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Any advice from Benz users?

Incheck

Well-known member
Messages
1,739
Location
Cardiff
Hi everyone, tried out my first softwash tonight at home on my own territory. 1 brick wall that was black, 6 paving slabs that were black and lichen infested, the masonry/concrete surround to garage door and below two window sills on exterior wall that had turned black. Did everything by the book, 5/1 mix. Let it dwell for an hour. I did have to get the power washer out for assistance at the end. The brick wall has come up very well but still has a few black lichen on it. The garage came up 80% better quite happy with that. Below the window sills not so good even with a power washer. And the paving slabs not really acceptable. White lichen killed but black ones still there. I’m pretty sure this chemical makes a good impact but is 5:1 really strong enough in other peoples experience? Everything was heavily bogged to be fair, but is it possible for this stuff to do its job without the aid of a power washer? I was kind of disheartened having to get it out having expected not to, as the idea of softwashing is to cut out the pressure washer right? Was tempted to have another go with a stronger mix but will leave it til tomorrow as its 8pm lol. Any tips from those with more experience? Should i do it again at 5:1? I have my doubts and feel like going more like 3:1 but am i missing something....feeling pretty amateur [emoji51]

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39 minutes ago, markg said:

Saw this video a while back, might help. If memory serves me correctly he had to reapply a much stronger mix.
 








What an an amateur worst video I have ever seen I would be embarrassed to put that on the Internet he clearly doesn’t have a clue , we would have done that from start to finish in 2 hours spot free first time , I would hypo it but have done similar ones without it and come up fine Ime guessing he has a very low powered machine 

 
Is mixing your own illegal? I understand that pros may pull a few strings but from the impression i get from benz website, any other product or way of doing it other than theirs is illegal, non government approved and also. hse can shut you down?, also is your insurance is void if you’re making your own mixes?
I hear of everyone on here mixing their own quite happily. I just wanted to do it by the book first time. Had my respirator, full face shield, warning signs out, full ppe, the lot, even though i was at home. I felt confident in what i was doing but not with the results. So my main question is, do people have great success with benz at 5:1
I know i must sound like hard work sorry guys.




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I think most mix there own as it’s a fraction of the cost I looked at using Benz a while ago but the cost plus shipping from Ireland it was a non starter as far as  Ime concerned , it’s not rocket science to mix your own it’s just a case of diluting it and adding a surfacent using the correct ppe of course , we have been doing this for over 10 years never been questioned about the legal situation as mixing it your self may not be allowed ?.... we do some very large commercial jobs for company’s that are very health and safety conscious they have accepted our risk assessment without any problems and we have never had any accidents using it , you just need to know how to use it safely and I looked it up on the internet as there was very little information available and many professional operators treated it like a black art offering no help what so ever and condemned anyone using it , they used scaremongering tackticks to try and stop others from using hypo , but times are changing at last 

 
I looked up the UK Gov website and contacted them regarding it. They never replied. Lets face it, its only bleach, if you can go to the supermarket and buy it then what's the problem. We all use bleach to put down the toilet and then it enters the sewerage system. As long as you rinse it thoroughly afterwards then there's nothing they can legally do to you. There will come a testcase one day and new regulations may come in. We live in a reactive world so we just need to wait and see. 

 
 
 
 
What an an amateur worst video I have ever seen I would be embarrassed to put that on the Internet he clearly doesn’t have a clue , we would have done that from start to finish in 2 hours spot free first time , I would hypo it but have done similar ones without it and come up fine Ime guessing he has a very low powered machine 
I'm looking to add pressure washing to my services. Just small domestics nothing major. But I will only be investing in a smaller washer. Around the £300 mark. Are there any you recommend, and what process would you use. For instance would I need to strengthen the ratio of hypo due to a small washer.

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To be fair for that amount of money I think you will struggle to get a decent machine speak to Ben at Rutland pumps he’s very good : when doing a job like the one in the video the first thing to do is identify the surface ie block : concrete stab: sandstone: slate etc . When cleaning first of all give it a good wet down with water this will make the lichen etc open up as it wants to absorb the moisture this makes it easier to remove as it becomes soft : then apply your hypo mix we use 15% strength hypo and put 4 parts water with 1 part bleach spray this on and leave up to 45 muinits have a look at it it should look a lot lighter colour if you think it needs it apply another spray of hypo again allow up to 45 muinits then pressure wash with a fsc and you should have a perfectly clean surface : we have a 21 ltr 250 bar machine and it would have removed the lichen in that video without any hypo : but on something like that I would generaly hypo it first as it will kill all algy- lichens etc some people will say use a turbo nozzle but they make so much mess we find with our machine it’s quicker with a fsc and do the edges with a turbo or vario nozzle this is one we did the other week 4AE6AD63-3B85-4D8B-BBAE-4B66042D4C74.jpeg024E1931-970A-44B4-AF2A-C93012223D09.jpeg

B316FA93-3516-45B9-8F7D-1BDF179A81ED.jpeg

C7606DEA-3140-4F79-885C-CBFD961B5CEF.jpeg

 
To be fair for that amount of money I think you will struggle to get a decent machine speak to Ben at Rutland pumps he’s very good : when doing a job like the one in the video the first thing to do is identify the surface ie block : concrete stab: sandstone: slate etc . When cleaning first of all give it a good wet down with water this will make the lichen etc open up as it wants to absorb the moisture this makes it easier to remove as it becomes soft : then apply your hypo mix we use 15% strength hypo and put 4 parts water with 1 part bleach spray this on and leave up to 45 muinits have a look at it it should look a lot lighter colour if you think it needs it apply another spray of hypo again allow up to 45 muinits then pressure wash with a fsc and you should have a perfectly clean surface : we have a 21 ltr 250 bar machine and it would have removed the lichen in that video without any hypo : but on something like that I would generaly hypo it first as it will kill all algy- lichens etc some people will say use a turbo nozzle but they make so much mess we find with our machine it’s quicker with a fsc and do the edges with a turbo or vario nozzle this is one we did the other week View attachment 14116View attachment 14117
View attachment 14118
View attachment 14119
Will do. Thanks for that [emoji106]

