National Cleaning Expo coming to Charleston.

The next National Cleaning Expo event will be held September 29th and 30th at the Embassy Suites North Charleston - Airport/Hotel and Convention Center located at 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston, SC 29418.

This event is in the same location and imediately follows the CETA Powerclean show being held the 27th and 28th.

Soap Warehouse was a sponsor of the Tampa NCE event and will also be a sponsor in Charleston.

We would like to take this time to congratulate the winner in Tampa of the Soap Warehouse $250.00 product prize coupon, Mr. Brian Welker of 'Great Panes Window Cleaning and Under Pressure Cleaning' from Statesboro, GA.

Soap Warehouse will repeat this $250.00 product prize coupon again at the event in Charleston.

Our main product manufacture I.T.D. will be at the CETA Powerclean show so those that plan on attending on the 28th, for CETA's first ever Industrial Users Day, should be sure to stop by and say hello to them and tell them how much you like their products that we sell.

I.T.D. is a manufacture for many distributors and suppliers across the country not just Soap Warehouse and has a great reputation in the industry.

I hope to see you in Charleston.

 

What is the best truck wash soap?

This is a topic that has been hotly debated in chat rooms, on forum boards and at round table discussions for years. And the fact is there is NO SINGLE best truck wash soap.

The best soap is what ever gives you the best results for the job and regulatory situation your business may come across. For you this may change quite often to hardly ever at all.

Here are 5 things you have to consider and determine for your self, what soap is the best truck wash soap for you for each job.

1. Do I have waste water issues to consider that can not be easily fixed, possibly with just reclamation?

If so you may first want to see if the job can be done effectively with a “Green” product or by using a two step, waste water neutral process. Remembering though that even when using a 100% “Green” product the materials that are being washed off will NOT be “Green” and you will still have some waste water issues to deal with.

2. Is the soap going to require that the washing process take too long and take too many steps to complete to be cost effective?

For instance is the soap a no brush that can just be sprayed on and rinsed off? Or could the soap cause an additional step, like having to apply aluminum brightener, to be required for surfaces dulled by the use of the wash soap or a wax applied? Is the soap a safe finish product that won’t harm poly coats, glass or aluminum?

3. Is the soap easy and safe to use for equipment and operator?

You need to find the right balance for you and the job you are doing. Can the product run though the washer pump or must it be down streamed. Some times you must take added safety measures, goggles, wet suit, water proof shoes, etc to have a chemical strong enough that will do the really tough work fast. Other times the best cleaner can be as safe as plain water.

4. What will be the final cost to use the soap you chose?

Just because a product is expensive or inexpensive should not be the biggest factor in what you choose. You can buy an expensive product and end up using only a few ounces, spending a dollar or two a gallon, compared to another inexpensive product that you must use at full strength that ends up costing you many dollars a gallon. Take the time, Do the math!

5. Finally how good and for how long will the vehicle' look last once washed?


Because face it, if a soap does only a fair job of cleaning, and does not get the results the customer wants, they will find someone else to do the job next time.

Here at Soap Warehouse we have products that will cover all these different needs.

Our #1 seller Brown Derby is a fast, no brush, great results product. But you may have to follow the wash with an aluminum brightener or use it in a two step process on some types of vehicles. You also have to be sure it does not dry on hot metal or glass. But it is #1 for a reason, IT IS A GREAT SOAP that does a great job fast!

We have quite a few no brush "Safe Finish" truck washes, one that even leaves a near wax shine with no wax build up because there is no wax in it, it just looks that way, our Big Rig Truck Brite. It is our best results safe finish for that reason. Not to be out done though by our top selling safe finsh Blue Lighting.

We have a super concentrated ecomonical truck wash like our Truck-N-Tuff aka T-N-T. One 6 gallon pail can be mixed 1:9 to yeild you 54 gallons of product you just spray on then wash off in most cases. Pump it straight through a pressure washer with no added diltution with a low volume fine mist nozzle and you can wash whole fleets of rigs with just a few gallons.

Our two step wash products give you that "dirt just falls off the truck" action plus leaving you with pH neutral waste water that all you will need to do is filter to the required level before discharging into the proper sewer line.

All of our truck washes even those that are DOT hazardous when shipped in thier concentrated forms, once mixed and used at the recomended dilutions rates on their labels are Biodegrdable and all cassified under the USA's CLEAN WATER ACT as non toxic pollutant's.

If you have any questions about any of our truck wash products call us today at 1-800-762-7911.

Leave more than just your good work behind after a service job.

I hear about and see everyday in forums where satisfied customers can not find the contractor that provided a great job or service for them.


