Last day of 2012

Well this is the last day of the year 2012 and we have had 1 - 2 inches of snow total but the rain came and has it mostly gone now still in the 20's but the wind is a killer. Not to much washing going on here. The newest term for what we do seems to be lumping us all in is "water pressure cleaning" even if we use low pressure it is still pressure and we do use high pressure washing, soft-wash and even better low pressure steam cleaning. Power washing was the most encompassing term the year before. When I started it seems that mobile contract cleaners was the best I still like that and use it. No matter what you may call us here at Cleaned by Pete we work for you and hope to have a banner year in 2013 even with the finical cliff looming in all our futures. So lets all leave 2012 at the steps and come on in to 2013 with high hopes. Happy new years from Cleaned by Pete and we look forward to working for you in the future.
Thanks,
 Pete

Deck, fence & Wood cleaning, Springfield MO

Here is our latest video on deck, fence, wood barns, wooden houses and patio furniture cleaning / washing here in the Southwest and Springfield MO area.

Let us know what you think. Thank you for your support.

Power washer's psi & the pump

The next major factor in a pressure / power washer is psi "pounds per square inch", this all starts in the pump the heart of the power washer. Simply stated the psi is the force of the water when it exits the end of the nozzle. We talked about how a washer needs a certain size of nozzles to operate at it peak efficiency. If we use one too large the water flows out with less pressure to small cause to much pressure which could harm the pump head.  Any water flowing out of a hose, pipe or sink tap is a form of a power washer simple may it be. It has all the components of the power washer. Lets review first a pump is need to push the water to your home or pumped up into a water tower, where pressure from water being pushed puts it under pressure. Second the pipes keep getting smaller as the head for your home this put the water under even more pressure. Then when it reaches your house then the nozzle at the sink, shower or garden hose puts it under more pressure you have increased the psi to about 30 to 40 psi as it flows out when you turn on the faucet. From still standing water being pumped along in the pipes and nozzling restricting its flow you have the basic power washer, you can now use it for cleaning in the shower the sink washing off you side walk. Now lets take it to the next step more psi an added pump what can we do now.

We used a pump to get the water up in the water tower and then gravity and reducing size of the lines cause the pressure and the shower head, your thumb or garden hose nozzle adds the finial major component and we have all the parts of a simple power washer not to powerful but by definition a power washer, pump, pressure psi, water gpm and a nozzle.

The power washer has several styles of pumps that increase the pressure of the water but it always comes down to: compressing the water into a hose regulated with a nozzle. That stored water power holding in the hose under pressure is the psi rating. We can buy different types of washers with psi ratings from 80 psi to 10,000 psi. Residential units and commercial units are available to buy, though commercial units are built with better parts and will always out last the ones you may buy at the "big box" store. I bought what I considered the best unit I could find when starting in the "water pressure washing" business, it was 3500 psi and put out 4.5 gpm and could heat water up to 210 degrees also ran a 110 volt generator with a 2 cylinder 18hp gas engine. This unit set us back around $10,000.00  and with up keep and new parts when needed we still us the same unit today. Cleaned by Pete has the crazy idea buy the best this in-turn help us to to the best for our each or our customers. We don't believe by a entry line equipment and make more money then disappear and find something else to do when it breaks down. We are in the power washing business and this is all we do "mobile contract cleaning" or "water pressure cleaning".

Our unit is a Landa washer bit older but has the same power and components as this one.

You'll see that our unit is a bit better than the $400.00 "box store" unit but now we need to get back to psi and pressure. Some form of motor has to run the pump the major types are electric powered using 110 volt to 220 volt single phase all the way to 440 volt three phase. My first introduction to a power washer was in my high-school years where a local restaurant chain used hot water from their boilers to supply water to a small wall mounted electric pump unit. I used to wash the floor in the kitchen each night it made for a fast and easy way to clean each and every night. While it did not put out a lot of pressure with the correct nozzle and the hot water it was easy control the pressure stream and get things clean in much less time. This is an example of saving electricity, water, work time and energy to heat the water thus making the pressure washer an environmentally friendly machine as we talked about in earlier posts. The second form of power is "gas" motors (these motors run on gasoline, propane or diesel fuel but we will refer to them all as gas) from the smallest I have see is 2.5 horse power to 8 cylinder car type motors to run pumps. What you need to use depends on the pump and what you are doing. The psi out put of a washer can help or hinder. In the wrong hands you can actually blow the siding off a house, gouge out wood and etch concrete as shown before. Below are examples form a small electric to a huge industrial for cleaning oil rigs. In the right professional hands a tool for good in the wrong hands can cause real harm to your home and possessions.

