A 2-Step truck washing process is one of the most effective and efficient ways to clean your fleet. It involves using a touchless or brushless technique to eliminate hard-to-remove dirt. It can be done using an automated wash system or a pressure washer.
With the 2-Step Process, you don't need to do any scrubbing or rinsing between steps.
Simply apply Step 1 to the surface of the vehicle, let it dwell for a short period of time, 30-60 seconds. Apply Step 2 directly over Step 1, let it dwell for 30-60 seconds. Rinse with fresh water.
Step 1 - low pH acidic presoak
Step 2 - high pH alkaline soap
Rinse - Fresh Water
It’s important to have both the low pH & the high pH because the contaminants that makeup road film have both a positive charge and a negative charge. The two different products also ‘attack’ different types of dirt and grime on vehicles.
The low pH level in the pre-soak neutralizes the negative charges in the road film and works best on oxidation and minerals. The high pH level of the alkaline soap is what will target the remaining positive charges and attacks the grease, oils, and other carbon-based grime on your trucks.
By using these two products together, the runoff from the vehicle is also close to neutral, making it safer for the environment than using either product separately.
Rinsing with clean, fresh water leaves the vehicle spotless and road film-free — without having to scrub even one square inch.
The beauty of the 2-Step washing routine is that it requires much less physical labor, can be applied quickly, and actually neutralizes the truck’s surface — making it the best solution for removing road film.
With a conventional 1-Step touchless method, your fleet might only look clean at a distance. Upon closer inspection, it becomes very apparent that there is a layer of road film and grime left on the vehicle.
To make a 1-Step process more effective, it usually requires high-pressure and high-temperature water to apply 1-Step soaps — and that can damage your truck. It can also be highly caustic, and the runoff is alkaline and has a high pH, making it less safe for the environment.
In addition, if you repeatedly use only a 1-Step washing method to wash a fleet hands-free or without brushing, it won’t break that static bond that attaches the road film to the vehicle, causing more and more build-up.
Brushing and using friction is the only true way to remove road film without 2-Step Washing. But brushing your trucks requires a lot of physical effort and can result in tiny micro-scratches that damage both your branding detail and paint.
A 2-Step washing process isn’t perfect. We often say it will allow you to leave the brush behind 90% of the time.
For a better 2-Step touchless technique, the fleet should be washed on a consistent basis. If a truck is rarely washed, the buildup may be too heavy to remove without brushing.
When a truck hasn’t been washed often, or if it travels on particularly dirty routes, it’s not uncommon to use a brush to ‘spot clean’ the dirtiest parts of the truck, such as the grill or the stacks. Generally, the rest of the vehicle is still washed using the 2-Step process.
How To Get Started
Cleaning your fleet is important but static road film often makes that extremely difficult. That’s why you might want to start using a 2-Step wash for a more efficient and thorough clean.
But before you make your next purchase, you should make sure that you use the best combination for your specific situation. Knowing what kind of trucks are being washed, how the chemicals are being applied, and what kind of grime is being cleaned is extremely important to ensure you’re using the best combination for your specific situation. Not every acidic pre-soak and alkaline detergent work well together.
For the best cleaning combination, email us at info@hcsclean.com or give one of our experts a call. We’ve helped hundreds of companies clean their fleets at the lowest cost-per-wash for more than 50 years and we can help you too.
We study your fleet washing process, take into consideration the area you operate in, and find the right solution for the job.
So give us a call today at 616-531-6420 and experience the difference a 2-Step wash can make for your business.