Has anyone ever heard of AP formulators? They have some really ultra lean chemicals on their website. Like 1600:1 stuff. Of course, they don't have any prices listed. Just trying to keep my chemical costs down. Any suggestions?
ultra concentrated chemicals
- Thread starter cruth25
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We purchased all our chemicals from them since they are close to home and cut out the middleman. Being new to the industry , they are pretty helpful. I had customers telling me they dont see soap in my HP soap. I switch to their blue shine II and low and behold you see foam and has bubble gum fragrance. Customers happy! Then i also switch to their double mint foamy tire engine cleaner which shows pretty well eventhough im having problems with air/product mixture....it sputters...arrgg. Eventually i will change my chemicals for IBA side. Overall pretty good folks just ask they might send ya samples. Since im local, well 2 hrs away, they gave me samples to try before i buy the product. They did that for me for the doublemint and the Klean wall product...amazing stuff. Btw they make their own chemicals...so they can change to your liking.
We purchased all our chemicals from them since they are close to home and cut out the middleman. Being new to the industry , they are pretty helpful. I had customers telling me they dont see soap in my HP soap. I switch to their blue shine II and low and behold you see foam and has bubble gum fragrance. Customers happy! Then i also switch to their double mint foamy tire engine cleaner which shows pretty well eventhough im having problems with air/product mixture....it sputters...arrgg. Eventually i will change my chemicals for IBA side. Overall pretty good folks just ask they might send ya samples. Since im local, well 2 hrs away, they gave me samples to try before i buy the product. They did that for me for the doublemint and the Klean wall product...amazing stuff. Btw they make their own chemicals...so they can change to your liking.
What soap were you using? Did you dilute the blue shine before you run it through your hydrominder? What kind of tip are you using? I was thinking about getting the tropical bay extreme. It's like 2100:1. How much was the blue shine II? They sound pretty good. Ill just have to call them on prices and get some samples. You might have too much air coming through your mix or just a leak on your tire clean. Are you running it through 1/4 poly?
What soap were you using? Did you dilute the blue shine before you run it through your hydrominder? What kind of tip are you using? I was thinking about getting the tropical bay extreme. It's like 2100:1. How much was the blue shine II? They sound pretty good. Ill just have to call them on prices and get some samples. You might have too much air coming through your mix or just a leak on your tire clean. Are you running it through 1/4 poly?
ted mcmeekin
Fast and Clean
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Be careful you don't get some bathtub gin. A fellow owner a couple of hours away bought some local product a few years ago--I followed up with him to see how it was working. Whatever he used must have been super corrosive and not homogenious. They had clogged screens/filters and numerous broken valve springs. The machine distributor had to come to his rescue and go through wash for vulnerable components. He switched to a reputable brand and problems went away. I am sure there are many good products --that real chemists developed.
Ted
Ted
the original chemicals i used were from the car wash builder. The chemicals were relabeled to a private brand under builder's name. They didnt say, but the chemical they left us we use both in SS and IBA. It work so so as a presoak in IBA, but hardly any show on the SS side. I have the FusionX the brush comes clean but the touchless ..uggg...so that will be my next move on the presoak IBA.
The blue shine II cost 38.46 / 5 gallon and 292.22 for 55 gal. drum. Tropical bay creme cost 52.54/5 gal. and 429.35 /55gal. drum. tropical extreme cost 73.05/5 gal. and 660.05 /drum. Although the tropical bay creme clear is cheaper but i havent tried it, 34.72/5 gal. 296.63 /drum. Tropical bay was what he suggest but i tried blueshineII put out good show so didnt experiment tropical bay. They gave me a tip chart for different chemicals. im using a green tip for blueshineII in SS. it recommend green/orange. Tip chart say if u use tropical it will be yellow and tropical extreme is purple/pink.
I have the Super Saver unit from JimColeman. Dont get too technical on me i dont know all the carwash lingo yet lol. It goes into a mixing tank. Dont believe it is hoses cause my car wash is almost 7 months old. I was playing around with the gauges, being such a newcomer, i was raising notch at a time which didnt make a difference until i crank it up 5 notches...seems like if i turn up the product too much i see the air gauge needle move up in proportion.. As suggested on this forum i tried putting 35psi for product and 32-35 for air...didnt do jack, still sputter. So i crank it product up to 42 and air 40 it made a bit improvement...im still working on it but geez all wasted product... Hope that helps. just talk to them they are helpful. and yep they always tell me to mix the new chemical im trying to the old one in a cup or small container to see how it react...
The blue shine II cost 38.46 / 5 gallon and 292.22 for 55 gal. drum. Tropical bay creme cost 52.54/5 gal. and 429.35 /55gal. drum. tropical extreme cost 73.05/5 gal. and 660.05 /drum. Although the tropical bay creme clear is cheaper but i havent tried it, 34.72/5 gal. 296.63 /drum. Tropical bay was what he suggest but i tried blueshineII put out good show so didnt experiment tropical bay. They gave me a tip chart for different chemicals. im using a green tip for blueshineII in SS. it recommend green/orange. Tip chart say if u use tropical it will be yellow and tropical extreme is purple/pink.