A small electric unit around 800 psi to 1200 psi out put at 2 gpm

A large 10,000 psi unit at 22 gpm

Some consider the pressure washer pump to be one of the most significant advances in modern tools or engineering today so simple but able to do so much. To make this easy I will list a few styles and then have a short discussion on each pump from the most popular down. I'll miss a few. I'll just hope to arm you with enough information to help you defend yourself from those who want to make a quick buck and leave you with what shows up latter. Pressure washer pump come in these styles plunger, rotary, and diaphragm pumps these are the most popular ones found in use in the power washing field there are others but not that common.

The Plunger pump is found in different forms and configuration. Water pressure is formed by a plunger or piston compressing the water with one valve holding it till is is compressed and another valve opens and lets the water enter the water exit line or hose which builds up the psi to the pumps setting. These pumps usually are found in a 3 piston configuration called a triplex pump or with 2 pistons or plungers. Now the pistons move in and compress the water in the pump head, in 2 different style one us use mainly for residential use called the wobble pump. For commercial and "upper-end" residential the pistons (plungers) move on a crank shaft  pushes in the piston and then pulls it back out just like the pistons in your car. The wobble pump has a special plate which has a high spot. As the plate turns the high spot in the plate pushes the pistons in and a spring pushes it out in the head using the same style of valving the pressure is captured and then released in the the line hose. This holds true for triplex "3 piston" or the 2 pistons models. As the spring or the crank pulls out the piston water rushes in from your house or a tank and the cycle of compression is started again over and over. You will see more of this style pump on the pressure washers you can by. Most self-service car washes use this type of pump it is very durable and totally rebuildable and are built in various sizes to fit most applications. This pump is also designed to run on various types of motors vertical and horizontal models, belt drive, gear reduction, or direct drive are available. There are also difference in construction and materials used which determine how long and what service you can expect form a power washer.

Triplex Crank Style Piston Pump

I'll end here today and take up again on the pump creating the psi in the next instalment of the blog. I'll try to explain about the other different style pumps.  Components why are some better than other, and why Cleaned by Pete has several different washers and style of pumps. Hopefully you will see that most professional water pressure cleaning companies use commercial and high standard grade equipment if you don't see this it may be a tell tale sign to you as a customer.

Another YouTube video

We just put up another YouTube video with some pictures of the work we have done pleas view it below. Thanks for your support. I can not tell yet if blogging has helped us in our efforts to get the word out in Southwest MO about Cleaned by Pete or our services we offer. Some of the services are external house washing, also washing of business and concrete, rust and stain removal from concrete including red battery acid stains, graffiti removal, general cleaning with a power washer, and fences and decks to name a few. Please watch the video and let us know what you think.

visit us on facebook feel free to like our page there here is a link. Facebook Cleaned by Pete pressure / power washers, it will open a new page so you won't loose your place here.

House Washing Wednesday

Well with the holidays over it time to resume regular routines, we hope it found your families happy and that the coming new year finds you and yours safe and well. I posted up some more homes we have cleaned because it is "House Washing Wednesday". Visit us at on our site and you can view more of what Cleaned by Pete can do with a power washer or the soft-wash method of house washing. 

This is our portable heated unit it is great to move around and get to those areas that we need to.

Brick houses need cleaning too they tend to hood dirt or mold Cleaned by Pete washes the gutters on your home too.

Brick and vinyl siding this is a situation where we power wash the brick and gutters then switch to a soft-wash for the vinyl siding.

