One thing we face as a small business "The Pest".

One thing we face as a small business is "the pest".

Not bugs, not the dog next door or even neighborhood kids running around. As a small business owner we face a whole different type of pest; the unwanted solicitor. Better known as spammers, phishers, or telemarketers. Being a small business we need to take all leads and calls coming in, with cell phones you may never know where or who may be calling you for a job, quote or question about service. Each call or email is important and may help pay the bills to survive this economy.

Will they ever stop?

Your phone is ringing the number looks unfamiliar but you still need to answer it, only to get the "Your google map listing may not be right" or the pause that never says any thing. These marketers need to make a quota of calls each day you may find your phone getting two or three calls form the same number each day. I have a caller that I can not get rid of calls three times each Wednesday every week at almost the same time I know the number and just don't answer it, but it take time from what your doing, stopping getting the phone out and looking at the number. These phone calls are getting bad. More telemarketers are calling all the time if you answer they are selling your phone number to other telemarketers, it is big business annoying other people on the phone by wasting your time.

I have tried to slowed them down some, by waiting for the phone to ring at least three times then waiting about three to four seconds before saying the company name. I use to say Pete speaking how may I help you. With the "robo" call they have the company name and a contact person which they them call back later and pretend to know you or have done business with you. I now wait three to four seconds and say the company name and wait if no response I will hang up. Hopefully the robo call will take it as a fax, or answering machine and they will not call back or put your number up as a live number for others to call.

Emails are another source for these leaches to practice their trade. Even opening emails can now be tracked and can unleash some form of take over a "hack" maybe just your address book or worse. It takes time for you to do a search to see what is new or out there but you have to be careful you never know. What is one to do? I wish I knew we now live in a different world where thief and scammers are out there and participating in their trades only you are the one that looses each and every time. You loose time you loose productivity you could higher a screener or call center to receive your calls but you are a small business and pinching pennies now. In any case does trowing money at it  fix the problem? I think not, until things change or these practices are exposed callers will call emailers will email with out regards to you or me it is their business to intrude into ours.

As for now there is not much a person "the small business owner" can do but to help get the word out on these numbers I do post constant callers to some of the pages that do track them as: http://www.badnumbers.com/657-202-9040/ or http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-954-688-3007  this may help others or help drive these people away (fat chance) but it does help vent a bit if nothing else. Here is another one: http://www.callercenter.com/206-333-0505.html . Doing business in the modern world  takes different avenues and approaches.

I would like to add one more thing here. I have nothing against the men and women who make a living at call centers or even calling from their home, you need to make a living too. But no means "no" and you should honor a one call limit, most are courteous when told no. There are some, that give your industry a very bad name, but this is true in all industries.

This is just fitting! As I am fishing this entry off and doing a bit of rewording, I just now received a call from 503.333.577eight who is out of Portland OR but is working closely with the golf courses here in town and thought my company would be a good fit with their advertising package. What is the best thing they represent "the list of courses" which they don't know range from private courses, country clubs and those owned by the city, county or parkboard some do not advertise at all being that the parkboard owns and runs them. They didn't want to talk about this detail. Life is just full of little ironies isn't it.

Hoses for your power / pressure washer

Hoses for your power / pressure washer 

Here is a subject that is rarely written about but is one important item when you think about it. This hose is delivers and stores the pressurized water until it is delivered to the trigger assembly then on to the nozzle.

Different sizes, types, styles, and ratings are on power washing hoses as well as different sizes, types or styles of connectors that attach them to the washer and to the gun or trigger. I'll try to inform you on these where to use them and what to look for. While some hose will work all power washes some will not the psi rating is what we will talk about first. From past entries you know that psi stands for the pounds of pressure per square inch that your power washer is producing. This will range form @1200 psi to around 18 psi for you over the counter electric models. They will come with a hose that usually have ends that will tread on to the gun and the unit it self. This is a different tread (the screw cut groves that attach the hose) than that of the garden hose you will be getting your supply water from.

Electric pressure washing hose with standard 22 mm fittings.

Standard 22 mm screw on fittings found on most smaller pressure washers.

