SS bay soap

[brewer40312]

I have a 4-SS bays with one bay auto bay.. Problem is .... I have been having issues with soap. I get my soap from K-Chemical, the green 749 soap in the 55 gal drum. I have been having issues with a build up on the tank bottom screen stopping up with a sludge that looked like snot. I have called the company and mentioned the problem, they sent me a 5 gal bucket of Super Suds. It did that care of the problem. The next drum did the same thing, so he had my distributor come and get a water sample.. He said I had a lot of bacteria in my water, which is city water and I suppose everyone in the city has bacteria in their water. But the next drum i received, I have almost NO suds/bubbles and I have had complaints that there isn't any soap and seems like the word was getting around that I didn't use soap anymore. So I went and got 4 bottles of 40oz Dawn from the local grocery store and it did give some bubbles, not a lot though. We have used this 749 soap for probably 15 years. This drum is on now about 1/4full and no suds... any recommendations on what to get?

 

[OurTown]

Have you checked your water hardness?

 

[chaz]

Look for an inline filter that be clogged. Also...check dilution tank for buildup that may need clean. Also could be bad ratio of air to product. You can also try adding some rubbing alcohol to soap bucket and mixing

 

[MEP001]

I mix foam brush soap with water and once in a while bacteria or algae will grow in the barrel and clog the screen in the foot valve.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

What is your water hardness?

 

[mac]

You have a common problem. You are buying cheap soap. Period. Many soaps have seal oil in them. When it sits in a tank the oilsreact and you get snot. If the manufacturer and salesman didn’t know this They are part of the problem. Make them come out and buy back what you have left. Then look for a better supplier. Have seen this for many years. And if you are buying it in 55 gal drums it must be cheap. Quality soaps can be mixed 300 to one.

 

[Randy]

I know exactly what your problem is. Been there and done that. That snotty stuff is a bacterial growth from the soap. We had that problem at 2 of the 4 car washes that we were using the same soap in. We found that the only way to get rid of the problem is to change brands of soap that has a high level of algaecide or a higher PH. We used swimming pool bleach pellets in the soap until all of the soap we had in stock was gone and then switched over to JBS Fonic wash, no more snot in the soap tank. We buy it from Kleen-rite in 5 gallon pails and add 10 gallons of water to each pail.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I agree with Randy’s. I switched to JBS years ago because of the same issue’s you’re having.
Haven‘t had any problems since.

 

[mac]

Forgot to add, when your supplier said you have bacteria in the water, it is easy to disprove. My guess is you have a carbon prefilter on your RO system. What does that do? It takes the chlorine out of the water that all cities put in to kill bugs.

 

[chaz]

Yep....if it’s a soap issue....look at JBS they make great soap and have great prices.
KR sells some of their products....it’s made in a Cinn Ohio area...I buy direct.
My rep is Marco. https://www.jbsindustries.com/

 

[Waxman]

I mix Simoniz Correct Powder with Foam Additive and it makes a nice, foamy hp soap that cleans well and looks rich when sprayed on the car. It has no smell which is a negative, but the cost is low and I think cleaning ability and appearance matter more.

 

[Randy]

Years ago when we first started having problems with the snot issue. I took a water sample and sent it the head chemist of the soap that we were using at the time and it came back as having a bacteria in the water. I called the city and talked to them and they said there was no harmful bacteria in the drinking water. We had snot problems with Turtle wax, Lustra, most of the Kleen-rite ultra concentrates. If you get the PH up to around 9 or 10 the snot won’t grow. It seems to grow in a neutral PH of 7 or lower.

 

[washnshine]

The Fonic Wash sds sheet says it has a pH of 7, but also has a fair amount of sodium hydroxide- that doesn’t seem typical.

https://jbsindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Fonic-Wash-US-DT-100.pdf

 

[Earl Weiss]

Switched to KR low PH soap for the pre soak and HP soap - No more issues.

 

[water guy]

You have a common problem. You are buying cheap soap. Period. Many soaps have seal oil in them. When it sits in a tank the oilsreact and you get snot. If the manufacturer and salesman didn’t know this They are part of the problem. Make them come out and buy back what you have left. Then look for a better supplier. Have seen this for many years. And if you are buying it in 55 gal drums it must be cheap. Quality soaps can be mixed 300 to one.

We must be buying cheap soap with a high price tag.Because we are paying 250.00 for 15gal tote of HP Soap from AP Formulaters and we are still get snot periodically.

 

[JGinther]

Many soaps have seal oil in them. When it sits in a tank the oilsreact and you get snot. If the manufacturer and salesman didn’t know this They are part of the problem.

Did you mean waxes/protectants? I don't see mineral seal oil having a purpose as an ingredient in a soap/detergent. You are right though... If someone did put that in their detergent formula, I don't think it would work very well... Since the primary purpose of a detergent is to remove oils...

The reason the detergent doesn't foam is because the bacteria 'ate' all the surfactant which is what lowers the water tension far enough to make foam. When the environment is good for bacteria to grow (no matter how it got there in the 1st place) it will live by consuming organics (surfactants) and multiplying. Many detergent companies add in some isopropanol or similar ingredient in the formula to prevent infection from happening in the drum. In the dilution tank it's a different story though. Having a higher pH like Randy mentioned makes an unfriendly environment and usually prevents the issue.

 

[OurTown]

We are using JBS Fonic pH Plus PR-180 for our HP soap. It is about 12 pH in the tank so there's probably no chance of something growing in the tank.

https://www.jbsindustries.com/products/detergents/fonic-wash-ph-plus-pr-180/

 

[soonermajic]

Is there a hp SS soap that actually cuts through grime, or whatever is on the car, & truly works?
If so, Ive never heard of it. PS, TC FB are the only things Ive ever seen work. Or hp soap w/ very high pressure. Then, it's just the hp water that's cleaning, not the SS Soap.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Is there a hp SS soap that actually cuts through grime, or whatever is on the car, & truly works?
If so, Ive never heard of it. PS, TC FB are the only things Ive ever seen work.

Well, you could always use the PS in the HP. I use KR Low PH Tunnel soap in my ss HP soap as well as the PS.

 

[MEP001]

Is there a hp SS soap that actually cuts through grime, or whatever is on the car, & truly works?

Yes, but you won't like it.