Purchasing your own detergent for your pressure washer can be expensive and it can turn into a massive waste of plastic containers as you breeze through detergent when cleaning your property. While doing this, you may begin to wonder whether you can easily make your own detergent.
Homemade Pressure Washer Detergent
You can easily make your own pressure washer detergent for a variety of situations. From wood-focused detergent to concrete-focused detergent, you can make sure that you never have to purchase store-bought detergent for your pressure washer again.
What Will You Need?
What you will need for your pressure washer detergent is going to depend heavily on the type of detergent you are making. There are different kinds of detergent that you should use based on the surface that you are planning to clean. After all, if you tried to use the chemicals that would clean concrete on a wood deck, you might not have a beautiful and smooth deck anymore.
There are some ingredients, though, that are almost universally found in all pressure washer detergents, no matter where you are using the detergent. All of the ingredients that you will need for these detergents, while you can’t necessarily make them at home, can all be purchased at a local grocery store. This will make cleaning your driveway far easier.
The universal ingredients that most detergents will need include water and an all-purpose household cleaner. Detergent that is used for concrete will not use the household cleaner and will instead use stronger ingredients as concrete stains can be much harder to remove than most other stains.
Detergent Recipes
Now that you have a good idea of what you will need, you can prepare to get the recipes ready for your new pressure washing detergents.
Beginning with the general purpose pressure washing detergent, you will need one gallon of water, one third of a cup of phosphate-free laundry detergent in powder form, two thirds of a cup of household cleaner, and you can add an optional cup of vinegar to the mix if you feel that it is necessary. Mix all of these ingredients together until fully mixed and you will have a detergent that you can use for most surfaces.
Detergent for wood surfaces
For wood surfaces, such as decks, you can start out with that same gallon of water and one-third cup of powdered laundry detergent and two-thirds cups of all-purpose household cleaner. The main difference here is that you will want to add a quart of bleach to the mix as well, which can help get rid of mildew and mold stains from the wood. Take proper precautions as you would when working with bleach.
Detergent for concrete pressure washing
Finally, there is the recipe for concrete pressure washing detergent. For this, you will want to start with the gallon of water again, except this time you will be adding half a cup of borax, half a cup of baking soda, and about one tablespoon of liquid dish soap of your choice. The dry ingredients should be mixed first and left to sit overnight, and the next day you can add in the wet ingredients while mixing slowly.
You can also add a quart of bleach to this as well if the stain you are trying to get rid of is being particularly stubborn, but always remember to work with bleach in a well-ventilated area so that you are keeping yourself safe around the bleach. Bleach should only be added when you are working with non-grease stains.
How to make the detergent stronger
You can also make this solution stronger by adding half as much water. Or, if you plan on using the full gallon of water, you can double the amount of the other ingredients. This will produce a stronger solution that will be easier to use when getting rid of other tough stains on a concrete surface.
Can I make a pressure washer for car washing
If you tend to give your car a wash with your pressure washer, you can also make a detergent for this purpose as well. Always remember to use one of the lowest pressure settings that you can when cleaning off your car, especially around the mirrors and windows.
For a car-focused pressure washing detergent, you can use one gallon of hot water and about three-fourths of a cup of phosphate-free laundry detergent in powdered form. Mix them together slowly so you won’t have to worry about suds.
More questions about pressure washers and detergent
Is it Less Expensive to Make Your Own Detergent?
While it will often mean that you will have to buy a gallon-sized container for that initial gallon of water, it is almost always going to be less expensive to mix and create your own detergents for pressure washing than it is to repeatedly and perpetually purchase the premixed solutions at stores.
Is Better for the Environment to make my own detergent?
One of the many reasons why people will choose to make their own detergents is because it is better for the environment not to waste as many plastic containers. As long as you do not make use of bleach in your detergent, it is almost always going to be safer and better for the environment to make your own detergent.
Should You Use Hot Water?
Typically, you can get better results when you use hot water in your detergent recipe. Hot water can do a lot for stain removal compared to room-temperature or even tap water. Using hot water is an inexpensive yet effective way to get the job done and improve the efficiency of your pressure washer.