This hose has brass screw on fittings sometimes referred to as standard 22mm connections. A 1/4" Teflon core covered by a black plastic sheath. The 1/4" sizing refers to the diameter of the inside hole in the hose. It is very easy to kink and crease these areas will be more likely to develop a leak or crack after a while. It is always recommend to disconnect the hose from the unit and the gun then coil it up for storage it will help to keep out the kinks making your hose last longer. These hoses are just a single core with no reinforcement and will be rated up to 2700 psi but you will need to check a good hose should be labled. Your next step up will have the same look but the materials used for construction will be different it will still have the screw on ends a Teflon core but will have a rubber sheath incasing it.  The rubber sheath will let it have a higher pressure rating usually up to 3000 psi. This hose is less likely to kink or crease do to  the heaver construction. This hose will be able to be used on the smaller units and will have a lot more flexibility. You will find these hoses in different lengths usually found in 10 feet, 25 feet and even in 50 feet I would not recommend any thing longer than 25 do to the kinking aspect of these hoses. These hose are not recommended for larger machines they can not handle the higher pressure developed by the larger units they will rupture.

The next step up in the average hoses that we see and use will be moving into the 3/8 inch diameter hose. The inside Teflon tubing is 3/8 of an inch. This hose will hold more reserve water but will take more of the pumps power to push it in a long run. This category will start with 3000 psi rating which has a rubber or plastic type outer shell holding a braided wire rap over the inner tube. If your hose is refereed to as a single wire this means it has one layer of steel braided reinforcement over the inner tube following this logic a 2 braid hose has two layers of steel reinforcing the inner tube and the hose in general against rupturing.

Cut-a-way shows the steel braid over the core with the outer shell which comes in many different materials.

Outer shell followed by two layers of steel braided reinforcement layer around the inner core.

The more psi your pump is putting out the higher rating you will need to safely use a high-pressure washer. Ratings follow as a general rule 3000 psi, 4000 psi, and 6000 psi in this type of hose construction. These are the hose you will see Cleaned by Pete using on jobs. They come with different shells as non-marring, oil resistant, layered wrapped, smooth or pebbled, black, gray, blue and so one the outer shell just help the power washer to be able to clean and keep clean area of your home or business and the hose itself. You can have a hose made to any length you would like, from 2 feet on up you will find the standard lengths to run 25 ft, 50 ft, and 100 ft, these hose have steel braids and do start to weigh up fast hauling a 100 ft of 2 wire hose starts to get heavy, 200 ft take quite a bit to move around I keep most of our hoses at or around the 50 ft length for easier adding and easier to haul and put up at the end of the job you can always add another hose to make things longer, and 100 ft hoses on the hose reels.

You can always use a larger rated hose on a smaller unit but never use under rated hose on higher pressures.

The next step up in the hose will be 1/2 inch diameter hoses all the same but some will have more steel wraps increasing there rating even more.

The next major rating in pressure washing hoses is "Hot or for use with Hot Water" this is another rating you will have to look for when using heated water. You can use a "hot-water" hose on cold water units but you always take the chance of things going wrong if you use cold water rated hoses with your hot water unit, The materials will be somewhat different to be able to use hot water with out getting to hot and causing a rupture in the line. One other hose you will see Cleaned by Pete use is steam hose while it is the same construction as the 3/8 in pressure hose the materials will be different, allowing us to use higher internal temperatures "live steam" in this hose.

Since time, making things secured and easy to use is important to the power washing contractor we use what is call a quick couple system. We set up our pumps and washers the way we like and what works for us. In most cases we use 3/8 hoses and quick couples so we can add more lengths or different ends to the hose. Pulling back on a ring releases several steel balls and the other end will slip out. No sealer, no leaking, no tools or wrenches just quick and easy.

Quick couplers come in "male and female" configurations depending on how you are setting up your system you will be using some form of these.

One problem is sometimes you just can add this to that hose or you have the 22 mm fitting and need a 3/8" quick couple, some times things work out and you have two "male connectors" ends that will not go together. We have tried to make ever thing uniform but with all the different washer, tools and attachments we have at Cleaned by Pete not all things still fit together, We solved this by making several different short hoses and adaptors.

