Hood Cleaners. Which will work best for you?

Here at Soap Warehouse we have many products, that to some, seem that they can do the same thing. And in some cases that may be true, but the subtle differences of each product is for certain reasons and we hope that focusing on product groups together will help our customers find the right one for the job they are doing.

We will also tell you what current or customers in the past have personally found when using a certain product. For this first installation we will explore Hood Cleaners.

With hood cleaning the main chemical ingredients used are potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. Both need to be used with care and special cautionary actions taken when using them. Such as wearing protective eye wear when mixing and applying, protective clothing and gloves to cover exposed skin. These chemicals are very caustic and that is what makes them such great grease cutters and removers. The ingredient potassium hydroxide is more water soluble than sodium hydroxide but costs more which is reflected in product pricing.

Now our basic 'Hood Cleaner' contains Potassium Hydroxide which some people prefer to handle and mix rather than Sodium Hydroxide, but there is really not much of a difference in their use. 'Smoke House' is our Sodium Hydroxide product. Both are used at 1:100 chemical to water ratio. They are used the same way by applying to a dry surface starting from the bottom up using hot water, allowing a short dwell time and then being rinsed with clear water from the top down into proper collection devices for treatment and disposal according to local wastewater codes.

The 'Smoke House' has been said to work the best on 'Chinese' restaurant grease, which seems to be different that 'normal' cooking grease at other restaurants. 'Smoke House' does costs less than the 'Hood Cleaner' but I have some clients that will only use 'Hood Cleaner' even on 'Chinese' grease and when they only want to purchase and use only one product.

Speaking of that, our Brown Derby also contains mainly Sodium Hydroxide, and we have had customers over the years that will use Brown Derby for anything and everything, including hood cleaning. We had a customer that had used Brown Derby for almost 5 years to do kitchen exhaust cleaning and I finally convicence them to try 'Smoke House' instead. Even though it costs exactly the same, the formulation and percentages of ingredients are different and he could not believe what a difference he got with using the 'Smoke House'. That is not to say that Brown Derby did not do a fair job of cleaning but once the same restraunt was cleaned using 'Smoke House' the difference was clear. He now only buys 'Smoke House' for his kitchen work and leaves using Brown Derby for his fleet washing.

We also have supplementary products like our 'Oven and Grill Cleaner' to be used on flat grill surfaces and inside ovens. Our foaming agent, which can be added to any of our products when additional cling time for vertical surfaces, like exhaust flues are needed. But even with foam, a little goes a long way. If you create too much foam height you are just wasting money on your chemicals because so much of the chemicals are suspended in the foam that never comes in contact with the greasy surface. Using just enough to create a stiff foam to increase dwell time is all you need.

Now these hood cleaners can not be used on aluminum without damage, there fore the cleaning of any aluminum framed filters that may be in an exhaust system, must be handled and cleaned with a different product, like our Mighty Green. It is non-hazardous, non-corrosive and safe on skin, so you can soak filters in a flat tank of concentrated product putting them in and out with your bare hands with out any worries. It also has a great clean scent. Just rinse with water to remove the grease once the filter has soaked for a long enough period of time. If the filters are really bad additional soaks maybe needed or the filter completely replaced. I have seen some pictures of some pretty bad clogged filters that Mighty Green has brought back to useable life.

Hopefully this breakdown of our different Kitchen Hood Cleaning products has helped you.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010. With one decade almost behind us already we have a lot to improve upon to end this first ten years in the positive and not the negative.

By now if you have been following along with us since 2008 we have informed you to get or upgrade your web site, improve your SEO, have great business cards, know how and where to advertise, and have introduced you to some of our great products.

This year we would like to hear from you to know what more you would like to learn? We will also explore some of our products in more detail each month, as well, depending on the time of year and when they are most often used.

For example, although we still have outside exterior maintenance cleaning going on in the Southeast and out in the Southwest, most of our customers are in the deep freeze of winter and either not working or have moved inside to other work such as commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning. Now for some this is an all year business but not for everyone. So my next blog will cover our Hood Cleaning products.

Others move to things like increased home carpet, air duct and window cleaning or inside car detailing. So in February and March we will cover products for that.

Once the spring starts to get here and we get back from Louisville KY and the Mid America Truck Show we will move into truck fleet wash products and then exterior home products for April and May.

Come June & July we will be in full swing of the outdoor cleaning season and will explore our car wash and deck products.

I plan in August to cover our new large laundry product line since by then we sould have many of the older Orenda customers on board by then.

September will bring us to heavy duty equipment products for the commercial contruction industry. By October we will discuss our aircraft cleaner Top Gun as well as 'Green Products' that we have or products we are converting over to being 'Green'.

November we will discuss our degreasers and how they differ as much as they seem they are the same. By December we will be running out of product lines so it will be on what ever we have missed or what will be new for 2011.

I hope these product line blogs will help you understand and choose the product that will work best for your own business applications and you will enjoy them along with the other informational blogs we will be posting.

Talk with you soon.

5 Smart Things you can still do in 2009!

This list will be short and sweet with a few reasons to do them.

1. Make a list of items, supplies and equipment you need to buy or replace for next year.
      Why, because some may be small enough (a new roll of hose) that you can buy them now before year end and be able to write it off on this years taxes. Second you can see if any item might be on sale now to save you money next year. Third give you ideas and costs to plan and budget for during 2010.

2. Reconnect with friends and collegues that are in the business.
      Why, because they might have something you need that they want to sell or get rid of (again saving you money). You might have something they need that you want to get rid of (making you money). Discuss what worked or did not work for them this past year, might clue you in on changes for yourself next year. Make sure you share your sucesses and failures as well so they will be more apt to help or send you business.

3. Look for places to find free or nearly free information for your business, like blogs and product websites.
      Why, because these places can give you ideas on how to do your buiness better without having to leave your house (or where ever your computer is). Information is always changing and being in the know can sometimes make or break your business. Even go to look at sites of products you do not currently use, say a stain brand you know of but costs too much for your normal clients. These site's information could still be worth while no matter what brand of stain you use.

4. Add content to your website. Why, because adding content will improve customer loyalty, impress new customers, and move your site up in searchablity ranking so new customers can find you. And if for some reason you still do not have a website. GET ONE NOW! Many you can start are free for the asking.

5. Create a list of CRAZY goals for 2010. Why, because if you write down goals you would like to happen in the next year, say get 20 contracts over $10,000 each, have 5 crews working for me, etc... rewrite and revist this list once every three months, you might be supprised how many of those crazy goals you closed in on in 2010. Create your own reality for a great 2010 now before 2009 ends.

Happy New Year.