Does Cleaning Stone With a “Safe Acid Alternative” Work?
The most pressing question in the pressure washing, stone masonry, and concrete industries today. Do “Safe Acid Alternatives” really work? How do you use them? Where do you even get one and what is it?
What is a Safe Acid Alternative?
There are a few safe acid alternatives on the market, and are all derived the same way. They’re pretty much all derivatives of organic salts which fall on the acid side of the PH scale when dissolved.
I know what you’re thinking “No way man, my high school science teacher told me, there’s only one sodium and its alkaline as hell” Hate to break it to you, your teacher might not have been the brightest, a huge array of substances on this planet are made of salt and its various sodium derivatives, and their position on the PH scale varies massively.
“Ok but it’s still an acidic PH so its an acid” Again, not quite, there's acidic PH levels (anything below a 7) and there's the chemical family of acids, and these safe acid alternative products like our EffBOMB, have a very special characteristic. They don’t directly attack common building metals. That’s the key difference between something like EffBOMB, which is acidic on the PH scale but not a chemical acid, and something like muriatic acid which is both acidic on the PH scale and a chemical acid.
Why Would I Use An Organic Acid Substitute?
Well, if you chose EffBOMB theres a lot of reasons to choose it over a traditional muriatic or hydrochloric acid. For today, we’ll explain for the stone masons and pressure washers, but this info applies for everyone.
1. Your Health! The offgassing of traditional chemical acids like muriatic, hydrochloric, or sulphamic can be exceptionally toxic and caustic, even causing scarring and damage to the lungs if breathed in without protective equipment.
2. Safer for metals. Safe acid alternatives have the specific quality of not instantly attacking and flash rusting metals, particularly metals of the ferrous variety. This is extremely important for masons or pressure washers needing to clean up cutting dust, or concrete residue near window frames or railings.
3. Safer on glass. The same way safe acid alternatives don’t instantly attack metals, they also have a very delayed reaction on glass, meaning a section left to dwell for 5 minutes while doing a post construction cleaning job won’t etch the glass.
4. Just as powerful on efflorescence. When it comes to removing sodium bicarbonate or calcium carbonate (the two chemical terms for the compounds that make up efflorescence, also known as white stains) Safe Acid Alternative products like EffBOMB react just like a chemical acid, quickly melting away the unsightly white crust from stone or concrete.
5. More shelf stable. And because they’re so stable, choices like EffBOMB come with a soap package already in the pail right of the shelf, saving you time, research, and money.
Do Acid Alternatives like EffBOMB Work?
Absolutely they do, EffBOMB as a safe acid alternative is almost a miracle product. A pressure washer or stone mason can easily clean stone, concrete, hardie board, and more for cutting dust, post construction dust, efflorescence, or any other cleaning job requiring an acid. The only difference being you don’t need to protect plants from EffBOMB, and it doesn’t aggressively etch, corrode, or discolour things. All the cleaning power you love from traditional acids, with none of the headaches. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these pictures below, and decide for yourself. 
How To Use EffBOMB Safe Acid Replacement
There is a number of ways to use EffBOMB based on its dilution, as it is a very versatile concentrated product. First we will list the dilutions and their common uses, then below the instructions are always the same so there will be a single "how to" section below.
1:10 (or downstreamed)
When downstreaming EffBOMB you will place the injector pickup tube directly into the concentrated EffBOMB pail, remember to always flush the injection system after use with a mix of water and dish soap to extend service life of injectors and o rings.
-Post construction cleaning
-New, fluffy efflorescence deposits
-As a preventative efflorescence treatment when cleaning pavers and concrete as a prep for sealer
- Fresh iron spots on stone and concrete
-Cutting dust and light grout haze removal on natural stone
- Post polishing cleanup after restoring natural stone
- Mild wood brightening during a 2 step wood cleaning
1:5 (EB:H20) in a Pump Sprayer
- Moderate Efflorescence removal
- Blending of light etching on concrete and pavers
- Post construction mortar residue removal
- Cleanup of tools and mixers after concrete work, or grouting
- Grout haze removal
- Mild Surface Rust removal
1:3 (EB:H20) in a Pump Sprayer
-Softening of heavy efflorescence for mechanical removal
- Moderate rust removal
- Heavy mortar splatter removal
- Concrete glob softening during post construction
- Heavy etch blending on dry concrete or pavers
- Melting surface layer during pour of exposed aggregate slabs
- Heavy wood brightening during 2 step wood cleaning with OxyShock
You can mix EffBOMB heavier than this for specialized purposes, but we neither recommend nor endorse doing that as this is the territory where you can start doing damage if not fully aware of how to use the product in a safe and professional manner.
How To Use EffBOMB and Other Safe Acid Alternatives
1. Select an installation method, you can spray, roll, brush, or downstream EffBOMB
2. Mix, we typically mix in our application container, make sure to mix accurately. If downstreaming the product through a commercial pressure washer, simply add the injection suction hose into the pail of pure EffBOMB. Rinse the injector out after your project with a mix of dish soap and water to flush.
3. Wet down all the areas you do not plan to treat with EffBOMB or other safe acid alternative, with clean fresh water. Though EffBOMB and similar products are considered safe on most surfaces, it is best practice to pre wet areas you are not treating to protect them.
4. Apply, and let to dwell for 5-15 mins depending on your use. Do not allow the product to dry on any surface, applying more EffBOMB is an acceptable way of keeping the surface wet.
5. Rinse thoroughly with a moderate pressure washer, until soap residue is no longer foaming from the surface. Rinse down all areas which got runoff on them during the wash process as well, for added safety and professionalism.
6. Allow surface to thoroughly dry and then inspect, if desired results are not achieved repeat steps 2-5 with adding either a hotter (less diluted) mix of the product, a longer dwell time, agitation with a soft brush, or a mix of all 3. If you are trying to remove heavy crusted efflorescence, apply EffBOMB at a 1:2 ratio as a softening agent, then mechanically remove with a paint scraper or needle scaler.
Support on using EffBOMB and all of our products is available any time at 1-877-824-6040 or helpdesk@stonesealer.ca
