Soap Warehouse Blog

To continue with our exterior maintenance product discussion, today we will discuss house wash soap.

We have quite a few products that can be used for this job as well as those we recommend for this use.

Our most economical product is our "Citrus X-terior" house wash. This product was specifically designed for those who were use to doing house washing with a bleach only solution. With "Citrus X-terior" you can add bleach to it, to get the mold killing and color removing properties that bleach provides, while having the added benefits of a product that contains the actual cleaning ability of surfactants and the added benefit of a clean citrus scent to help cover or reduce the smell of bleach, if you are using it with the product. "Citrus X-terior" is a great all on its own for cleaning vinyl siding, hardiplank, wood or brick facades.

For surfaces that need a stronger approach or that have known greasy dirt concerns you can use our “Mighty Max”, the 6% butyl, non caustic product we discussed earlier. We found it made no sense to add other names to or re-label the same product for every type of job it can do. There fore many of our products can multi task even if the job description is not in the product name like “house wash”. “Mighty Max” is great to use in a pump up sprayer to pre treat problem areas as well as being used as a general house wash. “Mighty Max Plus” since it has a higher amount of butyl 10% plus an added amount of sodium hydroxide it is great on removing those stubborn black streaks from gutters without brushing. But care must be made to not let the product sit to long or allowed to dry on painted surfaces or glass that it can etch, since it does contain sodium hydroxide.

Just about any of our other general all purpose cleaners like “Mighty-Green”, “Natures Green”, and “Rite Stuff” can also be used as a house wash and are recommended when customers or regulatory agencies require that a “Greener” product or method be used to clean.

There is a final product some of our customers do use for house washing but that we do not have label directions nor can recommend proper dilution rates for and that is “Brown Derby”. Even when greatly diluted the amount of sodium hydroxide can be a deterrent for using on painted wood surfaces and around glass. If you use it we can not offer advice or make any recommendation in regards to house washing. For this reason “Brown Derby” is not listed in our catalog section of house washing products.

With that said, sodium hydroxide is still a widely used method for roof cleaning and “Brown Derby” has and can be used for that. Care still must be made in keeping the rest of the house rinsed well with water including any glass during the roof cleaning process not to cause damage to other surfaces. But the Asphalt Shingle Manufactures of America recommends in their own technical bulletin that only professional bleach solutions should be used on their shingle products in which our “Citrus X-terior” can be used as recommended with bleach to clean roof shingles of black mold streaks caused by the algae Gloeocapsa Magma.

Lastly the product “Bio Barrier” that we have discussed at length in the past, was designed to be used after house and roof washing to retard the re-growth of mold. This product will add months if not years of continued good looks after a cleaning has been done. But it does require repeated treatments to extend the life of its benefits.

We hope these monthly posts are helpful and we look forward to next month and our next product group.

Each month we are featuring a group of our products to help our current and future customers learn what products we carry that they might not be aware of. Plus this gives information regarding the differences between some items as well. This month we will discuss products used for exterior maintenance cleaning.


For concrete flat work we have a basic “Concrete Cleaner” as well as degreasers like “Mighty-O” “Mighty-Max” and “Mighty Max Plus” these all contain butyl, a great grease cutter. The differences between these three mainly are the amount of butyl they contain, 3%, 6% or 10% respectively. We have a product called “Pro BRC” or Building Restoration Cleaner for brick and masonry to remove years of neglect, mold, mildew and dirt. It will restore mortar lines back to original or near original color with out using damaging high pressure that can loosen mortar joints. To remove rust stains from concrete, sometimes caused by certain mineral waters or irrigation thru metal water lines, we have “Concrete Rust Remover”. This is a powder that is mixed 4 lbs per 5 gallons of water for best results. We also carry some more environmentally friendly products when other products can not be used due to Home Owners Associations or other factors, like our “Natures Green APC” all purpose cleaner or “Mighty Green” which is in the same family as the well known Simple Green®. We also have a bio degradable Economy degreaser called “Rite Stuff” that contains an organic solvent if butyls are not allowed to be used.

For wood cleaning for decks and other wood structures we have the following:

