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sob
Senior Member
USA
91 Posts |
 Posted - 11/10/2015 : 12:19:09 PM
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Perhaps this subject has been beat to death in these forums. No, this is not a pitch to sell you bus washing soap. This is actually a plea for help.
I used to wash everything with a generic cold water power washer and Zep 4358. Fast forward to modern times, now we have a Hotsy hot water power washer and a Hotsy brand and the Zep 4358 powder, mixed in a small barrel. Now I know as we get older memory fades and we seem to recall the old days as better. Well that is how I recall the olden days using the cold water setup.
The new and improved looks like you just washed the bus with clear water when it dries. A dirt film still coating the bus. They look fantastic when wet !!
The Hotsy has hot water, a water softener( we were told our water has hard) and the soap is injected in under low pressure. Soap on low pressure and rinse with high pressure. (the old days was high pressure both ways)
So the question to all of you is: What are you using. Style of washer, brand of soap, how much do you use. Do you hand scrub each unit ?? |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4545 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2015 : 12:44:33 PM
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Wait, you wash your buses? Mother nature is our bus washer!
Sorry, couldn't resist. |
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Fldawg
Active Member
15 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2015 : 1:33:26 PM
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| same here mother nature washes ours also, the drivers that wash there bus use cold water and a liquid soap with a brush |
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scoutmom2
Active Member
17 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2015 : 6:44:13 PM
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| washing buses? Only the commuter buses get washed weekly, not the school buses unless it rains. |
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RonF
Top Member
867 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2015 : 03:13:28 AM
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| We use blue lightning vehicle wash and we shine the hoods on the Intertrashionals with an electric buffer and something like Nu-Finish. |
US Army retired CMBT |
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Ryan5r
Senior Member
USA
55 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2015 : 04:30:03 AM
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| We use a Hydrotek hot water pressure washer with Zep O Shine and a brush every other week. Works good |
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Fastback
Top Member
1500 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2015 : 06:12:34 AM
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| We wash our buses by hand on an unshaded crushed rock parking lot, with a garden hose, bucket of suds and long handled brush. Biggest improvement was when we stopped using the crazy hard school well water and got connected to the rural water system. |
Why yes, the ORIGinal CHARGER is a Fastback |
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bfaulkner
Senior Member
168 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2015 : 06:25:05 AM
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| We have a Hotsy hot pressure washer. We use a truck soap/wax mix from a local supplier and spray the bus with the mix. We have an upright bus brush that we walk around the bus to scrub the 3 sides. Hand wash the front with a brush then rinse with hot pressurized water. |
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bwest
Administrator
United States
3820 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2015 : 08:21:56 AM
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Just got a Landa hot water pressure washer this summer. We use a soap from NAPA called Superior Dirtbuster Car Wash, costs about 10 bucks a gallon. We put that in a 5 gallon bucket and use a soft brush on a stick. I am experimenting with a rinse agent as we type today. I can let you know how that works. We only soap up about half of one side before we rinse.
I'm wondering if you are getting soap spots because you are running soap through your wand. I have one driver that I let run soap through the wand because he is very particular about his bus and how it looks. I know he is getting the soap mix out of the hose before he rinses.
Oh yeah, we just got a 37'x60' concrete pad to wash buses on! I think I died and went to heaven. lol |
Bryan |
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slippert
Top Member
USA
630 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2015 : 10:28:00 AM
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We have a hot water washer, and buying what ever car wash is on sale...Plus The Eco-brush bfaulkner speaks of above, The power brush saves alot of hand washing and is quicker, they look decent when done...
I would think if your not hand scrubing or using a power brush on the bus it probably doesn't look clean when dry ... mine never did and always seem to leave a dirty film on them unless we used a brush.... I have never tried a pre-soak type soap, maybe that would work ok without hand or power brushing?
My buses paint oxidizes bad, most of mine fade out pretty fast... they are always parked outside, no cover from the sun and I don't have the spare time to wax them or no extra money to pay drivers to do it...Seems like they are alot harder to get dirt off when paint fades...
Factory paint looks more like an old lacquer paint rather than a acrylic enamel that manufactures says their painted with,,, Must be the cheap enamel paint they use,lol... I bought some cheaper acrylic enamel once from NAPA to paint a 1949 Farmall M it oxidized and faded within 2 years, even though it was kept in a barn all but a few weekends out of the year |
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Cal Mc
Advanced Member
303 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2015 : 8:13:55 PM
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Hotsy pressure washer does a good job when it works. ($10,000 system 3 years old and $4000 worth of repairs ,but that is another story)
Soap application with hot water @ 1500 psi/4gpm. Cold water rinse @ 1500psi/4gpm. We use a air actuated pump for the soap injection into the system. The town water pressure we regulate to 30 psi(float tank eliminated due to repeated valve failure)
Drivers wash their own buses. We wash the buses for inspections (outside and under the bus to get rid of mud and dirt in the frame and around brake assemblies) |
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Topic |
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Bus Washing Soap
