How to perform a titration for alkaline chemicals

Keeping on top of the chemistry in a car wash is critical to ensure that you are delivering a consistent quality to your customers, but also that you are not wasting product or at risk of causing vehicle damage from over dosing. In a touch free wash this is critically important, as you are relying on the performance of your soaps to deliver clean, shiny cars. The most common and simple titration to do is on your presoaks, as these are the highest use in volume and the most likely to affect your wash results. The results will be dependent on the particular product you are using and you should talk to you chemical supplier to provide you with the test method and table for their products.

We are often asked about using pH for testing chemical strength. While pH has a role to play in the car wash environment, it is not an accurate measure of the chemical strength. A titration will measure the amount of “free alkalinity” available to provide cleaning power, and is therefore a much more accurate test of strength and performance.