Take the below example just posted yesterday at http://www.thegrimescene.com/ as an example:


“Mildewed in Morton Grove, IL

About 5 years ago I signed on to this forum as my mom needed her cedar deck and fence washed and sealed. I found some great people who thankfully advised me to stay away from sealmax and others and hooked me up with a great contractor. The guy did a wonderful job but moved to Florida--he gave me another name and we rolled on. Now, Mom needs her deck and fence done again in a big bad way and I can find no one. I am just looking for an honest worker who will do a superior job. I know workmanship should not come too cheap and I put attention to detail above all. Anyone out there that could steer me in the right direction? Chris”


Here is a customer that would love to find the same person he last used and was recommended but can not locate the information since it has been so long ago.


So how can you improve the chance that you will be contacted for the follow up business, one, three even five or more years down the line?


1. Leave a card or collateral print pieces behind when you leave. This can be a nice flyer with a tear off business info card area to be placed in a Rolodex or passed on to a friend. Least effective unless person is a pack rat.


2. Leave a useful promotional item like a magnet, note holder clip, jar opener, or any thing that has the potential of staying around for a long time to keep your name in mind and in front of your customer.


3. Leave a business card, sticker, magnet or laminated info card near or attached to the work that was done. And be sure to tell the customer that you have done this. Great way to be used again.

4. Follow up contact with the customer by mail or e-mail. Number one way to get repeat and referral business.


I know that the third suggestion sounds strange but here is where I have seen it work.


Take a deck builder that staples laminated business cards to the underside of the decks he builds in a number of places, including top stair risers and the anchor board against the house etc. he knows later, if any repair work needs to be done, that owner or even the following home owner has a good chance of finding out who built the deck, gazebo, fence etc.


I know our electrician puts his magnet inside our electric fuse panel door. Or the AC furnace man that leaves his sticker on the back of the AC unit or side of the furnace.


Same with a carpenter friend of mine; he leaves a small info card stapled along the back edge of doors or inside door frames he hangs, window frames of windows he installs, under chair rails or moldings. This way later he may get the call to do other work. Sure the customer might forget its there or it not get found until repair work has started, but once found, the owner will remember who did the work the first time and could call or recommend him again to others.

The fourth item is the reason that yearly or quarterly informational post cards and seasonal e-mails to former customers help retain these customers as future income or as part of a great referral business. You need to keep your name and business fresh in past customers minds with out irritating them by contacting too frequently.

Don't underestimate the impact of the great work you have already done in bringing you new and repeat business.

Laundry products from Soap Warehouse

For most of you that are in the pressure washing business you might be asking why should I care about what laundry soaps Soap Warehouse sells, I'm not a laundry?

Well good question! One reason is that just like being able to buy superior, concentrated chemicals to do your cleaning jobs you can also benefit buy getting superior professional grade laundry products that commercial laundries, dry cleaners, hospitals and other commercial operations use. Second is that it can save you money while making you and your employees in your business look great.

Do you use uniform shirts for your business? Are you paying to professionally clean uniform shirts and pants? Are you having trouble getting your uniforms clean enough? Are some employees uniforms fading faster or looking dingier than others?

It is important for your businesses image to be sure that all employees look clean and professional at all times.

Crescent is our best selling detergent for washing uniform shirts and pants, especially medium to dark colors to release dirt and grease in hot temps of 100 - 140 degrees. This is an oxygen enhanced enzyme detergent using 2-4 oz in your home washer per load. Also great for khaki pants and white shirts too.

Flex is an all in one detergent with built in oxygen bleach that is safe for all colors. Flex also has great deodorizing power when washing at 110 degrees and above. Get those sweat stains and smells out of shirt collars, pits and cuffs and leave them clean with no lingering scent. Can be used at lower temps and still remove latex paint, blood and other stains. 2-6 oz per load depending on temperature and soil level.

Rave Plus is great if you are mainly a cold water washer. It is phosphate free and great for jeans to keep them dark longer. Economical yet effective and can be used at all temps. Great for permanent press or khaki pants as well. Use 4-8 oz per load depending on temperature and soil level.

Then we have Scat! our all purpose stain remover. Don't want to buy professional detergents to get rid of sweat stains and odors? You should never have to worry if a stain or odor will come out. Spray Scat! on when you take off the stained item, saturating the stain past the stain line. Just throw it in to the hamper, sort and wash as normal even days later. The stains should all come out. Visit the Scat! site at http://www.scatstainremover.com/ to see all the ways to use Scat!. Scat! comes in 1 gallons or 16 oz trigger spray bottles and in cases.

Any of these items can be added to your regular chemical order.

