Fleet Washing Chemicals

One well-known professional fleet wash method is called “two-stepping”. In this technique, you hit the dirty surface with an acid-based cleaner and then finish with an alkaline neutralizer. By switching between the opposite ends of the pH spectrum, the dirt is “popped” off the surface. The acid cleaner used for the first part of the process is usually made with hydrofluoric acid. Our hydrofluoric-based cleaner is called Aluma Brite. This very aggressive cleaner is perfect for any type of truck or fleet washing and for cleaning aluminum surfaces. We recommend using Fleet Brite as the alkaline in the two-step method.

Hydrofluoric acid is extremely dangerous for inexperienced people to use, however. It travels through the skin to seek and destroy the calcium in your bones and body. Severe exposure to hydrofluoric acid can be fatal in a matter of hours.

Since so many professionals rely on the two - step method for fast, effective results, Sun Brite Supply developed a Safety Ointment for emergency use after exposure to hydrofluoric. It can add several hours of time for you to get medical attention. We offer this with every purchase of our hydrofluoric cleaner.

We also offer alternatives to hydrofluoric- based cleaners, for those who are willing to sacrifice some of the aggressiveness of hydrofluoric for the safety of a different acid. We offer a citric/phosphoric solution called Aluma Safe that we sell all over the country to fleet wash companies.

If you are not cleaning the kind of tough road film usually found on tractor-trailer rigs,you will find that we offer several one-step cleaners that might just be ideal for you. The gentlest of these is called Glimmer, which is safe for all kinds of surfaces. This is a great fleet wash cleaner to start out with.

If you are cleaning paint-only surfaces, such as UPS or Frito Lay trucks, you will probably want to move up to Fleet Brite pretty quickly. This is an aggressive one-step cleaner that is very inexpensive to use. It will get you off the job quicker than any other cleaner we know of.

My personal favorite overall fleet cleaner is Big Truck Brite. This product is less aggressive than Fleet Brite, but it can be used on all surfaces and it leaves the vehicle with a near-wax shine. I use it on my own truck, and those of you who know how I feel about my truck will understand exactly what that means. By the way, we have Wet Wax that you can add to any truck wash to get that shine on the vehicle that fleet managers are looking for. (NOTE: We have lots of customers who even buy Wet Wax and add it to house wash mixtures for a nice gleam on vinyl and aluminum!)