“Deck Wash” for regular cleaning of most wood surfaces it can clean anything from cedar to pressure treated wood. Now if a softer approach is needed to clean, and in no way can contain any acid or harsh ingredients, then our “So Safe” can be used. This percolating product comes in a powder that is mixed just prior to use and only in the amount that is expected to be used, since it will loose its cleaning ability if left to sit. This is perfect when you just need to lift off a layer of dirt with out touching the stain, finish or the woods own character like with teak or a newly stained deck. Now if you are in need to remove an existing finish or stain then you will need one of our strippers. We have two; the first is just called “Deck Stripper” and can handle most normal single layer or worn stain jobs. But if multiple or thick layers of stain, sealer or varnish need to be removed then we have the product “Super Stripper” that will do the job. With either of these you will need to follow them up with a neutralizer to stop the chemical action and for that we have our “Wood Brightener”. This comes in a powder and is mixed 4 lbs to 5 gallons of water and can also be used alone to brighten a previously untreated wood surface. The last product we have in our exterior wood section is our Bio Barrier mold inhibitor product. This should be applied to a surface after it has been cleaned and is completely dry. This will prevent the re-growth of mold on wood in areas having known pre-existing problems. Bio Barrier does not kill mold, that is why the surface must first be clean and old mold removed, but once applied to a surface it should stay mold free for at least 6 months if not for a year or more. Length of time will depends on factors like amount of time area is in the shade, how much water or moisture it comes in contact with, how much air circulation is available to the area and if the surface is horizontal or vertical.

Next is a product for outdoor cloth or plastic fiber fabrics found on lawn furniture pads, umbrellas, awnings and fabric gazebos called “Carpet & Fabric Cleaner” this is a great multi use product. It is formulated with optical brighteners to give colored fibers deeper tone and better contrast. It will help restore color to fabrics that are faded by dirt and grime. It contains no harsh chemicals that will damage fibers and will help to extend the life of the outdoor fabrics use. Companies such as Sunbrella® suggest to only use mild detergents for heavy soiling or to remove molds and mildew by adding a small amount of bleach to the cleaning solution, hot water should NEVER be used on Sunbrella® fabric and may require some brushing to remove stubborn stains from between fibers. “Carpet & Fabric Cleaner” can be used in this recommended manner.

Tomorrow we will cover our products for house washing.

Here at Soap Warehouse we have over 80 individual products in over 7 categories.

Many times business that buy from us get caught up in the one or two products they have used in the past, and do not look or know what many other items we have to offer.

In kitchen cleaners for example; we have the main stays for hood cleaning, with our “Hood Cleaner” and “Smoke House” but we have so much more to offer.

We have “Oven and Grill” a cleaner for flat cooking grills and for vertical surfaces inside ovens and standing ovens like chicken rotisseries. This product has a high viscosity, there fore it will cling to the upright surfaces longer, without added foamer, to allow for proper contact and better cleaning.

“Mighty-Green” is a user friendly degreaser that is not friendly to grease. Since this product is Non Abrasive, non-flammable, non corrosive, bio degradable and non toxic it is great to use in a kitchen setting. It can be diluted for light jobs like cleaning glass or mirrors up to full strength for really tough grease cleaning on tile and stainless steel, weather it is used on floors, walls or appliances.

“Natures Green” All Purpose Cleaner, is similar to Mighty-Green for cleaning, but it is also all natural for those wanting a true ‘Green’ approach to their cleaning. This degreaser can similarly be used from full strength to a dilution of 1:10 for almost any kitchen surface cleaning need.

“Ceramic Tile and Grout” is what you need to clean those ugly grease stained grout lines from black or dark brown to an almost like new lightness. Once used to get the area back to a fresh clean, maintenance is much easier using 8 oz per gallon of hot water to keep the floors grease free and squeaky clean. It will also clean stainless steel, chrome, and plastics found in most kitchen and bathroom applications.

Another place grease can be a big problem in a kitchen, is in the floor drains. Our “Drain Opener” is designed to dissolve and liquefy grease, hair and even paper that can be found in commercial kitchen and bathroom floor drains. This is not a 'use at home' product, but made only for commercial applications. All aluminum covers or strainers must be removed before application, so not to damage them, yet this is a non-acid product. If this product is too strong for your use our next product should work for you.

“Qwic Zyme” is a product that contains biological components that will break down food wastes, grease, hair and other organic matter found in kitchen and bathroom drains. Its biological action deprives odor causing bacteria of their food source, thus inhibiting their growth and ability to product obnoxious odors normally found in sinks and around floor drains. “Qwic Zyme” is safe to use in food disposals, septic tank systems and can be used inside and outdoors. The main things to remember when using this product is follow label directions and to use warm water to activate the enzymes first in order to work properly.

We also have quite a few USDS approved butyl degreasers that can be used around food processing equipment and storage areas to clean, coolers, floors, equipment housing, walls and counter tops: “Mighty-O”, Mighty Max” as well as “Mighty Max Plus”.

For current pricing information follow an above link or call us at 800-762-7911.

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.

Well September is here and with it the last quarter of the year. Now is a good time to look and see what business goals you set back at the first of the year still have to be done, evaluate things you have tried this year so far to see if you want to continue with them next year or put on the front burner things you still need to do before this year runs out.

So far we have done all the major products we had planned like putting out a monthly newsletter, writing in this blog at least once a month, trade shows and new advertising campaigns in new channels. But even I still have some things that got pushed aside that I need to get done and marked off my to do list.

