Chances are that if you have invested the money into purchasing a pressure washer, and you have put the time and research into finding one that is most suitable for your needs, you are going to want to make sure that you are making the most out of it.
When working with pressure washers, you will want to make sure that you are using the right soap for the job. This can be applied in many ways, including using a soap that is compatible and good for the pressure washer, using a soap that is meant to be used on the surface you are working on, and so on.
To put things simply, pressure washers do need a slightly different soap than the types of soaps that you can find at the store, but you can also make the soap you need at home with household materials.
Purchasing the Right Soap
If you would rather purchase the soap for your pressure washer yourself, you will want to make extra sure that you are purchasing a soap that is compatible with the surface that you are trying to wash. Some surfaces will warrant different soaps, and if you neglect this fact, you could easily end up bleaching your favorite deck, or doing an ineffective job.
Soap meant for wood surfaces
Typically, there will be soaps that are meant for wood surfaces. These soaps may or may not have variants designed for wood surfaces with mold and mildew growing on them, and you should purchase the soap that is the most applicable to your situation.
Soap that is meant for wood decks tends to be a bit milder than your standard house or driveway soap, as there is always the risk that the deck you are working with is made from a softer wood variant.
Soap meant for concrete and asphalt surfaces
There will be specific soaps to use on concrete and asphalt surfaces. These surfaces will typically have more accumulated grime, both from the uneven surface and from the amount of traffic that most driveways will get on them.
Many kinds of soap that are meant for concrete surfaces will contain bleach in them, which is something to be mindful of if you want to ensure that your pressure washer’s soap is good for the surrounding environment. Always remember to choose a soap that works with the surface of your driveway.
There are also soaps that are meant for more general surfaces. This could be the side of a house, a patio, a walkway, or any hard surface that needs to be cleaned, but does not have any caveats to cleaning it, such as a wood deck’s softness. These soaps will be very similar to household soaps that you can purchase, although it will be compatible with your pressure washer and it will likely be a little bit stronger.
Making the Right Soap
Whether you choose to do everything that you can on your own or you want to save some money while making the soaps for your pressure washer, you can always opt to simply take the time out of the day to prepare the soap for your pressure washer. More often than not, you can get away with almost entirely using ingredients from your household, with some exception to the soaps that require borax as an ingredient.
Many soaps are going to make use of specific cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants that can be found around the house and added to some water to create a pressure washer-safe soap. These specific household objects can include vinegar, citric acid, and bleach.
Vinegar is going to be the easiest to find and it tends to be very useful on all surfaces that will accept it, and the good news about it is that it is relatively harmless for the world around it.
If you want to play things on the environmentally safe side, you will want to consider finding an alternative to bleach for when you are working on driveways and other very dirty surfaces.
More questions about soap for a pressure washer
How Much Does Soap Cost to Purchase?
Of course, the general range of prices will vary depending on the specific soap that you purchase and how much of it that you purchase at a time. Typically, you can expect one gallon of multipurpose soap for your pressure washer to cost between $8 and $10. More specialized soaps are going to cost more, especially if the specialized aspect comes from natural ingredients.
How Much Does Pressure Washer Soap Cost to Make?
The soap that you make is going to be around the same price for considerably more soap. In fact, the only reason that it becomes the same price is if you need to purchase any ingredients. You cannot necessarily just buy a cup or two of vinegar and walk off to continue with your recipe. To stock yourself to make the soap, you will have to spend more, but you will also have the resources to make many, many gallons of it at a time.
How Important Is With Soap in a pressure washer?
Soap is incredibly important during the pressure washing process. Early on when starting up the pressure washer, the soap is mixed into the water to ensure that when it comes out of the nozzle, it will be able to easily clean any surface. With an improper soap to work with, your pressure washer will do anything from break down due to a harmful product in the soap to simply not being effective while cleaning, if the soap ends up being more water than any sanitizing ingredient.