Short hoses or whips and Cleaned by Pete's hose and quick connectors for different hoses that we use on our different pressure washers.

 Pressure washing hoses are fairly straight forward use is called for by your pressure washer a over rated hose is OK to use. Never use an under rated hose, severally kinked hose, worn or ruptured hose, cracked or dry-rotted hose or any hose that may look unsafe or that you are not sure of. Safety is a must when working with pressure of any type.

Pictorial History of Power Washing, part II

A pictorial history of power washing.

A few more pictures of the pictorial history of pressure washing. First hot-water high pressure washer was invented by Alfred Karcher in 1950 in Germany. Which some say was a refinement of Frank Ofeldt's steam cleaner. Designed and invented in the United States. The steam pressure washer or "high-pressure Jenny" is introduced much earlier, in 1927. Refinements have been made but we all own and use something that is credited to these two gentlemen. These pictures have been used from the internet. If you or your companies owns them and may wish them removed please email us and we will remove them. Pictures have link to web sites where you can find them and more information.

The Hypressure Jenny was the first Steam Cleaner ever made - first in the world! It was invented by Mr. Frank W. Ofeldt, II in 1927. He immediately joined Homestead Valve Manufacturing Co. in Coraopolis Pennsylvania, and later became Chief Engineer of the Hypressure Jenny 

 //www.jennyproducts.com/HistoryArticle.html

Sioux was founded in 1939 in Beresford, South Dakota, initially manufacturing steam cleaners used to clean automobile engines.  In 1965, the company was sold to John and Virginia Finger, who began designing additional models of steam cleaners and hot or cold water pressure washers, with larger capacities and pressures for application in other industries. http://www.sioux.com/history-of-sioux-corporation.html

In 1977 the first Epps Products pressure washer was produced.  The model 800E, @ 800 PSI and 3 GPM. http://www.eppsproducts.com/aboutus.html

http://www.tractorumbrellas.com/photo/malsbary-steam-cleaners-farm-machinery

http://www.hotsy.com/oldestworkinghotsy.aspx

The powerful streams of water ripped through clay, rocks and gravels, blasting away entire mountains.  http://www.brackensgoldrush.com/History.htm

This 1900 photo shows a water cannon blasting away a hillside at the Calhoun Gold Mine, in Lumpkin County, during the second gold rush.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia Collection

The last two pictures so how water pressure cannons we use early on for dirt removal sometimes whole mountains here we have more volume than pressure, today we have great pressure with less volume doing the same job. It all comes down to dirt and grime removal.
For all your dirt and grime removal call Cleaned by Pete for a free prompt estimate at 417-459-7869 serving the Southwest and greater Springfield MO area.

Small Gas Pressure Washers: why we use them

Small Gas Pressure Washers: why we use them

Blog entries earlier we discussed why we we use certain types of gas powered power washers. We used them for different reasons from how much they heat the water, how much pressure they provide, and how many gallons of water they use. Electric washers were used for portability, inside use, and they are quite. In this last blog on gas washers we will discuss why we have these "smaller" gas powered units and why the large ones don't fill in all the needs that we have encounter or will encounter.

Cleaned by Pete's propane heated pump used for smaller jobs and as a back-up.

Cleaned by Pete has this small footprint pump to do jobs that don't require high heat or great pressure, its does not take a lot of room and is carried along as a back-up pump in-case something happens to the larger units while on the job.

Having the right washer not only saves us time but saves our customers and clients money. The unit above has a smaller footprint and is lighter to move around. When you are a "mobile contractor washer" you need to be flexible and mobile means able to reach places to clean that are sometimes not too accessible. I'm trying to say this company washer is better than that companies, these are the washers we have, we uses, and have built. The red one pictured above has propane heated burner and reaches a temperature of 150 degrees, with a 6 horse power gas engine and drives a 2700 psi pump all in one package. This is a good unit for small jobs we really like it for washing cars and the bus fleet we wash. Easy to add hot water when needed for cleaning. One plus we found is we have on demand hot water without  running the engine or running it through the pump. You don't always have access to allow the larger pumps and their footprints when cleaning. So we have this unit for smaller jobs that require heat and can be done with less pressure. The pump is not of a commercial quality but when and if it goes out we will replace it with one but till then we have an option to use this pump. We also take this unit along if we travel some distances for a back-up in-case our larger washers may fail.