One big one is to contact every customer to make sure they have a copy of an MSDS for every product they have purchased from us. This one item is very important for you, for your business and for your employees if you have them. This needs to be done and checked at least once a year. So very soon you will be getting either an email or letter in the mail with a list of the MSDS's you should have on hand especially if you still have the product at your house, on your truck or rig.

MSDS's are always sent out by us the first time you buy a new product, when the product contains Hydrofluoric acid or when it is requested by you, our customer. You can get a needed copy by calling 800-762-7911, emailing us or downloading it from the website.

By law (OSHA either federal or state) you need to have a book made up of all MSDS for every product you use routinely in your work, that you or employees can be exposed to. So many more products than just ours should be in there. They need to be cataloged in alphabetical order; by letter tabs are even better, you should probably have more than one MSDS book in your possession. The first should be at your home or office where the bulk of your chemicals are delivered and stored. Other copies should be carried out on the road with you in your truck or on your rig itself. And if you have more than one truck or rig, one for every one of those as well. It is also best for at least the ones on the road to be kept in a waterproof binder with the pages inserted in plastic page covers so dirt and water will not mess them up. If you do not have these books in place yet, this is a great time of year to get them at the lowest possible cost, while back to school supply sales are happening.

If you do not know what is found in an MSDS, or all the sections of an MSDS, now would be a great time to learn. You can go here to learn everything you need to know about an MSDS, like why you should have them, what are the different sections of an MSDS so you know where to look if the situation comes up and you need it.

During an emergency is not the time to wonder if the health cautions or first aid directions are found in section III or VII! Plus if you ever get asked for your MSDS by OSHA, the DOT, a police officer or even a customer to prove what is or is not in a product you are using at their home, this will help your business look professional and possibly not be fined for not having them.

The most frightening calls I have gotten are when customers call us frantic with an injured employee and they do not know where an MSDS is or they did not keep the MSDS we sent them and that employee needs immediate emergency care. I hope you never have a need to open your MSDS books but it sure is important that they are there if you ever do.

Texas was Great!

I got a real treat when I got the chance to meet Alex Debogorski from the History Channel's show "Ice Road Truckers". He was a lot of fun and spent time with everyone that lined up to see him during all three days of the show. He is just as nice in person as he appears on the show and was traveling with his wife Gene, his sister and two sons of his eleven children. The country singer Tracy Lawrence also did a show for attendees Friday night, but tickets were limited, he did not stay and sing as long as promised and would not sign autographs so everyone I spoke to on Saturday was not that pleased with the performance or with him but everyone was saw was very happy they stopped and met Alex. I guess that is why I saw 20 Alex T-shirts to every 1 of Tracy's on Saturday. Being a nice person pays.

Well we made it to the Great American Truck Show with a few set backs but the start is going well.

We were to have 5 staff at this show but the owner of Soap Warehouse got a badly infected cyst on his hand and had to stay back in GA in the hospital to have it taken care of. So down 2 members from that. Then on Wednesday right before 5 pm we had an email from our models staffing company Statementmodles.com that our model decided she did not want the job she was paid a month ago to do and they were refunding us our money. Thanks a lot! So down to 2 staff members. Thank goodness we have friends here in Texas. We called and got a local friend that has done other kinds of trade shows in the past, although not for industrial soaps to drive over to help us at the last minute.

Here is how our booth looks.

So far we have had a good response, seen some new owner operators that had sent in their drawing entries in early to us, some that read about us in the GATS newsletter or saw our ad in the Land Line magazine. We hope to have the next two days to be just as good. Will update everyone on how the whole show turned out along with a list of all our prize drawing winners at the end of the show.

I can not believe we have only three weeks until August 20th and the Great American Truck Show in Dallas, TX. It will be running from Thursday August 20th at noon until Saturday August 22nd at 6 p.m.

We have been working very hard to make Soap Warehouse's first major trade show a success and we want all our customers and friends to share that success and be a part of it.

Please let us know if you would like a free pair of tickets to attend the show. Normally $10 a ticket for entry you can be our guest for free. Just call or email us and we will be happy to send you some. There will be free tractor parking, and many activities like a Free Concert by Tracy Lawrence. Please use this link to visit the GATS home page for all the info. http://www.gatsonline.com/

Myself along with the owner of Soap Warehouse and other staff will be on hand to meet you at our Booth #14049 to discuss our great line of truck washes and aluminum brighteners that will be the focus of this show. We would love to meet any of our current customers in person or any possible future customer that would like to introduce yourself to us. When you come by to see us make sure you let us know who you are, because all of our current customers that stop by will receive a special item just for coming by to say hello. We would love to hear stories of how our products have or are working for you and your business too. We will also have other booth only items to give-a-way to any attendee that stops to talk and discuss our products with them. We will have show only pricing specials as well as coupons for future purchases with us.

