Best bulk soap for semi trucks?

custmsprty said:
How hard is it to google truck wash chemicals?

And it doesn't sound like you want "the best" is sounds like you want "the cheapest"

Nothing like waiting till the last minute LOL!!
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I love when guys like you come into a thread and have no intentions of answering the question. Yet still post just to bash the OP. thanks for your contribution custm. Posting that really benefited my knowledge on the question at hand.


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KyleP said:
I love when guys like you come into a thread and have no intentions of answering the question. Yet still post just to bash the OP. thanks for your contribution custm. Posting that really benefited my knowledge on the question at hand.


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here I googled this for you:

[video=youtube_share;JOAnm6QuiuA"]How to pressure wash a semi truck by chembrite - YouTube[/video]

[video=youtube_share;WH0yN2MKElo"]TRUCK WASH by FLEET CLEAN - YouTube[/video]

Im the MAN
 
Vegas and car daddy thank you for the great replys. You guys have helped us get what we need to get on our feet this first weekend...thank you! :)

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Did some of the trucks today. There was some (grease) on the trucks...I think? It looked like dirt but would not come off. It was mostly on the actual paint of the trucks. Purple power at a stronger dilution was doing nothing to this stuff. Any ideas?

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Purple Power works just OK for cleaning up a lot of the commercial vehicles I work on on a regular basis. These are buses and not semi trucks. These buses are run hard regularly, rarely ever washed and are never waxed or sealed.





^^^Clay would never tackle this type of mess.^^^




In general, Super Clean will outperform Purple Power for many really neglected and stained paint finishes I come across. I'm talking white paint that hasn't been washed in a year or years but these vehicles get driven hundreds of miles most days.

Purple Power is a really strong caustic cleaner and so is Super Clean, but Super Clean contains a lot more surfactants and cleans a lot more than Purple Power. Super Clean cleans better but it's not quite as harsh.

I mix up buckets with about a cup of concentrated car wash soap (the car wash concentrate adds lubricity and reduces chemical etching) and anywhere from a half a cup to a cup of Super Clean and have at it with a wash brush and an extension pole.

The grease you mention on the paint that the strong purple degreasers won't touch gets removed with kerosene then it gets the wash as I mentioned above.

Boutique products and most detailing products for that matter have no real place in dealing with a fleet of trucks like you're trying to manage the cleaning of so just get those products out of your mind now or go belly up trying them. They simply don't apply to this level of commercial work. If someone recommends them..."If it don't apply, let it fly". They just aren't effective and they're definitely not cost effective.

One tip I'll give you about washing with "solutions strong enough to be profitable" is to pre-soak with a sufficient dilution ratio (test spot) spraying from the bottom to the top of the area to be washed, then power wash off the grit and wash from the bottom to the top in areas no larger than 4 to 5 feet linear or so and rinse immediately then move on to your next section and repeat the same process.

The golden rule in commercial washing with strong solutions is "Never let it dry" and "Never let it run down over a dry panel" As such, you need to work strategically in small enough areas as to adhere to these two simple golden rules.

Break these rules and you'll have bad looking streaks that will not wash off. You'll have to break out the Flex 3401 and the metal polish (nothing works faster) and polish the streaks off. You might as well buy one now because it will make your life much easier and you'll be much more profitable working on commercial vehicles.

The two golden rules will prevent you from having to break out the polisher and undo the results of working backwards, and you will work backwards so get used to eating your labor and working longer days until you get through the ultra steep learning curve. Every time you turn around you're up against something that you can't seem to get clean or shined up. Working on commercial vehicles is "totally" different from regular detailing.

That's it for now, hope it helps. TD
 
KyleP said:
Did some of the trucks today. There was some (grease) on the trucks...I think? It looked like dirt but would not come off. It was mostly on the actual paint of the trucks. Purple power at a stronger dilution was doing nothing to this stuff. Any ideas?

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Did it look anything like this? Well not the rust.



This is all the cleaner the purple stuff would get it.



Bring in the acid/water mixture.




and the brush...and of course the gloves and eye protection.



and a good rinse then another sprayed coating of caustic cleaner to neutralize the acid and another good rinse.

 
tuscarora dave said:


^^^Clay would never tackle this type of mess.^^^
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Some might suggest something like Iron-X... I say that'd be laughable.

You'd exceed the amount of profit you could make on a cleanup like this, just to pay for the Iron-X you'd need to fix this iron contamination which covers the entire bottom half of the van down both sides and the entire back of the van.

So what then? Tell the customer to find someone else to do it? Or worse yet that it can't be fixed?

No you break out your acid, mix up a sufficient dilution (test spot), spray it and allow to dwell for a few minutes...5 or 10 minutes to be specific. Remember the 2 golden rules? Applies here too.

Brush it, rinse it, spray it with caustic cleaner (Just about any APC including APC+) to neutralize the acid then a final rinse. The paint on this van looked like a brand new van's paint when I was finished with it by the way.

I pay $6 dollars a gallon for my acid and it will make a year's worth of acid wash for decontamination of stuff like this that is normal to see in commercial vehicle care. I get a year's worth of wheel cleaner out of the same gallon of acid.