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Thanks guys :) all this is starting to put my mind at ease a bit [emoji4]
I’m looking at adding softwashing to our services,
So in terms of ringing up the insurance company to add it to our services, what questions do you think they may ask? Any service you add should be covered on your public liability so i’m just wondering what I may be up against. (I only do residential work)


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Thanks guys :) all this is starting to put my mind at ease a bit
emoji4.png

I’m looking at adding softwashing to our services,
So in terms of ringing up the insurance company to add it to our services, what questions do you think they may ask? Any service you add should be covered on your public liability so i’m just wondering what I may be up against. (I only do residential work)


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Tell them you are cleaning patios with supermarket bleach and listen for the reply, silence. If they go down the road of charging you extra then every domestic cleaning company would also be charged.

Also, is hypo run off likely to have a bad effect on e.g. metal window frames, leaded porch roofs, boiler flues sticking out of walls, copper gas pipes etc?


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Just have a loaded hose with you, then you can rinse off quickly. Lead changes colour to brown I believe and then slowly returns to normal colour. You can explain this to the customer. Any problems then hose it down, don't be scared to rinse with plenty of water.

 
Boiler flues arnt a problem : lead is though as hypo evan a week mix can and will turn it brown sometimes it will return to the original colour in a few days sometimes it doesn’t i dud a big dormer bungalow the front of the property returns to normal within a few days but the back is still drown over a year later : I believe you can treat it with something but cannot remember the name we personally don’t bother I explain to the customer what might happen and so far haven’t had a problem with any complaints, evan if you wet it down first it will still alter the colour , copper pipes we just rinse as we are going , same with alloy products you are only using a week mix generaly and then diluting it pretty quick we have never had a problem in over 10 years working this way , with regards to insurance we have a blanket coverage for external building cleaning and have never been asked about chemicals used I have stated that we pressure wash , soft wash , and wfp buildings but haven’t had a problem with it we just renew the policy each year with no questions asked 

 
Hi everyone, tried out my first softwash tonight at home on my own territory. 1 brick wall that was black, 6 paving slabs that were black and lichen infested, the masonry/concrete surround to garage door and below two window sills on exterior wall that had turned black. Did everything by the book, 5/1 mix. Let it dwell for an hour. I did have to get the power washer out for assistance at the end. The brick wall has come up very well but still has a few black lichen on it. The garage came up 80% better quite happy with that. Below the window sills not so good even with a power washer. And the paving slabs not really acceptable. White lichen killed but black ones still there. I’m pretty sure this chemical makes a good impact but is 5:1 really strong enough in other peoples experience? Everything was heavily bogged to be fair, but is it possible for this stuff to do its job without the aid of a power washer? I was kind of disheartened having to get it out having expected not to, as the idea of softwashing is to cut out the pressure washer right? Was tempted to have another go with a stronger mix but will leave it til tomorrow as its 8pm lol. Any tips from those with more experience? Should i do it again at 5:1? I have my doubts and feel like going more like 3:1 but am i missing something....feeling pretty amateur
emoji51.png


its a difficult question to answer I guess without the aid of photos,with the blackwash I would generally get the washer out and give the area a light washing-that's taken care of the pre-wetting then apply the blackwash and wait until you get the result you want.

after an hour it should be inert at that point and you can rinse off the black lichen that's left should lift off with a light washing,if theres still some left don't be tempted to apply a stronger mix or neat etc just re-apply in that area 5-10 mins later another wash will lift whats left,its sounds a long long farce but doesn't take much longer.

when you read about softwashing on this and other forums you tend to get the impression that you just throw a bit of hypo down,wait a bit and rinse off-jobs a good un every time, wish it was that easy.

the light pressure wash to start with removes a whole load of dirt maybe some lichen/alghi first and leaves the surface clean enough to let the blackwash work

done this way you can achieve amazing results from just a karcher from b&q-i have one,also a honda powered 15lpm washer too

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Ok guys, I have finally finished my softwashing trials. Mixed feelings about it. For one thing it’s far more time consuming than i expected, i’ve dedicated about 9 hours to it this weekend. Overall i can say although it’s not a miracle cure, i am happy with the results [emoji106][emoji106] i wanted 100% but i reckon i’m 85-95% better depending on the surface.
A pressure washer is definitely still needed.
Agitation also helps e.g. stiff bristled brush and wfp brush, i tried various methods.
And i think taking it down to 4:1 for a second treatment also helps, noticed it reacting more than at 5:1

Its certainly no comfortable task inside all the ppe.

I used twice the amount of blackwash that i expected to, but this was all about trial and error.
I’ll try and get some photos up when i can if it will let me.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and input, i really appreciate it [emoji4]



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Looking good for first attempt. What strength did you use 4 to 1? On level surfaces you just need hypo as the surfactant is to keep it in place.
5:1, hefty power wash, wasnt quite satisfied. That was last night, today 4:1 and another hefty power wash.
The hardest by far was under the window sills, it just wouldn’t shift, so under the window sills only i did go up again a 3rd time followed by a third hefty power wash. It was anything but easy [emoji53]


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And all on a time soak of an hour


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