Cleaned by Pete built this unit for cold water washing having lots of pressure (4000 psi) and good flow (4 gallons per minute). It is very easy to push around mainly used in our media blasting and concrete cleaning services along with our propane heated "Gumbuster" attachment.

Two gas driven and one electric pressure washers on a job site. Cleaned by Pete

This is a cold water unit that Cleaned by Pete built out of commercial applications and has commercial rated components. A 4000 psi @ 4 gpm AR nickle plated pump driven by a 16 hp gas engine, on a custom built frame with pneumatic tires. We built this for the media blasting service but also use it in concrete and sidewalk cleaning to run the 20 inch surface cleaner and the propane heated "Gumbuster" attachment (written about in an earlier entry). The big plus of this unit is the size and it has the smallest footprint of all the wheeled mobile units but still is one of our most powerful washers. We built it to the specs we needed for certain jobs most units of this size will have just two wheels and a leg on their bases sometimes a bit unstable with the type or topographer we have here in Southwest MO. I hope you are starting to see why we need and have so many different styles and types of pressure washers.

The small unit with the blue gas tank in front of the media-blasting unit and the yellow Cam-spray unit is our smallest gas driven pump at 2500 psi. Cleaned by Pete

This little gas driven pump was built because it features a very small foot print and is light.  It offers the ease of movement but powerful enough to wash what was needed which was a vent system and fan. Since it was an oven not a fryer or grill it we could use warm water from the sink to run thru the pump. We had a regular scheduled cleaning job on the roof of a mall complex for one of the stores inside. When they refinished and refurbished the exterior of the mall we could no longer bring a high-pressure hose over the edge for cleaning. The mall mangers now did not want any thing brought up or lowered over the edge of the building not even at the docks. No easy access to electrical plug-ins on the roof electric washers were out of the question. Having to carrying or raising all equipment up the access ladder to the roof hatch inside the mall. Things had to be small, compact and light. We would run a water supply hose up the exhaust shaft, this small unit was the only thing we could use. It was built it with a small 6 hp gas engine driving a 2500 psi pump on it. It also has a small base not pictured to keep it stable. The pump is what we call a wobble pump to drive its three compression pistons. We don't use this pump much since the company we were cleaning for moved, and we do not clean hoods any more but is is handy to still have. You'll never know when there is that one special job we could use on again, it has paid for itself, so like they say it does not eat anything so it does not cost anything to keep it around. It's still a better quality unit than anything you can by today at the "big box store" in its class size. It is the same thing for the electric unit with the C shaped metal handle over it, both holdovers from the hood cleaning days. Having the right tools to do the right job is what we always say.

This is the only picture I could find of out "trash pump" I could have run outside and grabbed a quick photo of it but is is snowing here in the Ozarks. This is a group picture of our latest dry steam cleaner purchased for a back up and the trash-pump, fire-hose, cam connectors and a nozzle.

You might be saying how in the world do you consider that orange Multiquip "trash pump" a power washer. It moves water, which is put under pressure due to the vain type of construction in its pump, it has a hose, we can nozzle that hose and thus control its flow, all the aspects of a power washer so basically it is a power washer as we us it. This unit has a 7 horse gas Robin motor equipped with a 2" inlet and 2" outlet pump. Why do we use it? It moves large volumes of water with a good stream of water pressure. Not a small pencil stream under extreme pressure, like our traditional pressure washers. You need your drive-way rinsed off or part of the parking lot rinsed off, red clay, sand, dirt or some mud tracks these are hard to move with a pressure washer and time consuming to do with a pressure washer. You move it form here to there and the water fan may not be the best thing or powerful enough to remove it. This bad boy hooked to one of our big water tank totes and using the 2" fire hose, with the old nickle plated fire nozzle, rinses with a greater volume of water. It will move that sand or red clay off the surface. Plus we can refill tanks with water supplied from farm ponds or streams if needed by reversing the hoses. Another plus is with a trash pump we can pump out flooded basements. Pump out fish ponds or garden ponds for the residential customer for cleaning always looking for any service we can offer to a customer. We got the idea of using a trash pump for cleaning and rinsing larger areas after seeing a portable "brush or bush" fire fighting rig.

