Making your own winter foam brush.

[A.C.]

Does anybody make there own winter foam brush? I have talked to my chemical distributor they said it was possible. I have to call the chemist tommorow to find out how to mix it properly. If anybody does this it would nice to know if cost effective or am i better off getting 5 gal. buckets of it.

 

[Tom Lee]

Did't know that there was a differance in brushes for different seasons.

 

[Jeff_L]

Are you talking about the brush itself or the chemical? I'm assuming the chemical. You could mix it yourself or by it premixed from your vendor. You'd have to do the math to see which would be more cost effective. I'm sure the climate you are in requires a different combination of chemicals to keep it from freezing.

Have you thought about using the anti-freeze foam brush system from Windtrax? It circulates hot water through the hoses to reduce the chance of freezing.

 

[soapy]

Here is how I make my own. I buy a 55 gallon drum of methenol and drain 10 gallons out of the barrel. Then I add 5 to 10 gallons of concentrated foamy brush soap. I draw out of the barrell going through a hydrominder to get the following dilutions according to how cold it is. A 10% mixture of this to 90% water is good to 25 degrees. A 20% mixture is good to 10 degrees, a 30% is good down to 0. By changing the tips of the hydrominder I get the mixture I want.

 

[Mel(NC)]

You can find charts on the internet showing what concentration of methanol you need to make sure the mixture stays liquid for the low temps expected in your area.

 

[mikeexpress]

do you run a mixer on the drum or does it stay suspended once you mix it in the barrel ? Im in mi. so we do get some cold times. Does any one just take the foam brushes off when it gets to a certain temp in the winter?

 

[soapy]

Mine has always stayed mixed. I have several washes around me that do take the brushes off the wall during the winter. I choose to keep my up. I am also where it gets very cold. Usually when it gets below 10 degrees here not many people wash.

 

[Kevin James]

Has anyone gotten a price on a 55 gallon drum of methanol yet this year? I?m curious as to how much it?s gone up or down since last years killer high prices. I?ve never tried it but I think Soapy has the right idea.

 

[rph9168]

Make sure you include any amount of methanol that you use as part of the water you are diluting the concentrate with. If you add it after diluting it will make your end solution too weak which will negatively affect its performance and decrease the amount of freeze protection you get.

I hope I am not insulting anyone's intelligence with this. I know this sounds like common sense but I have seen this mistake made way too often.