The detergents come in 40 lb pails (5-6 gallon size)

and you can try any one of these products once for half price when you add it to your regular order. This offer of course may be limited or changed at any time but will be valid from the time of posting at least until the end of September 2010. Please mention this offer when ordering.

Visit our site http://www.soapwarehouse.biz/ anytime for a complete product list, descriptions and pricing.

National Cleaning Expo Events

The National Cleaning Expo’s are events for the Pressure Washing Industry that are held across the country. Since their beginning in 2008 these events and round table discussions have increased in size and popularity in bringing contractors together to discuss their business, meet with suppliers, to improve networking and to improve the industry as a whole.


The next few events this year will be on July 30th and 31st in Tampa, FL being held at the Crown Plaza Westshore, located at 5303 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33609. And then in September on the 29th and 30th in Charleston, SC held at the Embassy Suites Hotel Airport/Convention Center, 5055 International Blvd, North Charleston SC 29418, immediately following the CETA show that ends on the 28th. Contractors are not normally allowed to attend the CETA show since it is a manufactures exhibit. But this year contractors are being invited to view the CETA show the last day, on the 28th for a small fee of $25-$45 depending on how soon you register, so plan to come a day early to the National Cleaning Expo and take advantage of this great opportunity. To visit the CETA web site go here http://www.ceta.org/ or to register to attend on the 28th go here http://www.ceta.org/documents/PC2010_industrial_users_reg.pdf to print and fill out their form.


Information for the National Cleaning Expo events can be found at http://nationalcleaningexpo.com/. Every event is different and pricing changes for each location depending on venue and speakers. Some events are free or have industry organizations that come and put on their own additional classes that enhance the NCE events them selves. For instance the RCIA (Roof Cleaning Institute of America) will be sponsoring a free social at 6 pm on July 29th as a prelim to the start of the show on Friday. And the PWNA (Power Washers of North America) is hosting a Pressure Washing Boot Camp and classes during the NCE, $99.00 for members with the following subjects and speakers: Fleet Washing- Eric Clark BOD (PWNA Instructor) and Wood Restoration- Mike Hilborn ED (PWNA Instructor).

There will also be other classes costing $59 each with special speakers such as Tony Shelton-Residential Coil cleaning “are you missing $$$$” 1.5 hours, Mike Kriesle – SEO “Getting the Phone to ring” 1.5 Hours, and Mark Belyan- (property Manager) “How to get my business?” 1.5 Hours.


The main show of this National Cleaning Expo will include for free the following speakers; Daryl Mirza- “Taking your business from one to four hundred employees!!!”, Mike Hilborn- Getting to the next level. “Implement systems”, Ron Musgraves- Trouble getting in the door? “Selling Commercial property managers advance Techniques”, A.C. Lockyer- Popcorn Marketing. “Residential Marketing for the Overwelmed”, Joe Crowder- Interior Floors cleaning instruction “Work all year round”, Michael Tessaro- “Are you making money in your business? Learn how to analyze your bottom line” and Chris Tucker – “Talking about Roof Cleaning Today”.


Organizations, distributors and suppliers also come to these events to find members, show their products and sell products at special promotional prices to the attendees. There are also fun and games for the attendees with prizes given way, product demos and presentations put on by the exhibitors as well as door prizes and the main event prize of a complete washing “skid outfit” to be given away at both of these events.


Soap Warehouse http://www.soapwarehouse.biz/ will be a sponsor at these events with $250 prize certificates, bucket games prizes, products being demoed and monetary support being given to the National Cleaning Expo organizers to help further these events and the pressure washing industry. If you attend please check out our brochure with our event special offers for attendees.

The complete speaker line up for the NCE Event in September has not been finalized but may include many that will be at the Tampa July event.



Keep checking the NCE web site http://nationalcleaningexpo.com/ for updates. And remember you need not be a member of any organization to attend a National Cleaning Expo event or round table, just be engaged in business activities related to the pressure washing or mobile cleaning businesses such as; pressure washing, fleet washing, exterior maintenance, commercial or residential cleaning, kitchen exhaust cleaning, flat work, carpet cleaning, etc. Please support your industry.

Industrial equipment cleaning products.

This month our product focus is on a small group of our products that does not get a lot of attention except from the few customers that use them on a daily basis, so for the rest of you, this maybe a totally first look at these items.

First we have our “Parts Cleaner”. If you have a machine shop or pressure washer repair side of your business you most likely use a parts cleaner of some kind to remove oil, dirt and the like from motors parts and such. Actually we sell the most of this cleaner to mechanics that have nothing to do with pressure washing but have cycle and small engine shops like lawn motor repair.