Two story house washing no problem we do these homes safely form the ground no hanging off ladders or having them on your home call Cleaned by Pete for details.

Getting ready or need to sell your home? This home belonged to one of our regular customers and needed it cleaned to put it up for sale. The realtor said that a cleaning our side on the house, side-walks, patio and drive-way could add 3% or more to the asking price. Curb appeal is one of the best tools in selling a home.

Another home washed, and we do clean windows too. Window cleaning is an added service we offer with or without a house cleaning strive for 100% satisfaction from our customers. We can also just clean your side-walks, patios, decks, fences or drive-way with or without a full house cleaning.

Stone and stucco home we washed we know the best way to wash all the different surfaces of your home call us and see what we can do for you.

Thanks for looking if your in or around the Southwest or Springfield MO area please call us to discuss you house washing needs.

Merry Christmas

Cleaned by Pete wants to thank you for your support though out this year and wish each and everyone a Merry Christmas or holiday greeting thank you for a good year.

Graffiti removal

Here are a few pictures of some of the graffiti removal we do in and around Springfield Mo.

Working on graffiti, graffiti removed

Working on graffiti removal

Process of graffiti removal

Graffiti removal before after

Graffiti cleaning before and after

Before and after graffiti removal Springfield MO

Before after graffiti removal metal gate Springfield MO

Removing graffiti on wooden fence Springfield MO

Before after cleaning graffiti

Thanks for looking at Cleaned by Pete graffiti removal pictures in Springfield MO. If you have been bombed, tagged, or hit with urban artwork and want it removed give us a shout out visit our web site  for more pictures and information

Nozzles

To begin I am writing this in hopes to educate the customers and future customer. Knowledge is the best tool to protect ones self from those who prey on others. This is not a step by step on how to clean or use a pressure washer one must follow instructions that came with your unit. This part of the blog is for  those who want to hire a home wash or power washing professional and be armed with some basic knowledge.

This style of tip is a meg tip but it shows the cut a way you can see how the water is reduced and reduced again forcing water through the toothpick size hole.

We use several nozzles in our line of business we have made several nozzles that help to speed up our jobs. Remember speed is an asset to us and you we save fuel, water and ware and tare on our equipment. Speed is only an asset if the job is still done right. You're going to see most operators walking around with several tips they plug into the last part of the wand which is the device that the water leaves an becomes visible. They come in different patterns just like the garden nozzle on the end of your hose. The basic patterns are 0 degree this is the strongest the small round hole condenses the stream of water to that about the size of a toothpick forcing the water out. In untrained hands this tip could be dangerous to your siding or paint. I have seen it cut wood and vinyl siding in half. Other sizes vary from this point the next nozzle creates a fan pattern of 15 degrees as the water exits the nozzle this still packs quite a bit of power and is quite aggressive wood on decks and fences can be gouged out and damaged with this nozzle too. Continuing on we come to the 25 degree tip I like this tip the best for general cleaning it fans the water out to a 25 degree pattern and is a bit less aggressive to use. Still very powerful though I have cut my work boots with it and once sliced the top of my finger quite bad with it. 40 degrees is the nest nozzle and it fans the water to 40 degrees this is good for light work and to move water down the concrete or rinsing.

Then the is a soap or chemical tip it has a large eye shaped hole in it to apply soap or chemicals you may hear it called down-streaming which mean we have an attachment that is put into our water deliver line after the pump that makes the water compress causing pressure. This attachment will allow us to pull soap and cleaners in to our water stream and them apply it to your home. This tip is what we call our low pressure tip since it does not restrict the water too much. In our line we have some tips we have made to lower the pressure but also contain the water in to a stream which is for our soft washing and soft rinse, these are special and if we are lucky enough to have you as a customer we will be happy to show you how they work. A newer tip a lot of washers us it the

Turbo Nozzle is larger due to the fact there is a device that the water moves around inside to rotate the stream of water

"Turbo Nozzle"  a dirt killer if there was ever one. It is a 0 degree nozzle that the water pressure moves around making the tip rotate you cleaning pattern is larger but you still have the 0 degree aggressive cleaning tip. With my 3500 psi washer I can cut a 3/4" hole in a 2x6 in less than 30 seconds this is still a very dangers tip to your home and concrete

Pressure and the wrong size nozzle can cut or etch concrete ruining the skim coat.

