead of the powder bleach.

Jeff
 
I have a question,..why did you guys send this suff out to people without even knowing anything about it's properties. I like the way you guys marketed this product and then in your answer here it says to use sodium hypochlorite instead of the powder bleach.

Jeff

Jeff,

I have been using this product successfully throughout the testing and development since September of last year. I had also used the product widely back in the early 1990's but in Florida SH was so widely available that we went the SH direction.

It is important to know that this product was developed because of the recent developments with DOT limiting contractors without CDLs and Haz Mat endorsements to transporting 119 gallons of any hypochlorite solution. My company received a $6,000.00 fine this past summer for that in Florida.

Yes CH will have some residue. If you prepare for the job wetting all of the plants and exterior surfaces down this chalking can be reduced if not completely avoided. Also have your ground man keep up with you as you clean the roof rinsing the untreated surfaces along the way. Delux has another product available that will help with the rinsing wich is called the PM for Bleach. It is a great all around rinse aid for any caustics and was a go to toll over the last 12 years I used it at Mallard and TerraClean.

Back in the early days when I first started using SH there were allot of negatives with that product as well. One of which still exists with ramped plant damages caused by contractors. As we all use this product more we will begin to make adjustments like we all did back in the 90's using SH. Remember one of the biggest reasons for moving over to the powder is for compliance reasons. Another is that it is much easier on plants.

If anyone can get to me in Florida I am happy to show them the steps to successfully clean a roof with this material without making a mess:) If you cant make it to Florida or Fort Worth when I am there monthly, give me a call on my cell phone and I will be happy to help you wrangle this issue out.

Thanks Y'all,

AC
 
Hey Guy's, just wanted to let everyone know that Michael Hinderliter called me this morning to first express his deep concern for this problem, apologize profusely, and most of all to let me know he is in his truck and on his way to Houston from Dallas with equipment and product to clean up the residue BEFORE my customer get's home.

I have never met Michael or even talked to him before this morning, but I can tell you based on his actions and the conversation we had this morning he is a man amongst Men and it is so easy to see why he is successful. It say's a lot to me about a man that will jump in in his truck and come rectify a situation like this with no quesions asked, no trying to cast blame, but just taking FULL RESPONSIBILTY.

I also would like to thank Chris Howell from Roof Restore for his offer to help not only this morning but also when Michael get's here if we need him. Chris your on my speed dial buddy, I appreciate you so much.

Now I think will take a nap before Michael get's here. Not much sleep last night, but feeling much better now.

Doug
 
AC,..did you ever mention to the potential buyers about the hazing issue? Did you mention it to Doug Rucker when you talked to him on the phone when you were giving him mixing instructions?
I see you did admit to it being simple CH,..which isn't revolutionary,...I never once stated that CH wouldn't work,..in fact the irony of all this is I'm probably the biggest supporter of CH for roof cleaning,...go back to the grime scene and RCIA and see my threads on this.

I said it's not worth the tradeoffs. The hurdles you have to overcome with CH aren't worth switching,..and that has always been my stance on this.

Jeff
 
Maybe it will all pan out. Not the greatest start though. Jeff, you were 100% right. You said what the product was, the benefits and you mentioned the residue left behind.
 
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