I don't clean up several buses and vans a day but I stay reasonably busy year round with commercial vehicles. If I wanted to, I could fill my schedule up very easily doing commercial vehicle cleaning only, but I have my hands in a lot of different areas so I don't. The demand for the work is everywhere in every city though.
 
KyleP said:
I love when guys like you come into a thread and have no intentions of answering the question. Yet still post just to bash the OP. thanks for your contribution custm. Posting that really benefited my knowledge on the question at hand.


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I kind of agree with him. You own a detailing company but your asking what kind of soap to use...?
 
Didn't you inspect the trucks before hand , I mean you sort of went into this without any soap, so basic of a prodcut.
This isn't an easy job and should only be done with someone with experience.

So now you have all these rigs without having a game plan.
Seems that owning a "company" as you do would tell you what products you needed going into this really big job.

I hope you figure it out soon for your sake.
I wish you all the luck in the world, you'll need it.
 
KyleP said:
Did some of the trucks today. There was some (grease) on the trucks...I think? It looked like dirt but would not come off. It was mostly on the actual paint of the trucks. Purple power at a stronger dilution was doing nothing to this stuff. Any ideas?

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Acid, hydrofluoric acid to be exact. Sold in 5 gallon buckets under the name of wheel brightener. I mentioned some dilutions earlier. It'll clean anything on a big truck you can possibly find.

Just mix some with whatever APC/Purple/Green/whatever. Or use it straight up. Well not STRAIGHT or you will cause serious damage. Mix it and use it in a stainless bug sprayer. Get yourself a spray can of white lithium grease as well. After you use that mixture in your sprayer DRAIN THE SPRAYER! Rinse it, take everything apart that'll come apart in the pump side of things and coat all working parts and pieces with the white lithium grease. If you don't.... you'll end up buying another sprayer.

You can use the poly sprayers too but I found after a while they start to literally fall to pieces.

That (the acid) is what Dave is talking about below. ;)

tuscarora dave said:
Some might suggest something like Iron-X... I say that'd be laughable.

You'd exceed the amount of profit you could make on a cleanup like this, just to pay for the Iron-X you'd need to fix this iron contamination which covers the entire bottom half of the van down both sides and the entire back of the van.

So what then? Tell the customer to find someone else to do it? Or worse yet that it can't be fixed?

No you break out your acid, mix up a sufficient dilution (test spot), spray it and allow to dwell for a few minutes...5 or 10 minutes to be specific. Remember the 2 golden rules? Applies here too.

Brush it, rinse it, spray it with caustic cleaner (Just about any APC including APC+) to neutralize the acid then a final rinse. The paint on this van looked like a brand new van's paint when I was finished with it by the way.

I pay $6 dollars a gallon for my acid and it will make a year's worth of acid wash for decontamination of stuff like this that is normal to see in commercial vehicle care. I get a year's worth of wheel cleaner out of the same gallon of acid.

I don't clean up several buses and vans a day but I stay reasonably busy year round with commercial vehicles. If I wanted to, I could fill my schedule up very easily doing commercial vehicle cleaning only, but I have my hands in a lot of different areas so I don't. The demand for the work is everywhere in every city though.
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KillaCam said:
Be careful if you're using hydrofluoric acid!
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Oh but it's so much FUN!:drool::cry::dunno:


I've seen it work on an aluminum bed rollback and almost smoke! :laughing:
Darned sure will clean anything left there from hauling a burned out shell of a F250. :eek:
 
cardaddy said:
Oh but it's so much FUN!:drool::cry::dunno:


I've seen it work on an aluminum bed rollback and almost smoke! :laughing:
Darned sure will clean anything left there from hauling a burned out shell of a F250. :eek:
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If you think that's cool, you should see what it'll do to glass.
 
KyleP said:
Theyre really just looking to get the grime and dirt off the trucks and have them looking washed, not a detail or anything of the sort.

You mentioned diluting purple power in with your soap. Mind telling me your measurements of dilution? :)


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Let's get refocused. Dave, Tony, and myself have experience using acid on class 8.
What you need to focus on is getting the dirt and grime off. There's a reason the company chooses the weekend for fleet washing.
AGO style results are not necessary unless requested before hand. The most important thing is to get 50 trucks done in your te frame.

Deep stains can be addressed later. These trucks will probably roll out Sunday pm to make Monday appts.
Don't stress yourself. They're giving you an opportunity knowing that you have no experience in big rigs.
 
I meant to say "time frame" not "te frame".
First time ever posting anywhere with this old iPhone.
 
KillaCam said:
If you think that's cool, you should see what it'll do to glass.
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Oh I'm painfully aware. :eek:

I'd mentioned in some earlier talks of using it that you need to be upwind, and that you need to make sure and cover the cab if there was ANY wind AT all. :rolleyes: I had it mess up a rear glass so bad once o one of my rigs that we just covered it with lettering. :(

Thankfully the paint was well protected with bi-weekly paste waxing and the spots buffed out.
Ended up putting a sliding window in down the road because I just couldn't stand it anymore.:nomore:
 
Omega truck wash soap is the best on the market we tried them all .
 
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