I have the Super Saver unit from JimColeman. Dont get too technical on me i dont know all the carwash lingo yet lol. It goes into a mixing tank. Dont believe it is hoses cause my car wash is almost 7 months old. I was playing around with the gauges, being such a newcomer, i was raising notch at a time which didnt make a difference until i crank it up 5 notches...seems like if i turn up the product too much i see the air gauge needle move up in proportion.. As suggested on this forum i tried putting 35psi for product and 32-35 for air...didnt do jack, still sputter. So i crank it product up to 42 and air 40 it made a bit improvement...im still working on it but geez all wasted product... Hope that helps. just talk to them they are helpful. and yep they always tell me to mix the new chemical im trying to the old one in a cup or small container to see how it react...
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robert roman
Bob Roman
As you are finding out through the school of hard knocks, carwash chemistry is more a science than an art.
Anyone in the chemical side of this business who is worth their salt should want a tap water analysis and then be willing to come to your site and spend a day with you to help set up the delivery system and calibrate the carwash processes to achieve the best possible finished product and cost/car.
If you are dealing with a regional brand or worse, a bathtub blender, that is content to sell on the basis of low price, drop ship chemistry and telephone support, getting the right combination of performance and cost might be as difficult as trying to hit a moving target while wearing a blindfold.
For example, you have been open only 7 months and you said the quality of the in-bay still sucks. It probably also sucks for your customers.
Anyone in the chemical side of this business who is worth their salt should want a tap water analysis and then be willing to come to your site and spend a day with you to help set up the delivery system and calibrate the carwash processes to achieve the best possible finished product and cost/car.
If you are dealing with a regional brand or worse, a bathtub blender, that is content to sell on the basis of low price, drop ship chemistry and telephone support, getting the right combination of performance and cost might be as difficult as trying to hit a moving target while wearing a blindfold.
For example, you have been open only 7 months and you said the quality of the in-bay still sucks. It probably also sucks for your customers.
I was reading this during my lunch break and it kinda puzzled me to why anyone would write something like this which makes little to no sense, especially when you throw in "For example" part. I thought i have posted something offensive or stepped on someones toes or something...I look through ur past post , you put in several helpful post, but above all you critize more than you help. Interestingly enough i read one of ur post completely and on the bottom was a link to ur website. RJR Enterprise...hmm..sounds like a big firm.....u made my day, crack me up the rest of the day...consultant to what? ROFL...omg. thankyou for the laugh!
I am not sure exactly why you question Bob's advice. As someone that has been involved in the chemical end of the car wash business for over 34 years I think he gave you the right direction.
You seem to be content doing it yourself and get poor results while you are not interested in having a qualified rep come out and work with you to get it right. Many experienced operators have the ability to fine tune a wash by themselves. Since you are new to the business and appear to be having some difficulty doing it on your own you need to find a qualified chemical rep who can do what is necessary to improve your wash's performance otherwise you can continue on your "trial and error" approach and get poor results.
You seem to be content doing it yourself and get poor results while you are not interested in having a qualified rep come out and work with you to get it right. Many experienced operators have the ability to fine tune a wash by themselves. Since you are new to the business and appear to be having some difficulty doing it on your own you need to find a qualified chemical rep who can do what is necessary to improve your wash's performance otherwise you can continue on your "trial and error" approach and get poor results.
I called ap formulators today. The guy told me that their 5 gallon 2100:1 tropical bay extreme is actually about 240:1 through a self serve. You would be better off buying kleen rite ultra concentrate chemical at 900:1 and premixing.
Someone lock this topic because i dont like the direction this is goin. My post was to help cruth25 with the company in question. I thought this forum is to help one another not criticize and make ASSumptions.
So tell me when you bought your chemical did the chemical company went out to your carwash and did test and analysis to help you decide which product to buy?? Why are u assuming there are chemical company in our area that would actually go out and do such a thing? If u find one tell him to fly down here and help me out.
Why are you assuming im having a chemical problem? and why would i need a "qualify rep"? I am in dire need of a qualified car wash technician who does not take all day to troubleshoot and fix a problem in 20 minutes... Then charge you for a day labor.
Actually my problem was with product to air mixture in low pressure that causes sputter in SS bays. I fixed it today bringing product up to 48 psi and air to 45. In this case, the only way to fix this is by trial and error there isnt a set of number anyone can go by cause not everyone has same equipment.
In conclusion, lol, i feel if you dont have any productive post then dont post. dont sit there and make assumptions after assumptions...geez
keep ur 2 cents in ur pocket or in ur bank account.... you need more than i do ...
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I guess Mep assumed there is not qualified chemical rep in the area just as I assumed there was one. Maybe there is and maybe there isn't but neither of us knows that. If there is one that would be the best to resolve the problem which is what he was asking for. I was not stating anything personal. Since he stated he was willing to continue to "experiment" I simply reiterated that. No need for recriminations. I was simply trying to help him put things in perspective, not make any judgments