You may fill out a prize entry form before you even get to the show to have the first opportunity possible to win one of our daily booth prizes. You will find the link on the front of our website http://www.soapwarehouse.biz/ fill it out and fax it to 770-939-5501 to be entered.

We will be giving away every day of the show a Fox Fury Command 20 Headlamp and two 5 gallon containers of Big Rig Brite Truck Wash. The Fox Fury Headlamp has a retail value of $90 and the truck wash will be delivered to the winners location a value starting at $70 or more including the shipping.

These as well as our in booth give-a-ways are just some of the reasons to come meet us and enjoy yourself at the show.

The office in Georgia will still be open to serve our customers during the show, taking orders and shipping out product but please be understanding if the phone does not get answered as fast as usual or if someone has to call you back since we are leaving the front office just a little short staffed that week while the rest of us are in Texas.

Again we hope to see you at the show and please call us for tickets and fax your entry in for our prize drawings.

Pricing is a big issue right now for us and for many others. We just finished an in depth mid year review and have found that the overhead costs that have been sneaking up on us over the last year or so have really affected our bottom line. So like so many others we are going to have to adjust our pricing upwards to keep things moving. No we are not in trouble or anything, we are in no danger of having to close like so many others, including some of our own customers this last year, but we realized that in some cases we were giving away the farm and not leaving anything for the company. Every business needs to at least keep up with the cost of living and doing business, and so far this year we have been going in the other direction. Very soon you will be seeing an across the board price increase. While we are cutting and trimming costs in areas that we can you should be pricing your products and services avoiding these mistakes to be sure you keep your business healthy too.

All that pricing is, is a risk. The risk of setting a price you and your customers can both live with and continue to do business. But most risk can be managed with good information.

1. Low ball pricing and undercutting your competition. For some businesses this is a strategy, but not a very good one for long. Pricing yourself and your services too low all the time may bring in great sales numbers but not the bottom line profit to stay in business. You do not have to get all of the price conscious customers that are out there. Know what your service costs you to offer them and price accordingly.

2. Using the same margin for everything. No one says you must make the same % of profit for everything you do. You may need to decrease the margin on less time consuming work, and increase the margin on the infrequent or costlier jobs. You can afford a smaller margin on the higher sales volume of the quicker jobs. Say a complete strip, stain and reseal job for a 3000 square foot deck at the back of the house vs. the quick concrete driveway cleaning at the front.

3. Knowing the difference between markup and margin. Markup is based on your costs and Margin is based on the price. If you price a service with a 20% mark up on the cost of the products you use for the job and then offer your customer even a 10% discount on the total service you may end up with not making the margin you need to run the business.

4. Not taking all costs into account. Every job price must cover all your costs. Not just the cost of the soap, water and gas to get you there but also some of the cost to purchase equipment, operate and maintain it, along with all your bookkeeping and other costs it takes to get and process the job. Every business needs to know its basic hourly overhead for a whole month even if you do not do a single bit of work for that month.

5. You need to know what the competition is charging for the same work. That does not mean you follow the price they charge but you need to find out what value they give vs. what you offer and price accordingly. If you use a better machine, better soap and give superior service include those costs in your price and be able to defend those prices by showing and explaining to the customer why you cost more.

6. Discounting instead of giving added value. Every 10% discount you give means you have to do 50% more work to make the same profit if you had not given the discount. You can discount yourself out of business. So make your discounts mean something when you give them, use them sparingly and try and give your customer added value instead. Give the customer an added service for free as an incentive instead of a discount. Clean the gutters with every roof cleaning, clean windows with a house wash etc. Most of the time you would be right there doing the first job anyway so the base cost is very low, the material cost could also be next to nothing so why not put a price value on the extra service and give that to the customer instead of a cash discount.

I hope this helps you price your work to your customers to keep you running a healthy business and that you understand when we have to reprice our products to keep our business healthy too.

Already it is June, kids out of school and temperatures are rising and hopefully the number of your jobs and profits with it.

We all know it was a very slow start to this year with the bad winter hanging on in the Northeast and the rains in the South and Midwest. But things are starting to slowly pick up.

I was hoping that I could get a discussion going on what each of you are seeing in your area, good and bad so you can see that there are others out there just like you.

For us at Soap Warehouse the economic, environmental regulation and weather issues that effect you directly effect us.

We also want to bring you information that will help you meet these challenges and hopefully aid you in over coming some of them. Here are some links to information that may help or at least inform you during these times.

For environmental regulation info go to http://www.washwater.org/ or http://www.epa.gov/

For business building join one or more networking groups. Here is an article about Kudzu:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2008/september/196302.html

Links to different sites are here:
Kudzu http://www.kudzu.com/
Merchant Circle http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/
Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/


Is that Yellow page ad just not bring you in the business any more? Try these other places:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article199484.html

I hope some so these ideas help you reve up your revenues this summer.