Time savers: this one works for us.

Time savers: this one works for us.

Short review on the "Kranzle flat cleaner" Art.Nr. 41 09 31

It may look funny it may seem different. It can it's European and maybe that says it all. Sometimes we Americans think we have a handle on everything and are set in our ways. Here it is the "Kranzle flat cleaner" Art.Nr. 41 09 31, or we call it the wig-wag. I use this for maintenance cleaning when the larger surface cleaner is not needed. With the traditional surface cleaner you would have to move all the furniture around and then back. When your by yourself this cost time and ware-n-tare on an old guy, like me. This attachment fits on the end of the wand and easily moves under and around items. It has just one jet and is on a flexible tube that really does a powerful cleaning. It moves along quite well and covers a good swath while doing so. 

It may not seem it would be anything other than a toy but it serves me well. It cuts down on time and does not harm, cut legs, or damage side boards, yet it cleans deeply. I have a few short videos of it in action. The refresh rate on my camera is not that great it appears to be moving the water stream quite slowly. Please believe me it is moving right along and if I had a better video camera it would show quite different speed wise. Sorry for the unsteady camera action washing with one hand filming with the other. You can get this under and over the chairs and around while save some time still getting a good clean.

A Shout out to the Mole and Jersey Show

A Shout out to the Mole and Jersey Show

Cleaned by Pete just wanted to shout out the new show. We are the featured "rig" in the " Rigs and Dig" segment of the show this week. It is featuring our littler S10 small footprint service pick-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAhdZbJwLYI&feature=youtu.be

As far as I know this is the only talk show or for that fact any other type of show in the power washing and window cleaning industry. Hot topics, reviews, fails, rigs & digs, and other segments of interest for what we do. If you only watch one show watch this one, but I'm sure you'll want to watch them all.

Soaps Chemicals Gallons per Minute and the Do-it-Yourselfer

Soaps Chemicals Gallons per Minute and the Do-it-Yourselfer we can still save you time and money even if you are planning to do it yourself

Someone once said to me as I was cleaning their neighbors driveway, "That power washer of yours wastes water! I can clean my driveway with my hose and some "concrete cleaner" from the store". I pressed them on the matter just a bit, but he assured me that he could wash his house, deck and sidewalks around his house with his garden hose and it would not waist any water doing so. While on the surface it may seem to this gentleman that since I was using a 4.5 gallon a minute washer that I use 4.5 gallons a minute each and every minute that I'm on the property I guess and some how I was using more water than the hose would put out. I was somehow creating more water and then wasting it. 

Let's do a little math or "seafaring" as the old folks around here would say. If I am pumping out 4.5 gallons per minute, the water tap is putting out at least that much pressure or my washer would not be running smoothly. I would hope we all can see this would seem to me to be and even match I can not pump more then what is supplied. My pump can not multiply the volume of water passing through it but it can multiply the pressure of said water. I now can begin to gain the edge at the moment the tap is turned to the on position I start to conserve water usage. My washer and pump contains a device called a trigger gun which will only let the water out when the trigger is pulled to the on position only what I need and under more pressure. This is TCU total cleaning units or how much work the pressure washer can do.

How many time have you seen or even done this, turn on the tap and do the quick jog around the house to get to the end of the hose because it is running? Yes sir that same 4.5 gallons of water is running out and not doing any work. He now wets down the area not is a small fan pattern but glugging out water on the driveway. Laying the hose down and doing the jog to the tap once again. Now back to apply some cleaners, that were purchased from the "Big Box Store". I went out on a bid the other day and the lady wanted her drive way cleaned, or at least to have it back to what it looked like before. Before what? It seems she had found some miracle cleaner at the hardware store, that would restore your driveway to look like new. You would simply apply it and over a month it would clean. It blotched and ate in to the top layer know as the cream coat. She then decided to clean it with bleach and poured bleach all over which splashed on her metal garage door discoloring it at the bottom. What is in this stuff they are pouring and  running down the street? The package says safe. With many cleaners and consumer grade cleaners the companies make they don't have to tell you their secrete or proprietary ingredients. This can make some cleaners open for misuses and overuse from the consumer who may mix it with other cleaners or just use to much.

