We all have questions and we've compiled those that are Frequently Asked by our customers.
We update this page as needed.

You may use this index to jump directly to a specific question, or scroll down the page to read through this section:

Q. What is the best way to wash and rinse a vehicle when pressure washing by hand?

Q. What adjustments do I need to make to my ARROWCLEAN™ system between washing a large tractor-trailer and a maintenance pick-up truck?

Q. My company installed a truck wash a number of years ago and the tractors and trailers just aren't getting cleaned thoroughly. In fact, we've had to shut down the acid wash section completely because of damage to our tractor's paint. Do you have a recommendation?

Q. What are the advantages of pressure washing as compared to hand washing?

Q. How much water pressure and flow do I need to clean my fleet?

Q. Is 2-Step Pressure Washing superior to Hot Water Cleaning?

• Q. What is the best way to wash and rinse a vehicle when pressure washing by hand?
  
  A. It is always best to wash with the soap cycle beginning from the bottom of the vehicle and working towards the top. When you rinse, work from the top to the bottom.
  
  TIP: Using the Red Arrow SmartGun™ allows you to switch between pre-soak, wash, and rinse cycles all from the hand trigger of the wand when used with our 2-Step Pressure Washers. No more running back and forth between the pressure washer to the vehicle. Another great advantage that our customers love is the elimination of the heavy, wire braided, twin sleeve hose that is so heavy to move around and expensive to replace. The SmartGun system features a regular pressure washer hose! Save tons of dollars in labor costs with this featured Red Arrow accessory. Click here to learn more about the Red Arrow SmartGun™.
  
  

• Q. What adjustments do I need to make to my ARROWCLEAN™ system between washing a large tractor-trailer and a maintenance pick-up truck?
  
  A. No adjustments are necessary with the ARROWCLEAN™ fleet wash system. Our unique design allows vehicles of any size to enter and exit the wash, one after another, without any adjustments whatsoever. Click here to learn more about the Red Arrow ARROWCLEAN™ system. 
  
  

• Q. My company installed a truck wash a number of years ago and the tractors and trailers just aren't getting cleaned thoroughly. In fact, we've had to shut down the acid wash section completely because of damage to our tractor's paint. Do you have a recommendation?
  
  A. If you feel that your equipment hasn't reached the obsolete stage and you aren't ready to install an ARROWCLEAN™ system, you can purchase our cleaning solutions for your first and second wash stations. We recommend XR-1 as a safe and effective first step acidic treatment followed by XR-2 as a neutralizing wash solution for washing tractor-trailers, buses and heavy equipment. Our customers experience cleaner and shinier vehicles after they switch to Red Arrow products! Click on the product name to learn more about these revolutionary products.
  
  

• Q. What are the advantages of pressure washing as compared to hand washing?
  
  A. The use of our Red Arrow 2-Step Pressure Washers in gas or electric models have many advantages. In addition to superior performance you'll receive with our 2-Step Pressure Washers, you'll also realize savings in time, labor, and water.
  
  Red Arrow manufactures various models of pressure washers and you may choose the water volume and pressure that you wish to use for cleaning. Because our pressure washers use both water volume and pressure, you are able to clean much faster with more efficiency. Besides the time saved with this combination, your labor costs are also reduced by combining the water volume and pressure with our 2-Step cleaning chemicals that manual cleaning methods simply cannot achieve. Add our labor-saving SmartGun to any of our 2-Step Pressure Washers, and you'll experience an even greater savings in time and labor... this all adds up to tremendous savings that will allow for a quick payback on your system costs. In addition to time and labor savings, you'll also greatly reduce your consumption of water for cleaning. Red Arrow's 2-Step Pressure Washers use between 4 to 5 Gallons of Water per minute. Compare this to a garden hose at 10 gallons per minute, and you'll cut your water use by up to 10 times as compared to regular hand washing.
  
  

• Q. How much water pressure and flow do I need to clean my fleet?
  
  A. Since Red Arrow Manufacturing deals with the commercial and industrial market, we'll direct your question to these types of uses. Home owners can get by with a lower pressure and volume pressure washer that is less expensive and built with components that are not designed for use over 100 hours each year. All of Red Arrow's 2-Step Pressure Washers are designed to meet your specific industrial and commercial cleaning needs. Because of this reason, each component from pumps to motors and engines are hand-picked with quality, durability and reliability in mind.
  
  To address the water pressure and flow, you need to determine the type of cleaning you'll be using the pressure washer for. For most stationary mounted equipment, you will likely be cleaning more often. Because of this, you don't need quite the pressure and flow rate as compared to mobile units that usually clean dirtier equipment and location surfaces. The rule of thumb is, for dirtier surfaces, you need a higher flow rate of water. This aids in fully rinsing both horizontal and vertical surfaces. Red Arrow builds its equipment with adequate pressure to provide superior cleaning. If a high volume and high pressure is desired for filthy surfaces, look to our gas powered 2-Step pressure washers to handle your cleaning needs.
  
  

• Q. Is 2-Step Pressure Washing superior to Hot Water Cleaning?
  
  A. At Red Arrow, we believe the answer is YES. That's because at Red Arrow, we manufacture the highest quality and best performing wash chemicals available on the market today. By properly selecting the right first-step degreaser or pre-soak chemical specially designed by Red Arrow to meet every cleaning need, you'll experience better cleaning even with our cold water 2-Step pressure washers. While it is true that you can use hot water to effectively remove heavy grease and oil, those hot water units cost almost the same as our 2-Step units and are much more maintenance intensive than our cold water units. You'll definitely achieve better cleaning results using our high pressure first and second step washing followed by our high pressure rinse. In addition, hot water pressure washers are only single-step units and must be equipped with a chemical injection to dispense a single soap cleaner. Most of these deliver chemical with low pressure downstream injection. Discover effective cleaning with high pressure pre-soak, washing and rinsing at affordable prices with Red Arrow's 2-Step Pressure Washers. Your equipment will be much lighter and maintenance-free when compared to hot water units. Additionally, your ongoing costs with hot water units will be higher because of diesel, kerosene, or natural gas fuel needed to heat the water. Red Arrow 2-Step Pressure Washers are simply superior for fleet cleaning and maintenance, as well as cleaning floors, walls and other industrial and commercial surfaces.
  
  NOTE: If hot water washing is critical to your cleaning operation, Red Arrow can add an instantaneous hot water supply unit to either of our gas powered or electric motor driven 2-Step Pressure Washers. Contact Red Arrow at 800-783-0908 or contact your local Red Arrow Distributor.

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