Glossary
Pressure washing glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms operators, crews, and customers run into - the chemistry, the methods, and the business words that go with them.
- Certificate of Insurance (COI)
- A certificate of insurance, or COI, is a one-page proof of your liability coverage that commercial clients and property managers require before they let you on site.
- Chlorine Strength
- Chlorine strength is the concentration of available chlorine in your sodium hypochlorite, which decides how far you can dilute it and how fast it loses power in storage.
- CleanCycle
- CleanCycle is the recurring maintenance rhythm of rebooking customers on a set interval - yearly or seasonal - so growth stays clean and the business earns repeat revenue.
- Concrete Sealing
- Concrete sealing is applying a penetrating or film-forming sealer to cleaned, dry concrete to resist oil, water, and stains and to make future cleaning easier.
- Costbook
- A costbook is a documented record of what each service costs you to deliver - labor, chemical, fuel, and overhead - so you can price from real numbers instead of guessing.
- Deck Brightener
- A deck brightener is a mild acid product, usually oxalic acid based, applied after cleaning wood to restore even color and neutralize the alkalinity left by the cleaner.
- Degreaser
- A degreaser is an alkaline cleaner that breaks the bond between oil or grease and a surface, used on driveways, dumpster pads, and commercial concrete before rinsing.
- Downstream Injector
- A downstream injector is a venturi fitting placed after the pump that siphons cleaning chemical into the water stream, letting you apply diluted soap at low pressure.
- Downstreaming
- Downstreaming is drawing cleaning chemical into the water stream after the pump, using a downstream injector, so the diluted solution sprays through the pressure-washer hose.
- Dwell Time
- Dwell time is how long a cleaning solution sits on a surface before rinsing, giving the chemistry time to kill growth and break down stains.
- Efflorescence
- Efflorescence is the white, powdery mineral deposit that forms on brick, concrete, and pavers when water carries dissolved salts to the surface and evaporates.
- Flatwork
- Flatwork is the horizontal concrete and paved surfaces a crew cleans - driveways, sidewalks, patios, pool decks, and parking areas - usually done with a surface cleaner.
- Gloeocapsa Magma
- Gloeocapsa magma is the algae responsible for the black streaks and stains on asphalt-shingle roofs, the growth a roof soft wash is designed to kill.
- Good-Better-Best
- Good-better-best is a quoting approach that offers three tiered options instead of one price, anchoring value and letting the customer choose how much to buy.
- GPM (Gallons Per Minute)
- GPM, gallons per minute, is a pressure washer flow rate - how much water it moves - and it usually matters more than psi for how fast you finish a job.
- Gross Margin
- Gross margin is the share of revenue left after the direct costs of delivering a job - labor, chemical, and fuel - before overhead and profit.
- Gutter Brightening
- Gutter brightening is removing the black vertical streaks, called tiger striping, from the face of gutters using a dedicated acidic gutter cleaner and hand work.
- Hot Water vs. Cold Water
- Hot-water versus cold-water describes the two pressure-washer types: a cold unit moves water at pressure, while a hot unit adds a heating coil that makes it far more effective on grease and oil.
- House Washing
- House washing is cleaning the exterior siding, soffits, and trim of a home, almost always with a low-pressure soft wash rather than high pressure that would force water behind the cladding.
- Net-30
- Net-30 is a payment term meaning the invoice is due 30 days after it is issued, common in commercial and property-management work where customers will not pay on the spot.
- Neutralizing
- Neutralizing is bringing a treated surface or runoff back toward a neutral pH after an acidic or chlorine cleaner, to protect the surface, the surrounding plants, and stormwater.
- Nozzle Tips
- Nozzle tips are the interchangeable spray ends that set the fan angle and pressure of the water, from a needle-thin red tip to a wide white tip to a black soap tip.
- NPDES Stormwater
- NPDES is the federal Clean Water Act permit program that governs what may enter storm drains, the reason wash water and chemical runoff often cannot be allowed to reach the gutter.
- Oxalic Acid
- Oxalic acid is a mild wood-brightening and rust-removing acid that restores color to cleaned wood and neutralizes the alkalinity left by percarbonate or bleach cleaners.
- Oxidation
- Oxidation is the chalky, faded layer that forms as sunlight and weather break down the surface of siding, gutters, and painted metal over time.
- Paver Sealing
- Paver sealing is applying a sealer to cleaned and dried pavers to lock joint sand, deepen color, and slow weed growth, staining, and efflorescence.
- Percent Solution
- Percent solution is the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in your applied mix, expressed as a percentage - the single number that decides whether a wash works and whether it does damage.
- PPM (Parts Per Million)
- PPM, parts per million, is a unit for measuring very dilute concentrations, used in exterior cleaning to describe chlorine strength in water and in plant-protection rinse water.
- Price Floor
- A price floor is the lowest price you will accept for a job - the number below which the work loses money once real costs are counted.
- Proof Pin
- A proof pin is a job-linked photo record of completed work, used to document quality and help settle scope or completion questions.
- PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch)
- PSI, pounds per square inch, measures the pressure a washer produces - the force of the water - and is only half of what determines real cleaning power.
- Ratio Injection
- Ratio injection is the dilution rate at which an injector pulls concentrate into the water stream, such as 10:1, which sets the final percent solution hitting the surface.
- Roof Cleaning
- Roof cleaning is removing the black algae streaks and moss from a roof, done exclusively by soft washing because pressure strips the protective granules from shingles.
- Route Density
- Route density is how much revenue you complete per mile driven - how tightly your jobs cluster geographically on a given day.
- Route Fill
- Route fill is the practice of booking new jobs into the gaps near work you already have scheduled, so each truck-roll covers more revenue.
- Rust Remover
- A rust remover is an acid-based product, often oxalic or a stronger blend, that dissolves iron stains from concrete and masonry that pressure and bleach cannot touch.
- Sodium Hypochlorite (SH)
- Sodium hypochlorite (SH) is the active ingredient in bleach and the primary chemical used in soft washing to kill algae, mold, and mildew on exterior surfaces.
- Sodium Percarbonate
- Sodium percarbonate is an oxygen-based cleaner that releases hydrogen peroxide and soda ash in water, used to clean and brighten wood decks without the harshness of chlorine.
- Soft Washing
- Soft washing is a low-pressure cleaning method that uses a chemical solution - usually sodium hypochlorite and a surfactant - to kill organic growth like algae and mildew, instead of relying on high pressure.
- Surface Cleaner
- A surface cleaner is a flat, disc-shaped attachment with rotating jets under a shroud that cleans concrete and other flatwork evenly and far faster than a single wand.
- Surfactant
- A surfactant is a soap-like additive that lowers surface tension so a cleaning solution clings to vertical surfaces, spreads evenly, and stays wet long enough to work.
- Windshield Time
- Windshield time is the hours a crew spends driving between jobs rather than cleaning, unpaid time that directly cuts into the day’s profit.
- X-Jet
- An X-Jet is a nozzle that draws chemical from a bucket at the gun rather than through the hose, giving a stronger, more adjustable mix and longer reach than standard downstreaming.
See it on your own jobs
Use customer-photo intake, review mapped RouteFill jobs whose customers chose flexible timing, run assigned CrewMode work, keep completion proof with the job, and save owner-reviewed CleanCycle renewal drafts.
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