In most cases the product is pored on or broadcasted on with out reading the warnings or instructions. Come on we all do this, you know it. Most consumers now have some thing to add that was left over form doing another honey do or they are now stealing into the laundry room for some of the wife's soaps and cleaner stored there. Adding more cleaners on the driveway making that concoction for cleaning this will make it easier on them. Back and forth for a bit more to turn the water on and off or now we are just leaving it run, since the concoction  is drying out on the driveway now. Starting to work it in with a broom but finding out that is just real work. Running water on it will be faster and better they decide. Back to turn the water back on or picking it up since you have justified the thought you're water the grass too. Setting it on full blast still using 4.5 gallons a minute plus the concoction of cleaners you now have applied. Soap and bubbling go on we are cleaning now. Trying to wash down the giant growing soap dam along the edge of your driveway seems fruitless with more water the bubbles just seem to keep coming. This is now starting to look like a old Benny Hill show. More water more water (the same 4.5 gallons per minute that my machine was wasting). We are now seeing the picture water running down the street with your soap bubbling concoction and a few more trips to the tap to turn the water on and off while you get a drink or reapply some more cleaners in a few spots. Letting the water run while you grab the broom to work a few areas over. OK now the drive way is done lets say it took a half hour to do what was done, and to that end lets say you ran the hose 20 minutes of that time.

Just for the sake of arguments lets say a power washer will only cut the time and water use by only 15%. We now have saved 15% of the water due to efficiency. Let's look a bit further though, With my set up I can apply a set amount of cleaner through the water stream with a technique called "downstreaming" We can use a more concentrated cleaner and using a foaming gun.

I can start the cleaning process with less cleaners or soap that the consumer would have used. Our soap and cleaners are more concentrated and work better, that is why we use them, they cost more and we use only what we need to get the job done no waste no let's use some extra. I also have that trigger device that is only letting water out when needed. Now that I have your driveway foamed up and letting the cleaners work I have a minute to explain a few more tools that we use to  better clean and speed up the time it takes to clean in an around your home.

Cleaned by Pete has been using a foamer for years for spreading soap and cleaners it applies a even coat or cleaners that start to bubble and work on contact. Using the foamer also lets us use less cleaners only what is need for each job.

This is the same driveway in the above picture after the dwelling of the cleaners Cleaned by Pete use the power washer and the surface cleaner to remove the dirt and grime from this driveway. You don't see any excess water run off or soaps and cleaners running off.

An other driveway cleaning job, being done by Cleaned by Pete in Southwest MO.

The wide tip will cover a greater area than a narrow tip. This is the first line we can use with a pressure washer. Concrete cleaning unlike some other cleaning techniques relays on how hard the water hits the concrete to loosen and clean off the dirt and grime. While some will toute that gallons per minute clean I believe it is the impact of the water that cleans concrete. The soap and cleaners make this job easier and helps to kill mold and algae growing in your concrete. Clean concrete has a better grip if you have customers or an elderly person living or visiting your home or establishment clean concrete is a safety concern not just for aesthetics.

The waterbroom will speed up a job by 10 to 20 percent with multiple nozzles we are cleaning a larger area more effectively still using the same volume of water.

Water brooms speed up the cleaning process while saving water, Cleaned by Pete power washing Springfield MO

Cleaned by Pete is working with the 12" water broom to clean this new construction clean up.

A 12" pass is being cleaned we are cleaning and moving debree at the same time. Cleaned by Pete concrete cleaning in Springfield MO.

Picture of a customers sidewalk after cutting it in (cleaning around the edges) the surface cleaner was used total time less than six minutes with our power washer, gun and surface cleaner (and this is the small one). Just wondering if a garden-hose and some store bought cleaner can do the same job?

Cleaned by Pete using the power washer to cut in and around the edge.

Cutting in around the edges before the surface cleaner is employed for use Cleaned by Pete

Cleaned by Pete using the surface cleaning the concrete.

Cleaned by Pete finished photo concrete cleaning Springfield MO.

Check out this video see how much and how fast, concrete cleaning goes with the right tool and equipment.

Lastly we have the surface cleaners which can speed up the job by 25 to 40 percent due to its' design and construction. The surface cleaner will also do a better job and will leave the surface cleaner and stripe free when used by a caring professional power washer.

