So why should you use the 2-step method to wash your farm equipment? There are a lot of reasons, but we picked out the top 10 for you.
- CLEANING HARD-TO-REACH AREAS: Applying soap and rinsing it off with a pressure washer allows the soap to get into areas that are otherwise unreachable by brush or hand washing, such as wheel wells, between wheels, and in pulley compartments.
- WASH SPEED: Cleaning quickly with a brush typically means missing areas or not cleaning thoroughly. Soaping and rinsing with a pressure washer instead of a brush allow greater surface areas to be covered in a shorter amount of time, allowing more farm equipment to be washed overall.
- WASH FREQUENCY: The number of times a piece of equipment is washed (called “wash frequency”) correlates with the amount of time it takes to clean it. By washing faster and with less effort, a person is more inclined to wash more frequently. This will prolong the life of the equipment and will increase the chance of a greater resale or trade-in value.
- HARD TO REMOVE RESIDUE: Plant residue and animal fecal matter can be very difficult to clean off unless harsh cleaners or a lot of “elbow grease” is utilized. By two-step washing, these soils come off with ease and no extra effort or attention is needed. Furthermore, greater impingement is achieved using a pressure washer to apply soap compared to brush washing, further aiding in removing difficult residue.
- TIME CLEANING TIRES: There are people who like clean tires, and then there are people who detail their tires after washing. Two-step washing will clean tires as though they had been detailed when no special attention had been given to them at all. This saves time and a sore body.
- TIME CLEANING WINDOWS: Water spotting on farm equipment windows can leave a clean window looking dirty. The chemistry used in two-step washing allows some of the worst water conditions to produce spotless windows. If the water conditions are still too much for two-step, a spot-free rinse should be utilized after rinsing off the soap–but we will cover this in a future blog entry.
- POLISHED OR NON-POLISHED ALUMINUM: Cleaning farm equipment and farm vehicles sometimes require strong cleaners which may harm polished aluminum, so the aluminum is cleaned with something different than everything else. 2-step washing can clean aluminum, whether it is polished or non-polished while cleaning the rest of the equipment at the same time.
- EASY TO SEE AREAS WITH SOAP: Always apply soap from the bottom to the top in an overlapping motion. This not only allows the person washing to see where soap has already been applied, but it applies the soap to the vehicle without having soap running down from above. Rinse from the top to the bottom in an overlapping motion. Washing and rinsing this way, compared to brush washing, prevents wasting time applying soap on something that already has been washed.
- PRE-TREAT BEFORE WASHING: Pre-treating will save soap, which saves money. Before washing, knock off built-up mud, snow, ice, plant residue, animal waste, etc. A tip for washing greasy and oily surfaces (like engine compartments)–pre-treating with the 2nd step prior to washing gives the soap time to loosen up built-up grease and oil and grime so when you wash it, it will wash away more efficiently.
- PAINT OXIDATION REMOVAL: Farm vehicles and equipment get dirtier than general road vehicles because of where they are used. Overtime by utilizing 2-step washing, paint oxidation is removed and kept off. Paint oxidation creates a dull and old look, so removing the oxidation results in a cleaner, newer looking piece of equipment.