This product comes as a powder, sold in 25 or 100 lb increments and is used at one lb per 5 gallons of water. This mixture for use in hot dip tanks usually set at 110 to 180 degrees. This heavy duty alkaline cleaner cleans ferrous and non-ferrous metal parts of oils, grease, soils and other debris.

Our next product “Phos-tize HD” is also used primarily in motor cycle or machine shops. This liquid is a heavy duty hot degreasing and de-rusting compound that is also used in hot water, high pressure washers, steam cleaners and in hot dip tanks. Dilution can be a little as 2% and up, and will leave metals rain bowed, blued and prepared for re-assembly and painting.

This next product is one used by commercial building maintenance companies and the like. Our “Non Acid Aluminum Coil Cleaner” is a great new “Green” solution to the old acid versions that are being phased out of use. This liquid product is used in the cleaning of air conditioner, evaporator and condenser coils at a rate of 1:4 cleaner to water, but it can be diluted up to, but no more than, 1:40 in some applications. Coil cleaning is a necessary service that should be done at least once if not twice a year or quarterly depending on the equipment, environmental factors and time of use the equipment is in operation. The more the use, the more frequent the cleaning needs to be. With this being a non acid “Green” product, operator safety and client concerns to maintain new “Green” building initiatives can be fulfilled.

Another non acid product is our “Drain Opener” that is also for commercial building use. This liquid product will dissolve and liquefy hair, paper and grease found in commercial floor and sink drains in bathrooms, kitchens, and restaurants that empty in to sewer drains. Not for use in out side water drains that flow into storm drain systems. Do not use on aluminum, or pore through aluminum drain covers or catch strainer baskets. Remove cover and/or strainer before using product and replace after cleaning is done. Not for home use.

Also for cleaning drains as a maintenance type product is our “QwicZyme”. This has biological action to break down food wastes, grease and other organic matter in drains and pipe systems that cause clogs. QwicZyme deprives odor causing bacteria of their food source, thus inhibiting their growth and ability to produce obnoxious odors. This can be used indoors or out in any free flowing drain and is safe for disposals and septic tanks. Warm water must first be added to the drain and pipes to increase the temperature before using to activate the QwicZyme to work. Once added to the drain and pipes QwicZyme should be left to stand over night in the trap and pipes before flushing with fresh water. Treatment is 1 quart per 25 cubic foot of pipe and it is suggested to be used weekly for optimum free drain flow performance.

Information on these and the rest of our regular Industrial Degreasers can be found on line at http://www.soapwarehouse.biz/.

Clean Across America. How you can help.

This year the dates for the campaign are July 24 -31. And as stated on their web site:

"Clean Across America is a volunteer effort that started with one local contractor in 2000. With growing support from organizations like the Power Washers of North America and the Take Pride In America Foundation, CAA has grown into a national effort with support from pressure washing contractors across the nation!"

Over the years Clean Across America has donated over $250,000 worth of services of time and chemicals.

Soap Warehouse has wanted to participate in the worst way but besides just sending in a donation, which we have in the past, we would like one of our customers to donate their time so we could donated the chemicals. But so far in the last three years no one as stepped up and volunteered. So I hope with this post and more awareness that we can find at least one of our very many customers that would be willing to do some project no matter how small for this great cause. We understand that the majority of our clients are fleet washers and truck wash operators that don't do any kind of exterior washing, but all we can do is ask, to see if even one among the less then 20% of our customers, that we might find someone.

If you would like more information please visit their site Clean Across America.

To fill out and participate please get a form at Clean Across America, but if you are also a PWNA member and want to participate there is a different form to fill out you can find here; PWNA form.

"The individual contractors select which projects each wants to get involved with. Some contractors prefer large, highly visible projects requiring lots of hours to complete but most participants opt for projects that can be completed in a single day." Many drive across the country as was the case when some of the monuments in Washington DC where cleaned a few years ago, but you can chose something right in your local town or community.

Ideas would be; to clean the side walks of the town square, clean a historic building, clean a shelter weather for human or animal, or a food bank. Any thing that would be a benefit to the community at large is a worth while project.

Read the Cleaner Times article about the PWNA's Clean Across America campaign project here!

You can also find videos of past projects at the CCA site as well. You too would be able to contact local media; newspaper, radio and television a like to ask them to cover your donation work, giving you more than enough publicity to pay you for your efforts. Plus if you contact us and you get your chemicals for free you get even more value for the time that you volunteer.

I hope to hear from someone in the coming few weeks so Soap Warehouse can play a larger role in this worth while effort to give back to America the Beautiful and have a Happy 4th of July!