Fire pumps and reels: 1000L UV protected tank, 6.5hp Pump, 36m hose reel, 50mm tow hitch

 http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mundijong/miscellaneous-goods/fire-fighting-trailer/1010803147#

 Also from an other business that was here in town which was using a set up like this to seed and fertilize yards and business after new construction. He was seeding and fertilizing with it, this would in-bed the seed and fertilizer in the soil because of the water pressure, and water it in one step. While we were cleaning that day, boom the idea we could use the same style of system for cleaning this mud off the walks and the concrete slab too. While we don't use this pump a lot, it is a very useful tool to have in ones arsenal of equipment too. We also have 100 foot of 2 inch fire hose, 50 feet of low pressure flat pump out lead and around 50 feet of "hard line" all with "cam" locks for pumping or drawing water.

 Just because these small gas units are not what we call our bread and butter machines they have there place and we can use them to do what the competition can not, or has never thought about doing in the field of exterior cosmetic cleaning. Doing thing with water pressure that others have not thought about is another thing we take great pride in. Cleaning out a fish pond or fountain in a garden have you ever thought about it? We have. We also have a plan and own the equipment to do it too.

This raps up "Pressure Washers: why we use them" you can see that we use them for different reasons from heat to size. Each washer has a good point as well as bad points but we have and use each for its unique cleaning capabilities it possesses. Cleaned by Pete has built, rebuilt or modified them to match up with our cleaning needs and styles of cleaning. Our needs may not be your needs. Picking one pressure washer for all your cleaning may not be easy but you can find something close. You can use a large pressure washer to do small jobs you can always turn it down or use nozzles to lower pressure. Doing large jobs with a too small washer can be a challenge, we are in the power washing business and time is money this is why we have several washers. Cleaned by Pete has different services, these different power washers make our job easier and that results in your job being done quicker with the best outcome. Having the right tools and equipment to do your job, this is also what we take pride in. Call and see what we can do for you.
417-459-7869

Please visit our web sites and facebook page for more information on Cleaned by Pete links listed on the side of this page. If you would like any more information on gas pressure washers leave us a comment and we'll see if we can help. Thank you for viewing our blog stay tuned for more on power washing form Cleaned by Pete

Built a new fogger / foamer

Pete washed a house this week on Monday and is getting ready to head out for a house washing today, letting the temperature rise a few degrees first. The house, washed Monday, had a weird out cropping on it and was hard to get an angle to spray on the cleaners. Finally got it wet down with cleaner and soaps and worked to get it cleaned then. It was the angle of the spray could not get to it strait-a-way so this morning he built this fogger (it's a foamer but does not make thick foam more or less throws a good mist of cleaner, fogs it on). As told  by another contractor in the business once, "you should not post things you make or use to aid or speed up cleaning jobs, you shouldn't be showing your competitors anything that will help them out", well to bad, I do if I know there is someone else that has the same problem maybe this will help competitor or not. The new fogger / foamer has an angled lance extension for getting at those areas around the dormers and roofing peaks that you can not get a straight shot at. It will just be a siphon feed so you'll have to carry a jug around but just for spotting it will be OK for now. We always say tools and equipment make the job easier and you our customer receive a better job. Will try it out later today and see what improvements are needed. Thinking ahead there is a quick connect at the top, enabling the fogger / foamer to be removed and a "M-16 Thruster Nozzle" to be used to reach taller areas and then rinse with out changing out the lance.
It was a simple build made it form parts and stuff laying around and form the hardware store. The foaming head is form Faip and rated at 4000 psi max are relatively inexpensive. Used several sections of 1/4" pipe to make up the shaft use a set of quick connects from the repair parts. The angle of the head is made form a 45 degrees elbow, have seen 33 degrees and 90 degrees fittings but 45 looked best. You may want to build one and give it a try.

Cleaned by Pete's new fogger / foamer:

 for those hard to reach and spray areas

Cleaned by Pete built his spot fogger / foamer for soap and cleaner application in that area that you can not spray straight on.

