#exteriorcleaning

How much time a week do you spend on preventative maintenance with your equipment? ] How much time do you spend a week on equipment repairs. Usually the two of these have a pretty strong correlation and most the time, new guys in the industry don’t consider this. The more time you invest in...

How do I know how many GPMs my machine is actually putting out? Do I need a buffer tank for my machine? Is there a way to measure the chemical draw rate of my machine? These are more of the questions I see a lot in groups from contractors who are fairly new to the industry. The good news is...

What safety gear do I need for pressure washing? What is PPE? Do I need PPE for soft washing? What kind of respirator do I need? I watch a lot of videos online of people cleaning homes and one thing I notice is that wearing the proper PPE is VERY rare. Let’s start simple. PPE stands for...

How to You Prevent Falls from Ladders? How Can you be safe on a ladder? Are Ladders Safe? Is my ladder setup ok? These are all questions that run through our heads whenever we work at heights on a jobsite. Did you know that CDC statistics show that 43% of fatal falls in the last decade...

For those of us who walk roofs, climb ladders, or work at heights in general, I want to point you to an app that could save your life, especially if you work alone. I'll begin by saying, this is not my app and I have no relation to this app or it’s creators. I just have used it for a while and...

How many Gallons Per Minute do you need for a machine? What size pressure washer should I get? Is 3 GPM enough for residential cleaning? I hear these questions a lot from contractors who are just getting into the industry. Many wonder if their small machine is adequate, and others wonder if...

For all the new guys to the industry, I wanted to break down the 5 most important things to consider when keeping residential gutters clean and the processes that will make it easy and profitable. 1) Cleaning by Hand. This is a cheap and easy way to clear the inside of gutters. Whenever I’m...

March is National Ladder Safety Month! First, did you know that CDC stats show that 43% of fatal falls in the last decade involved a ladder, and among construction workers, an estimated 81% of fall injuries treated in the US emergency departments involve a ladder? So today I’m going to look...

Do You keep SDS's on your truck? Straight from OSHA: “Employers must ensure that the SDSs are readily accessible to employees for all hazardous chemicals in their workplace. This may be done in many ways. For example, employers may keep the SDSs in a binder or on computers as long as the...

If you could pick only one solvent for cleaning what would it be? There is one solvent that is capable of dissolving more substances than any other liquid on earth Not Surprisingly, it's actually water! If you remember one thing from high school chemistry, remember this: Water is the...

Quick Tip Today: Roof too cold and bleach not working quick enough? Pre-soak with water to warm it up! Roof too hot and bleach is flashing off before it can clean? Pre-soak with water to cool it down! Bleach is most effective between 70 and 130 degrees. So if you feel like it's not cleaning...

With solar panels becoming more and more popular today it’s important to know how to clean them while managing liability. A few basics: Solar panels are expensive. They have lots of wiring/electrical components and (usually) aluminum frames. Knowing that, you should know to not use any caustics...

One lesson I learned the hard way window cleaning (a story for another time) was the importance of having a set process. Whenever you show up to do a job, you should have a routine and steps that you follow. Know your process. This is the best way to get consistent results. Here's my...

How do you clean composite decking? Soft Wash or Pressure Wash? Will pressure washing void the warranty? I think it never hurts to ask other cleaners, but always check with the manufacturer! Their websites are chock full of information that can help! This is a good lesson for almost question...

Let's talk Gloves! Over the years i've tried all types of combinations of gloves/glove liners, etc. but really think i've got the best cheap solution to stay warm and dry. Here's what I prefer: 1st: buy a pair of those .99 cent cheap one-size fits all cotton gloves. These are the ones you buy...

Walking on a tile roof doesn’t have to always lead to damaged tiles. There are places you should and shouldn’t step. It helps tremendously to know how these types of roofs are made to understand this. Always step on the overlapped areas at the bottom of the tiles. This is the part of the tile...

Set expectations. The best thing you can do for your business is to talk to the customer on every job about what you will be doing. Educate them on how long it will take, what the results will and why that is. Let them know what they should see over the next few days/weeks/months. You need to...

Before you clean someone's home, What are you testing? Will the paint get bleached out? Will overspray ruin a freshly stained deck? Will your surface cleaner etch and damage the newly poured concrete? “Test, Test, Test” Anyone can show up and spray bleach on a house or blast concrete with...

After every job you complete, find one small extra thing to do for the customer, free of charge. When you hand them the bill, let them know that you also took care of it for them. 2 minutes of extra work go a long way to securing repeat customers! A few examples that come to mind are: -...

There is a general rule in chemistry that for every 10 degrees increase of temperature, the rate of reaction doubles or triples. In other words, for every 10 degrees increase in temperature, your bleach with degrade 2 to 3 times as fast! Keep your SH stored in a cool, dark place! This will...