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Chemical Expenses
- Thread starter rexdarby
- Start date
raisetheprice
Member
5 years ago I was paying our distributor about 4 times what I'm paying now for presoaks and waxes. If someone complains, here's a couple of free washes. I was doing that with about the same frequency with the expensive chemicals too, so why pay more.
I am using lustra for ss and zep for iba
If you read this forum then you know cost per drum vs. cost per car are 2 different things. I spent $15,000.00 in chemicals 1st year. I think that is too high also. I tried some different chems that were cheaper by the drum but was not happy with them. Before I try anything else I am going to have a good number for cost per car and usage history. I want to save money but only if the quality and support is as good or better than what I am getting. I use Ryko chems now but am planning on trying out blue coral.
I have been thinking about chemical costs lately also. I am very happy with the quality but it seems very expensive. I spent about 7% of gross income on chemicals last year at my 4 bay SS. Is this in line with other people are paying? I have a distributor that delivers monthly so this adds to the cost. I may try using a soap company that sells direct if I can find one that performs as well. Any suggestions?
Take a look at the recent surveys from PC&D and ALN. I don't have them here, but they both list the average. Please keep in mind that not all soap salesmen are created equal. I sell soap. I really like to sell soap. I am not the cheapest product out there, but it is high quality. I really enjoy getting calls from customers who switched over to a cheaper direct buy product when they have a proble. Especially on a weekend. If you can do every repair on your system, then you can buy direct. Just keep in mind that chemical sales support the local people. Some are worth supporting, and some aren't.
BlendMoney
New member
I am curious as to why you would try Blue Coral to lower chem costs. Yes, I am a chemical sales rep, however what I suggest is to get someone to do a flow test cost analysis on your chemicals on a cost per car as well as if it is a SS cost per minute. I can make a great recommendation who to get to do this for you, but I am not trying to market my chemical here, just giving advice.
I don't care who you use, but quality does not have to be sacrificed to get a good price.
Cost of shipping a drum vs 40 lb. of powder. I buy powder and mix 30 lb to 50 gal. of water. Keep it simple remember. Hydro mind with black tip and set each bay 800 to 1000 to one, using micro valve and a titration kit at each ss bay. Use hot water 110 deg. for high press. wash and cold for rinse and polymer sealer. Cost per car, eight to ten cents should cover it for det. and sealer. My average customer spends about three dollars for a ss wash. I'm happy with this and it works for me and has for fifteen years. Looked at other products and alky systems and after doing the math I stick with what works. I have no complants on cleaning and sealing products. My ss bays average $61.00 per day at my best wash and $52.00 at my worst wash. I beleave that's average or better than the national average. Keep the equipment working, keep it clean, keep it well lighted and have attendent meet and greet the customers, be courtious no matter how terrible some customers can be. If you have time, invest yourself in some meeting and greeting. A hi there and have a great day goes a long ways in repeat customers. The weather is nice here and it will be a nice wash day. Have a great day! jjw
Cost of shipping a drum vs 40 lb. of powder. I buy powder and mix 30 lb to 50 gal. of water. Keep it simple remember. Hydro mind with black tip and set each bay 800 to 1000 to one, using micro valve and a titration kit at each ss bay. Use hot water 110 deg. for high press. wash and cold for rinse and polymer sealer. Cost per car, eight to ten cents should cover it for det. and sealer. My average customer spends about three dollars for a ss wash. I'm happy with this and it works for me and has for fifteen years. Looked at other products and alky systems and after doing the math I stick with what works. I have no complants on cleaning and sealing products. My ss bays average $61.00 per day at my best wash and $52.00 at my worst wash. I beleave that's average or better than the national average. Keep the equipment working, keep it clean, keep it well lighted and have attendent meet and greet the customers, be courtious no matter how terrible some customers can be. If you have time, invest yourself in some meeting and greeting. A hi there and have a great day goes a long ways in repeat customers. The weather is nice here and it will be a nice wash day. Have a great day! jjw
Keep-it Kleen
Me, Myself, and I
Most suppliers crank up the usage. (metering tips) so they sell more often. I've just replaced five blend__ users with Wars__ chemicals and backed the metering tips off 3 to 4 sizes and it's working great, and the customers are really happy!
BlendMoney
New member
Interesting that you would say that, the Blendco chemicals that you speak of mix at 400:1 as opposed to the Warsaw that mix at about 70:1. With that being said, if you backed off 4 tips, you would be closed completely, because you can't go lower than a pink tip and very few of my sites are above that when it comes to surfactant, and alkaline costs hardly anything anyway.
So I would love an example of what you are speaking about, because it does not make sense.
BlendMoney
New member
I will say this though, if your rep is more interested in using your wash to line their pockets instead of showing you the best possible way to get the most bang for your buck, then it will be a tough road.
You can usually tell this by the one that drops off product way before you need it. I see sites all the time, that they have 2 or 3 unopened barrels of product, because their rep seemed to think they just needed it. By the way, I am not talking about a tunnel, I am talking SS.
You can usually tell this by the one that drops off product way before you need it. I see sites all the time, that they have 2 or 3 unopened barrels of product, because their rep seemed to think they just needed it. By the way, I am not talking about a tunnel, I am talking SS.
My chemical cost were 7% of site gross. This is a 4/2 where 75% of my revenue comes from touchless IBAs, the biggest chemical hog in the industry. SS is much cheaper to run, but I don't keep track.
I have a friend with a tunnel. The rep did cost analysis and hands him a nice little report that said his cost was around .35 per car. I asked him to go back and look at his books. He actually spent closer to .50 per car over the entire previous year. In IBA, cost per drum or container is the only measurement I trust. Mark the date and car count on the drum when placed in service. When it's empty come back and do the math. ex- 900 cars out of a 300 dollar drum of presoak is .30/car.
A good rep can help keep costs of his product under control.
I have a friend with a tunnel. The rep did cost analysis and hands him a nice little report that said his cost was around .35 per car. I asked him to go back and look at his books. He actually spent closer to .50 per car over the entire previous year. In IBA, cost per drum or container is the only measurement I trust. Mark the date and car count on the drum when placed in service. When it's empty come back and do the math. ex- 900 cars out of a 300 dollar drum of presoak is .30/car.
A good rep can help keep costs of his product under control.
wardaddy
Member
All my washes are now 2IBA with 5-6SS but I used to have 1/4 local doing around 22K/month and around 1750 washes on the one IBA ...a MKVII GT500
I think we spent on average around 1200-1500 a month on CSI chems....good stuff but pricey.
Performix soaps, green tire cleaner, drum packs for SS soap drum, lustrshield wax, fancy berry polish, white line plus for tires
hope that helps....the auto soap we use now from CSI (The Option) runs around 30-35 cents a car, the Performix we used to use was higher.
Good chems are not cheap unfortunately
I think we spent on average around 1200-1500 a month on CSI chems....good stuff but pricey.
Performix soaps, green tire cleaner, drum packs for SS soap drum, lustrshield wax, fancy berry polish, white line plus for tires
hope that helps....the auto soap we use now from CSI (The Option) runs around 30-35 cents a car, the Performix we used to use was higher.
Good chems are not cheap unfortunately