Start a Pressure Washing Business

Chemical Mix Card

Companion to the lessons "Pressure, gallons, and chemistry" and "Decks and fences"

1. Mix Ratios by Surface

SurfaceFinished SH mixNotes
House1 to 3% SHdepending on how dirty the siding is; downstream injector pulling from a tank of bulk 12% SH delivers about 1.2% at the wand
Roof4 to 6% SHroof algae is stubborn; the shingle manufacturers' own bulletin prescribes a milder roughly 3% bleach mix, the safe floor
Concretehouse-strength mix plus specialty chemistrydegreaser for oil spots, rust remover for battery-acid and fertilizer stains; label directions are the operating manual
Wood (fence SOP)50/50 cut of SH and water, adjusted to the condition of the woodthe strong end of the wood range, and where bleaching lives; weathered bare wood only
Wood, painted (preserving the coating)downstreamed house-strength mixsame mix that cleans siding; deliverable is clean, not new

2. Downstream Dilution Note

A downstream injector (the $20 entry device) sips chemical into the water stream after the pump at roughly 10 to 1 water to chemical. Pulling from a tank of bulk 12% SH lands about a 1.2% mix at the wand: house-wash range. Dedicated soft-wash systems meter the ratio without re-batching between a house mix and a roof mix.

Bulk SH runs 10 to 12.5% from pool supply or chemical suppliers; laundry bleach is about 6% with additives.

3. Dwell Times

SurfaceDwell
House5 to 10 minutes (soap, watch the green gray out and lift, rinse before the surface dries)
Wooddemo runs 3 to 5 minutes; the SOP caps dwell at 10 minutes, and the cap is not advisory

4. Plant-Protection Sequence (every job, no exceptions)

Dilution is plant protection: saturated soil and leaves shed dilute SH; dry roots drink whatever lands on them.

5. Wood Pressure Rule (single pass)

Pressure dialed down before the nozzle touches a board (dual-lance or adjustable wand): strong enough to clean, not to scar. Prove it on one board in a corner, every wood job, every time. Clean one board at a time, in one smooth pass, start off the board, end off the board. Never back and forth.

NEVER MIX SH WITH ACIDS OR AMMONIA: TOXIC GAS. Always add chemical to water, never water to concentrate. If chemical contacts skin or eyes, flush with clean water immediately and continuously; carry fresh water on the truck for exactly this.

6. PPE List

Dilution discipline: start weaker than you think you need, and only strengthen after you see the result. There is no undoing a mix that was too strong. Additives that earn shelf space: surfactant (clings to vertical siding through dwell) and neutralizer (post-roof).