Cleaned by Pete put this together our of some 1/4" pipe, connections, and a syphon feed fogger / foamer he had laying around it is over six feet for added reach.

Hoping this it what makes the difference the angle changing the angle of application should help with the problem we ran into the other day. Cleaned by Pete has the right tools for your job or he will make them.

Review: Had to fix one small leak in one of the connections, but will have to give it a thumbs up. Built this as a spot fogger / foamer but it worked so good today used it to apply most of the soap and cleaners. Did not try changing out the fogger / foamer tip with the M-16 today, will do that when things get all ironed out. Just used the long range nozzle to downstream the high areas. It could get closer to the wall and was able to apply a heavy coat of cleaner. Good foaming, little to no blow-back on a person, with over a 6 foot swath soaping went faster, less waist of product due to the wind which was blowing quite brisk around 15 mph cause it was closer to the walls and could reach up higher. Used a old bleach jug about half full so it was not too heavy. Going to add a hook that will swivel around on the lance or some thing to hook the jug on also put on a grip handle to control the head direction. Freeing up the hand that was holding jug to the lance. With the addition of a grip handle it will help to make the unit more stable. Gripping both made hand cramp a little after a period of time. Will  do the add-ons and let you know. Going to wash some buses tomorrow, maybe try it there too seeing if there are any other additions needed. I'm calling this a fogger because though the attachment is a foamer it does not draw in the air very good and it does not create a lot of foam unless you use pure dish soap or something really sudzy but does fog a good mist of cleaner really well.

Use the attachment today for laying on the soaps and cleaners on a small fleet of buses, went well with the reach was able to walk along the side of the bus and the downward angle of the head the soap would run down the side of the bus. By stepping back and the reach could cover about half the buses side flipping the head upwards could spray under the bus and in the wheel wells, then move down and cover the other half. Control was better and was not just shooting up and splattering cleaner all over. So all in all it has a place in our line of attachments and equipment and for the cost we'll keep it.

Pressue, Soft, Power, Cosmetic, Water Pressure Cleaner

Well what are we I find it hard to keep up with what we are this year apposed to last year or the year before. Most of us do the same thing to some extent or the other, we wash or clean objects with some form of water pressure. Now weather it is low pressure or high-pressure it is still pressure. These days we all want to find a nitch or some-thing that will set us a part in the industry. This is where the question of what are we comes in; pressure washer, power washer, mobile contract cleaner, soft washing, high pressure washing, wood restoration, house washing, water pressure washing, cosmetic cleaner, mobile washing contractor, along with other titles that have been bandied about over the years. There are new categories for us to advertise each year and they keep changing too. This all make a difference where we will be placed of the key words to use now and in the future.



We all want to be found on the internet and I'm not the best with the search engines or I would be working in that field instead of washing. Cleaned by Pete does well locally and that is really all we need to keep going we are small and do not travel great distances for jobs. We do well in several fields when looking up a local washing contractor. We lack behind when looking for "pressure washing" I really never felt that this name was the best for what our company does and never used it much, this is why we lag behind in the look-ups and what is displayed. So to help get us noticed I made a new video posted it on YouTube that I hope helps us get noticed. With more views we will become stronger on the search engines. So I am posting it here and at our other blog for viewing thanks for the views and your support of these blogs.

Wands, Poles, an Attachments

Pete was out on a bid for a home that was being purchased. The bank and the prospective new owners were wanting a few things done on the home at closing to be completed. Pete met with the general contractor who was subbing out the house washing. The home was a two story vinyl sided home with a native rock front.  This is where this entry comes in while discussing the cost and what was the best washing method to use, the contractor asked, "but really how do you get up there to clean it?". Pete said attachments and poles, then went over how Cleaned by Pete practices safe on the ground cleaning. Cleaned by Pete tries not to use ladders; first they touch and lean on your home and siding and pressure washing off ladders in not the safest practice. Soft washing applied form ladders is safer and we try to use folding ladders in most cases. Not leaning or touching your home reduces damage and is just saver.