Cleaned by Pete has the right size surface cleaner for your job power washing Springfield MO.

Using techniques in conjunction with tools and attachments listed above we can say that we conservatively saved 25% to 50% on the water usage saved on soaps and cleaners. Getting a professional job and cleaner results. If a homeowner  has a power washer he will be able to help save water and cleaner usage but he may still lack the tools and attachments that the professional power washer has at his or her disposal.

This scenario is just one of many we as professional cleaners face we can also clean your home, decks, patios, sidewalks and many other cleaning projects. Saving water and other natural resources is part of what most professional cleaners do each and every day. I hope you can see now that even if my power washer is using 4.5 gallons a minute it will save more water due to the cleaning power of the unit and with special tools and attachments we can even save more water and cleaners, Cleaned by Pete tries to be a good stewards of the earth. Each doing their part will help, let us help you with your cleaning project in an around your home or business. For a free estimate or to discuss a job call us at 417.459.7869

Haste Makes Waste Leads to the Mother of Invention

Haste Makes Waste Leads to the Mother of Invention
&
The "Graffiti Cleaner" entry is below

As winter was moving in I was on a tear to get the equipment winterized. Winter can move in fast here in the Ozarks and this year it did. I was using the air-compressor to blow water out of all the hoses, tanks and heating coils. After blowing out one group of high-pressure hoses I took them over and put them in there winter storage place. This is where the problem arose my little 12" surface cleaner (which I find indispensable) had already taken up living in this spot. Without a look I dumped in the hoses and heard a crack and a crunch then saw the wounded little cleaner sitting there. This was the "haste makes waste" part of the story, since I was occupied with getting the weatherization done I dug the broken cleaner out and went on with what was at hand. If I would have slowed down take abit more time this would have not happened. As for me this was not the first time I have broken or messed up something by doing something stupid. We all know if you try to shoot through a job to quickly you will miss something, and going back to get is done right just takes that much more time.

Now I've had this little floating surface cleaner since I've been power washing and was not about to give it up now! It was updated with a larger, better, field repairable swivel years ago. With that addition I now had to get some new parts and adapt them as I had in the past. One would think you could buy some replacement parts but at last there were none the little cleaner was obsolete now. This is the "mother of invention" I had to come up with something, I put the little cleaner on the back shelf and started looking for another one to move the parts to. No luck there while there are other makes and types out on the market this little guy was rated at 4000 psi @ 5 gallons a minute it will take some hot water but not much. Most 12" surface cleaners are not in that class and the ones that are well they cost more than I wanted to spend.

Cleaned by Pete's little wounded surface cleaner.

You can see I knocked out the entire center of the housing could not fix it.

 If you follow Cleaned by Pete on facebook or Power Wash Community to name a few spots you will have seen picture of this little guy in action on many jobs. I have taken some good natured ribbing on using it by other pressure washers due to it size. You have to stick with what you know and who you brought to the dance, I put a lot of miles on this and was not going to give it up. A plastic bucket, bowl, pail any thing I found was not just what I needed, so I kept looking till one day I googled 12" x 3" and found it. It was what I needed I had not thought of it but it would be perfect to use. It was light it would not rust and the cost was low just in-case I could not make it work. Are you ready ....... some may have already guessed and if you said the 1st or 2nd layer pan from a wedding cake you would be correct. A $16.00 anodized aluminium cake pan from Michel's Crafts, with a 20% off coupon you can print off from the web sight I was now in business. With a little scrap from the shop and some nuts and bolts I started in on it this afternoon and this is what I have come up with so far.

With the swivel in place I started to layout the holes for the reinforcement plate.

The top view of reinforcement plate and swivel that Cleaned by Pete has constructed to aid in the rebuilding of his crushed and battered surface cleaner.

I made a reinforcement plat form a piece of aluminium scrap and cut it into a circle. Bored a hole with a cheap holesaw attachment and layed out some bolt holes to put it together. While it is now all metal it is still quite light and will still be able to used on long lances for over head work. Below are picture of it almost finished

The rebuilt little blue cleaner almost done.