0 degree nozzle cutting the wood leaving the fence or deck ruined

Each power washer is different there are all different ratings on these machines how many gallons they put out and how much psi they put out each machine has to have a special nozzle size too. You must match a nozzle to the output of the machine then you can have the fan patterns described above. To put very simple if I put a fire hose nozzle on you garden hose how would it work My guess is not to good it is to big and if I put the little garden nozzle on the fire hose how long will it last? Professional know their machines and what they need and their requirements one size does not fit all here. Even though these nozzle are made from stainless steel or ceramics the have a live span and wear out. As I talked about in the last entry water causes friction and force this in-turn will increase the size of the hole in the nozzles this effects their cleaning power.  There are a lot of people who get a washer from the "big box store" advertise on the local C-list and think they are power washers and everybody has a brother in law that owns a pressure washer that can do it cheaper. What other business can you open for $600.00 really, 3 sections of my steam hose cost that much! Then most of them do not know the science and there is an awful lot of science behind the pressure washer (which I hope I'm explaining) do you want to trust you biggest investment to them. Research and knowledge is the key. 
We just covered the basics on tips here and I hope you have a better idea of what they do. In the right hands they are most useful and a professional washer can do more with them than you can think.

House Washing Wednesday

Wednesday will be the day we post pictures of homes that Cleaned. From the soft-wash method to pressure washing or using both as need we can clean your home in the Springfield and Southwest MO area. Click here for more pictures of home we have washed.

An all brick home was covered in green pollen and dust from new home building in the neighbourhood using our extensions and water-pole we pressure the brick clean.

Home close to the lake was covered with mold and mildew they had taken out several over grown planted areas and not being cleaned for over 10 years a good cleaning made all the difference

New owner wanted all dust dirt mold off after purchase with all the bushes and vegetation not letting the sun in and auto water sprinklers around the home mold, rust and water stains were the main trouble cleaning areas.

This was a rental that collage student had it was covered in mildew, algae, and brown mold the  front porch covered with grease, oil and dirt from where they serviced their motor-bikes and scooters we won't talk about the rear deck.

Beautiful gardens but they transfer sap and due to watering the algae and mildew like to grow

A small rental that needed cleaning Cleaned by Pete cleans all sizes of homes

Southwest MO has a algae and mildew problem which are carried airborne even after a through cleaning it can reattach itself and start growing again we call it shotgun algae since it just spots the home in  dull gray to black color.

We had to re-clean and rework this one after 2 guys & 3200 psi washer got into the washing business their first client. They cut it with full pressure and a 0 degree nozzle and burned the siding with cleaners trying different spots on the front of the home and garage.

We have been doing this home for 3 years now keeping it cleaned it backs up to a wheat field plenty of dirt from plowing and planting and fallowing plus the pool area and plants add areas of concern in keep it clean.

Cleaned by Pete takes great pride in our work and we treat your home as ours when we are cleaning it. We will clean till you are 100% satisfied with the results. I will post more pictures here on the jobs we do and have done if you ever want to contact us go to our web pages of Facebook and you will find the contact info.