I have been explaining some attachments for the power washer and introduce you to our world of "Wands, Poles an Attachments". If you have been reading along with our blog you know that Cleaned by Pete take great pride in having the right tools for the right job, for the best cleaning of your home or business. Lets look at the these attachments and explain there uses. The gun, lance and pole are just extensions from the hose to the nozzle which we explained before. http://cleanedbypete.blogspot.com/2012/12/nozzles. These poles help us reach areas of your home from the ground for a better clean on your house or business. To reach the upper most area we have the 26 / 28 ft extension pole or telescoping pole. We have a nick-name for this pole it's called the yellow banana, due to the fact it will flex and bow at full extension takes a bit of work with it to get use to how to handle it.

We are able to reach here and get a good washing on this stucco siding please note the angle of water use to clean is is almost at 90 degrees. Our cleaning force is more direct if you used this with only a regular nozzle in the end you would get a glancing wash most of the cleaning force would not be directly applied. Cleaned by Pete has several of these angles we made for more effective cleaning, I love to say this we have the right tool for the right job.

The pole at almost full length washing with a boar-hair brush and feeding soap and water through the pole not to disturb the letters on this sign, we are also working off the 7 foot platform of the service truck. You can note the bend in the pole our "our yellow banana.

Washing under a drive thru entrance / loading unloading area, where car exhaust has been collecting for years you can see we are washing the last of the dark grime off with the telescoping pole.

Cleaned by Pete has invested in this cleaning item to be safer also saving time, resources, gas, and to get a better cleaning job. These next pictures show some of the other fixed poles and other attachments we use here at Cleaned by Pete.

This is a 5 foot poll with a 16 inch attachment and then the nozzle making almost a total of 6 1/2 feet to reach up and clean. Cleaned by Pete has quick couples on all poles guns and nozzles. These quick couples allow us to add , take off or change to other configurations to match cleaning needs. You will also notice the angle of the nozzle we able to change this angle to direct the cleaning stream to achieve better results. If we were using it straight on it would only glance the side of the building.

Some of the fixed poles we use and guns we can use just the gun or quickly build any length of pole with bends or angles. You see here some of the poles and bends we use for cleaning jobs. The length or the poles range from 6 feet to 16 inches and will all link together via quick connectors. There are several types of guns pictured each is different and has a place.

Another view you can see how some of the attachments are curved or bent. You also see some with tubing on them these are soap injectors I have more on these later in an other entry. Being able to quick change the angles, nozzles, lengths, guns and configuration gives us an arsenal of cleaning you won't see everywhere.

Straight gun, four foot pole, 18 inch angle adaptor, 12 inch surface cleaner use to clean an old milking barn, for a new entertaining area. Cleaned by Pete can quickly change this configuration by adding nozzles and other accessories.

We use these wands, guns and poles on all types of jobs. Over the years we have learned what works best. Building, buying and collecting different items for use till we have what we have today. We are able to move water where we want to apply soap and cleaners on your home and rinse them off safely. Call us and let Cleaned by Pete show you what we can do for you. With our attachment poles we can get your project cleaned.

This photo shows Cleaned by Pete rinsing down a stone chimney, the roof line at the bottom of the photo is over 2 stories high.

Real results and photo of the heights we can reach from ground level without climbing on your home. Water is exiting the nozzle at the 2nd story roof line.

 Visit us at our web site: www.cleanedbypete.com and over at House Washing Springfield MO: http://housewashingspringfieldmo.blogspot.com Thank you for your support if you have any question about the attachments we looked at today please post a comment below and I will try to get back with you, Thanks for your support.

Attachments: surface cleaner, water broom

Discussed earlier in the blog is the basic idea on "how a pressure works" and  the major components. We talked about nozzles their patterns and sizes, now we are going to discuss what else can be added to a power washer to make cleaning easier and quicker for us contractors. These attachments or tools can speed up the jobs but at the same time they offer better quality and cleaning abilities. Saving time means saving; gas, oil, water and other natural resources, stewardship. Today the two attachment are the surface cleaner and the water broom. Cleaned by Pete uses these for concrete and deck cleaning as well as many other flat surfaces.  If you see your contractor show up with something similar to what is pictured below, you'll know what it is for and what it does.