Another view of how well the cake pan is working out for the rebuild of Cleaned by Pete's crushed little blue surface cleaner, you can see the update larger swivel that was installed years ago.

 I missed the blue color though I would allway say get the little blue cleaner when I need it. If we were loading I would ask is the blue cleaner in over all the years of use I would miss the blue color so I had to do something to carry on the name. I still have to put on the skirt and it's handle for use on walls and such but here is the reborn little blue cleaner now.

Keeping with the blue I had some blue flames. Cleaned by Pete, mother of invention sometimes leads you down a different path.

Cleaned by Pete and the rebuilt little blue surface cleaner.

Cleaned by Pete needs to put on the skirt and the handle and this surface cleaner will be ready for work in the up coming season.

1/30/14 Today I added a brace to the back of the arm. Used the center from the reinforcement plate, that was cut out with the hole saw tapped it and cut some treads (1/" x 20) on a piece of an old extension that was laying around. Saw a Cam Spray 12" cleaner and like the brace on theirs so I made one similar to it. Ordered a new replacement brush/skirt for a 15" cleaner it should be in next week. I'll have to cut it down and will install it inside the pan with nuts and bolts in order to keep the rolled edge for strength.

 Before and after the rebuilt 12" surface cleaner is almost ready for use, Cleaned by Pete

2/07/14 added a skirt on it to finish it off today this little repair now is ready to go. The total price of the project came in under $30. Now just have to be more careful in future.

Adding a brush/skirt finishes off this project now it's ready for the coming season of work. Cleaned by Pete and his refinished surface cleaner.

Cleaned by Pete serving Southwest and the greater Springfield MO area 

call us at 417-459-7869

Thanks for reading and supporting our blog.

 

Here is it at work! 

The Graffiti Cleaner

In stead of making a new blog entry, since this is so closely related to the article above I thought I would just "update" this one. As things would have it I also need a small "graffiti cleaner" with some extra parts, an old pot, hand drill, anglehead grinder, and the old skirt off the broken surface cleaner from above I started on this. Using ideas I gathered form the rebuild above here is what I'm doing now.

Using simple hand tools an anglehead grinder, hand drill, a few bits Cleaned by Pete of Springfield MO is making a surface cleaner for use on graffiti projects and cleaning.

With the hole drilled in the bottom small holes drilled around the edge then using a bigger bit to enlarge them Cleaned by Pete was able to make the larger hole, then file it smoother.

Using an small parts swivel which we had for a spare, Cleaned by Pete was ready to start the construction on the "graffiti cleaner" which will help keep thing cleaner here in Springfield MO.

Cleaned by Pete's assembled cleaner so far stainless steel, aluminium swivel, mink skirt, the "Graffiti Cleaner" is starting to shape up. Springfield MO's best graffiti removal.

Inside view of the "graffiti cleaner" cleaned by Pete of Springfield MO, will now need to make a spraybar which with a handle and a spray gun can finish the project.

Aluminium 90 degree ends, nozzles and stainless steel tubing that need to be cut, rethreaded, and then assembled will make up the spraybar for the graffiti cleaner. A photo from Cleaned by Pete, Springfield MO.

Just another look at what we started with. Cleaned by Pete and what he hopes soon to be their  "Graffiti Cleaner" to help keep Springfield MO just a bit cleaner.

Stay tuned for more on this new project, will be adding a gun, a handle and the spray bar, we'll keep you updated. Finished rethreading the stainless steel tubes and making them to the correct size. Threading stainless is in a whole different world it is some tough stuff. Stopped at the local power washing dealer and picked up a gun and nipple for it. Now to decide on where and how to add a control handle to it. This "graffiti cleaner" will be ready to go to work.

Graffiti cleaner almost ready for work, Cleaned by Pete Springfield & Southwest MO.

Spraybar completed and installed, Cleaned by Pete Springfield & Southwest MO. power washing, graffiti removal, house washing and more 417.459.7869.

Spraybar completed and trigger gun installed (picture of the almost completed hand held surface cleaner). Cleaned by Pete Springfield & Southwest MO. power washing, graffiti removal, house washing and more 417.459.7869.

Thanks for reading and viewing Cleaned by Pete what a power washer does.