How to Choose the Right Power Washing Soaps for Your Equipment and Job

When running a power washing business, success can come down to one simple factor – the power washing soap you use. The quality of the soap has many long-term implications on the longevity of your equipment and business’ success, so choosing the right one is crucial.

You need to choose soaps that are:

1. Designed for the equipment you own.
2. Appropriate for the power washing job you’re about to do.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, you’d be surprised how many power washing businesses use cheap soap as an initial cost-cutting solution, only to pay for it later.

What soap can you use with a power washer?

Power washing is a big job, and you want to make sure you use the right soap to get the job done right. More concentrated soaps are generally better than cheaper, less concentrated soaps. With power washing, you want a soap that will cut through the grime and dirt quickly and easily. A concentrated soap will do just that. It will also last longer since you won’t need to use as much of it. Another plus is that concentrated soaps often come in larger containers, so you won’t run out as quickly. Clients will notice how much better your work is because of the quality of soap you use.

Negative Long-Term Effects of Low-Grade Soap

Low-grade and cheap soaps will leave all kinds of nasty deposits in your pressure washing equipment’s coil, pump, and pressure hoses. The deposits build up over time, cause lower pressure, or can stop water flow into the lines completely. When you add heat into the mix, this problem becomes even worse. For a successful power washing job, your hoses should always be open and unclogged for maximum efficiency.

Think of them like your body’s arteries. Clogged arteries can lead to many health issues. While your equipment won’t have a heart attack, it can become inefficient or have a shorter life span. Using cheap or low-grade soap can also lead to other expensive technical problems down the line. 

Industry experts estimate that build-up from these soaps can reduce water flow by up to 5 times what it should be, leading you to experience up to a 2000 PSI drop in water pressure! That’s a severe problem when the whole point of your job is cleaning with water at high pressure!

Low-grade soaps also cost you time, and we all know time is money. Jobs can take longer because your equipment isn’t efficient. Your inefficient equipment will cause you to run through more soap, causing your jobs to take longer and leading to fewer jobs per day.

Buying High-Quality Soaps For Your Equipment

Buying power washing soap from a reputable source is vital. The soaps you’ll find at PowerWash.com are designed by professionals, for professionals. We only stock soaps intended for power washing equipment and designed for each type of power washing job.

Better quality and slightly more expensive but efficient soaps are far more beneficial, especially in terms of long-term durability for your equipment and overall profitability for your business. With longer dwell time, higher concentrations of active ingredients enable more effective oil breakdown and grime removal.

Your long-term revenue can significantly increase by investing in good-quality soaps. Your job time is decreased (but not your hourly rate), allowing you to potentially get to more jobs per day because of the soap’s performance and equipment’s efficiency. Good quality soap enhances the effect of a power wash. Clients will notice how much better your work is because of the quality of soap you use in your power washing mix. These soaps attack grime, build-up, and other deposits, leaving surfaces clean and clear. Cheap soaps contain filler that is not designed for tough exteriors (which power washing is all about) and can lead to jobs that take more of your time. They’re just not worth it!

So what power washing soaps are out there that are industry leaders?

• V502 Green Beast – This popular degreaser has great overall quality and use. It is known for degreasing and is a hood cleaner’s first choice for removing non-trans fat oil build-up from kitchen exhaust hoods, flues, filters, and other heavily soiled kitchen equipment. If your job focuses on dumpsters and restaurant facilities, finding a better power washing soap would be hard.

• Pink Thunder – This truck wash soap is a perfect upstream soap for fleet washing. It leaves trucks with a polished shine using minimal effort. The chrome on those big rigs will sparkle after Pink Thunder strikes!

• Fresh Wash Lemon Scent – This is a great surfactant choice for houses, and it leaves them smelling lemon fresh! It offers four ways to help increase your cleaning power: it enables surface tension to be broken on the cleaning surface, penetrates deeper, clings better to vertical surfaces, and allows you to save on bleach. This surfactant will take your soft wash to the next level and can be batch mixed and proportioned.

• Alpha Brown – This is a downstream degreaser for fleet washing. It is a brushless truck wash soap. Alpha Brown is concentrated and should be cut 1 to 1 with water before applying with a downstream injector.

• DNB 1430 Powerhouse – This mix kit degreases anything exceptionally well. It is designed to infiltrate and remove heavy grease, soil, and grime on diesel engine blocks, drive shafts, undercarriages, and other heavy machinery areas. Powerhouse is our customer’s choice for fast food drive-thru clean-up.

• Clearly Clean XTreme – This is the best concrete degreaser money can buy! It leaves those sidewalks and pathways looking like they were just laid. Use it on parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, steps, walls, dumpster pads, fuel islands, and drive-thrus. Also can be used for cleaning kitchen exhaust hoods.

Buy the Right Soap for Your Business

Despite a slightly higher initial cost, you’ll save immeasurable expenses and time by investing in high-quality power washing soaps in the long run. High-quality power washing soaps, like those at PowerWash.com, are designed for the longevity of your equipment, and different products are available for specific power washing jobs. Visit PowerWash.com or check out our video library for the latest industry news, insider tips, and the best products to get your power washing jobs done to the highest industry standards!

Key Takeaways:

• Power washing jobs take longer, and your equipment becomes inefficient when using cheap power washing soap.
• Cheap soaps can clog up the lines in your power washing equipment.
• Buying the right power washing soap will save you money in the long run.
• Invest in soaps that are job specific and designed for power washing equipment.
• There are lots of great and job-specific power washing soaps available at PowerWash.com.