Some of the surface cleaners that Cleaned by Pete uses in the Springfield MO area.

 Surface cleaners cover more area, clean in an even pattern and cuts the time of cleaning.  Most surface have two nozzles and spin at 2000 rounds per minute. (rpm's). Water pressure rotates an arm making it spin. You can see there is some kind of shiny thingamajig in the middle of those cleaners pictured this is a high-pressure swivel. The swivel is what make the surface cleaner do what it does. Rotary swivels contain a set of bearings and a water seal of some sort they are capable of rotating the spray arm at incredible speeds. We need not go in to any more in-dept about construction. Rotary swivels are engineered to with stand incredible pressure and heat while directing the water flow from a single input to that of two to four nozzle depending on the configuration of the spray bar.

Under the business end of the surface cleaner the spray bar connected to the high-speed rotary swivel has transferred the water flow to two nozzles, rotation provides even cleaning power.

Since the the water pressure now has to do two more jobs: cleaning and rotating not all power washers will be able to work with this tool. The right tools for the right job. If you notice the ones pictured above; they are in different sizes from 12" to 30" inch and shapes. The square one is also adjustable in the distant it can be raised from the surface to reduce damage on wooden decks.

Our big surface cleaner in action.

Cleaned by Pete has invested in different surface cleaner for different needs while some contractors may not have surface cleaner they can still preform the same service but results may not be as good and it will take longer. Some of the cleaners pictured have no wheels we call these are floaters the brush keeps the water contained and they hover above the surface due to the water pressure form the nozzles. These floaters are good for rock and uneven surfaces as well as pavers that may be spaced further apart. Remember the right tool for the right job.

Making a run with our deck cleaner it has larger wheels that adjust up and down for cleaning height, further away means less direct pressure and larger fan degree.

This tool has to be matched to the gpm, gallon per minute and the psi, pressure per square inch of the power washer as we discussed in earlier entries for you to achieve your best CUs cleaning units. You can still see we have a lot of science and math going on here and this is just an attachment. Pressure or power washing is becoming more and more of a science as we talked about before. It is not just squirting water out of a wand and in the wrong hands it can cause damage to your propriety. You may ask us any time to explain how or why we would use certain tools attachment or equipment on your job.

Surface cleaning under way this show what results you can expect.

Cleaning a large surface area we can use our largest surface cleaner depending on how dirty things are. We may have to use a smaller one of more concentrated cleaning in-turn saving time which also saves gas, oil, water and other natural resources.

Using one of the cleaner inside for quicker floor cleaning.

 After we use this tool the dirt is loose and ready to be rinsed away we now go and attach the water broom. Our water broom has four nozzles that have been matched to which ever unit we use it can be used as a cleaning tool too. This broom the nozzles can be  removed and arranged in different ways, we can even place nozzles on the ends of the broom to wash the sides of a project. In the picture below you can see there are 3 nozzles spraying the high pressure water out. We were cleaning a deck attached to a log home and did not want the fan cutting or damaging the side of the log home as we cleaned. Again the right tool for the right job.

The matched size of the nozzles provide a larger cleaning path if we just use this attachment we can save time and water moving slower for deeper cleaning. In this case we use the broom to rinse all that loosened dirt and grime off the patio, drive-way, side-walks, decks or any other flat surface moving faster because we are just rinsing.  Leaving results as pictured below.

Deck cleaning finished by Cleaned by Pete in Springfield MO.

Cleaned by Pete finished cleaning a side-walk in Springfield MO

Drive way cleaning finished by Cleaned by Pete in Ozark MO.

 Cleaned by Pete would like to be your pressure / power washing contractor in the South-west and greater Springfield area. We have invested in tools and attachments to achieve the best, safest and time saving results for your needs and job. We have the knowledge of how and why these attachments work as well as the knowledge to effectively and properly use them. Remember, time saving and being more efficient we save water, gas and other resources being good stewards for the environment plus getting your job cleaner. Stewardship is part of our job and we take pride in doing what we do. Now if you see us with either of these tools you now what they are for and why we use them. I will have more entries on attachments for the power washer in the future please stay tuned in to the blog. Knowledge is key.

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.