A Clean Car

[aubry588]

I use only a high PH presoak with no acid. You need to get a PH tester and a titration kit. I like to test both when checking my chemicals. Companies have different strengths they like to run to acheive cleaning. I have seen PH recomendations from 11.0 to over 12 on the PH scale. That is for the presoak as it hits the car. Titration amounts I have seen run from 14 drops to 25 drops using a titration kit. Blendco likes to see between 20 to 25 drops on their titration tests. I think anything over 14 drops will generally clean a car well. A general titration kit should be close to the individual chemical companies titration kit. Test them both along side each other and you will have base to figure from.

I talked to my rep with blendco, and we are going to run 30 drops for a few months to get the customer confidence back because this place has been so ran down for so long.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I talked to my rep with blendco, and we are going to run 30 drops for a few months to get the customer confidence back because this place has been so ran down for so long.

Huh??? I read that as "I'm gonna turn out clean cars for a while until I rope them in and then go cheap and start cutting the soap back." Does that statement have a different meaning? It seems that if it takes 30 drops to get the car clean today you would want it at 30 a year from now

 

[aubry588]

He told me that 30 drops was far more than enough, and that i should cut back to about 22-25 after a few months. I'm just going by his opinion. He has alot more experience than i do. If i did cut back to say 25, and the cars were not coming out clean i would surely go back to 30 or higher. Like i keep saying i am still in the learning process and once i completely understand how everything work and i am able to go by my own judgment and not other i will.

 

[soapy]

Remember he is selling the soap and the more you use the more he makes. The barrel says right on it 20 to 25 drops not 30. I would keep it in a range of 20 to start with and see if you are cleaning cars like you want. At 30 IMO you are wasting soap and padding his pockets.

 

[MikeV]

I agree with Soapy, find the right titration and keep it there, if it is 25, 30 ,22, whatever. The chemical guy is there to sell chemicals..the more you use, the more he likes it.
Make the well time around 8-10 seconds and you should be good to go.

 

[Waxman]

Soapy's right.

if the specified by mfg. amounts do not clean well enough there are other things that have been mentioned in these replies that you tweak with; pressure, heat, dwell times, water softness. You don't just dial up the soap.

 

[rph9168]

Every wash needs to be set based on its location. What works in one location may not work well in another. I have seen washes with the same equipment only several blocks away require different settings. In any case, the difference in cost between 25 and 30 drops is negligible - about .00009? per ounce. If that is the cost for consistent cleaning I think it is worth it.

 

[soapy]

So if your figures are right it only takes .00009 cents for soap per ounce. So this would make the total soap presoak cost under a penny per wash. This is not how soap costs are in my world for presoak.

 

[MEP001]

I think he's saying the end product delivered in the bay, not the concentrate, and the cost difference of that end product between a titration of 25 and 30.

 

[rph9168]

Sorry, I thought most here were familiar with how the Blendco system works. I was referring ot the soap delivered in the bay. The beauty here is that if he wants to go up or down with his alkalinity he doesn't have to change products, just tips. Makes it real easy to control your own cost and performance level.

 

[soapy]

I use blendco products and use 3 different systems from them right now. My experience has been that if I had to run at 30 drops of titration their product would not be cost effective compared to other presoaks that I am using. It is more difficult to figure the true cost per car when using their powder systems. THey also have a complete liquid setup without powder and now even a new all in one powder presoak that contains everything without a need for a second liquid combined to the alkalinity. So far the all in one powder is more cost effective for me. At 30 drops I am sure you can clean but you also run the risk of etching some older cars don't have a 2 step paint. A mid 90s car with red single stage paint will not come out looking right and you will either have to repaint the car or buff it out.

 

[rph9168]

Things change from location to location and area of the country. What works for you and your equipment may not necessarily work for someone else. One of the benefits of a system like Blendco is that you can adjust it to meet your needs on your equipment in your area. It is highly unlikely that 30 drops would damage a car. If that was the case many of the other presoaks on the market that exceed that level would do the same.

I have never seen an operator have to repaint a vehicle using anyone's product. In the case of older single stage paint, it is not so much staining as the oxidation absorbing the product. In some cases just giving it a day or two it will go away by itself. In others it is easily buffed out. In either case it is not the products' fault but the condition of the finish.

 

[JGinther]

As far as single stage paint goes, the culprit is usually a wax being stripped. Any soap that contains builder that is applied at a concentrated enough level will attack wax. That isn't a problem if there is a clear coat protecting the base coat underneath, but with the wax coating on a single step being compromised, you will have a dull, oxidized finish. However, applying some wax returns it's fake luster in no time - no buffing required.