Saving our water resorces

Well this is the second entry an I will be surprised to see if it is working without too many problems. I thought I would start with the basic idea of why we wash with water and touch on the major ideas. We'll by talking about gallons of water per minute which we'll start calling gpm this is one of the important factors in water pressure washing. The second is pressure per square inch we'll call psi and we'll get into this more later The other factors with pressure washers will be horse power and heat.
In most major cities the psi (pounds per square inch) is 30 to 40 this means there is @30 psi pressure on all sides of the pipe or hose in your home at all times. When you open the tap this constant pressure supplied by a pump or falling water (a water tower which water is pumped up into) pushes out the water and in most area it will flow at around 4 to 5 gpm (gallon per minute). There are several ways to increase this pressure on your end one is to restrict the water. Nozzling is the simplest, by putting your thumb over part of the hose or pipe you can get it to flow out further or spread out the water.  Your hose probable has an attachment on it to make it squirt or fan out the water the garden nozzle. Forcing water through a smaller hole will increase its pressure vary the holes size and shape and different patterns emerge. You now have a simple form of a "water pressure cleaner". But why does it work? Any thing moving over another object causes friction and heat this is simple science. The water friction is the factor that makes this work water hitting a partial of dirt will add force behind it until it starts to moves. The dirt breaks loose from the surface bond and is washed away in the water stream, the more pressure you can add and direct will cause this to break away faster. During this process the friction causes heat even on the smallest level but think if we can increase this heat what could happen then, another topic. This point is one of the hardest points I have to get across to most of the "green folks" who think power washing is evil and water wasting. I hear all the time but it is using 5 gpm think 5 gpm to them I try to reply yes your right. I try to explain you will use less water with a pressure washer even-though it is rated at 5 gallons a minute, those same 4 to 5 gpm coming out of the tap on your house. Our running time to do the same job is reduced by a factor of over 40% from the garden house method. I can release the trigger and the water stops you'll waste water running back and forth or laying your hose down turning your water nozzle to off I will still use less water doing the same job. In the long run we are saving our water resources  by using pressure / power washers. I'll bring up later in other post how and why we have all different sizes and types of nozzles for our washers and why we use heat but today lets leave it at they speed up our jobs. Speeding up jobs results in more water saved "more conservation". Depending on what we at Cleaned by Pete wash we're able to run the water through chemical or oil socks a device used to capture oil and chemicals after spills. These can be made of several types of materials from treated paper to human hair one of the best materials to attache to petroleum based fluids. Most are a tube shaped with netting or open weave material covering them.

These are the chemicals Cleaned by Pete uses.

90% of free carcinogenics can be captured just using these and they also slow down any larger debris that can be swept up later. Again this is the simplest method of filtering the used water. There are large units that harvest the used water via vacuums and then reclaim it through a filter or series of filters. Some of these units can treat water better than when it out of the source hose and then be reused depending on the system. Now how is that for being "stewards of the earth" we all know that we have one world and most professional pressure washers do and respect our world and do what we can.

PEV series vacuum/reclaim systems

Wrapping up today we can see that water under pressure even in its simplest forms offer quicker and better cleaning. Also that most power washer and the good folks that  run and make a living from them care and do what they can do to help preserve our water resources. I will have more on the next post about water resorces in the next entery where I will plan to talk about cleaners and soap dare I say the dreaded word "chemicals" and how they play into saving both water and gas to power our washers.

Thank you for your support of Cleaned by Pete.

   Cleaned by Pete or what a power washer does:

Well this is going to be all new to me too. Blogging is fast becoming the best way to get noticed on the web. With the winter cold fast approaching here in Springfield MO water pressure washing better know as power washing is slowing down, for the season. Since I will have some free time I figured blogging will give me something to do. With that being said, I hope to learn a bit more about blogging and hope to entertain and maybe educate anyone who would read and watch this site. This being my first entry I will make it shorter and just introduce to you the company I have it is Cleaned by Pete  Mobile contract Cleaners  We have several web sites by clicking on our company names you can open different links on a new tabs to our different sites and check out what services we can do. In general we do what other "pressure washers" do but we strive for 100% satisfaction from our customers and do cleaning and washing others never thought of. I hope to enlighten you into our world of cleaning and all the different applications that can be done with water cleaning. We use low pressure steam, pressure washing up to 4000 psi, cold and heated water washing, soft-wash, high pressure wet-steam, high pressure dry steam, wet media blasting to name a few things and hope to let you know how and why they work. We are not fly by night or splash and dashers, we have years under our belts and plan to be around in years to come. I hope this will be fun for the readers I think it will be from this end.

Here is a video to help introduce us, thank you for your support.