Here’s a list of commonly asked questions. If you can’t find the answers you need, please contact either your local Chiefs authorised dealer or Chiefs Australia on 07 5493 8868 or techsupport@chiefsaustralia.com.
All of the Nerta and Chiefs products are bio-degradable to Australian standards. SDS documentation can be found in the Safety Data Sheets section of this website. We advise that users follow the PPE recommendations in the SDS.
Chiefs’ goal is to remain a market leader by bringing sustainable cleaning solutions for vehicles, equipment and premises to a variety of industries. Our detergent manufacturing plants are some of the most progressive and environmental-friendly within the sector.
Chiefs’ product range can be purchased from any one of our authorised dealers, all of which can be found in our Authorised Dealer Locator. Alternatively, contact our sales office at office@chiefsaustralia.com or by calling (07) 5493 8868.
Chiefs offers three single-soap foam-on products: Carnet Jumbo, Active Diamond, and Platinum Wash.
In addition, we manufacture our strongest cleaner, Chiefs Duo Wash, as a two-step system comprising low and high pH components. Duo Wash is ideal for renovation cleans, iron oxide staining from Aussie red dirt, and long-term stains.
We provide a range of specialist cleaners Anti-Insect, Super Degreaser, Bio-Polish and Interior Cleaner.
Full product details can be viewed in the Chemicals section of our website.
The short answer is no. Touchless cleaning isn’t designed to provide a detail level clean. You can expect a 90–95% clean with a touchless method which most operators deem acceptable for routine cleaning and maintenance of their vehicle or machinery.
What you will get from a touchless clean is a significant decrease in labour time and costs, a reduction in the amount of chemical used, and no risk of the scratching to paintwork that comes from using a broom or sponge.
Technically, it’s possible to dilute touchless soaps and use them for a manual clean but all the benefits of a touchless method come from using a pressure washer.
Touchless soaps are designed to create a dense foam when used with high-pressure hardware. The foam clings to the vehicle to lift contaminants and works in conjunction with high-pressure water (either hot or cold) during the wash stage.
For trucks, trailers, and heavy machinery we recommend a pressure cleaner delivering around 3000 psi and a flow rate of 15 lpm.
In a domestic environment, for a car or bike, a standard electric pressure cleaner can work very well with a minimum of 1500 psi and a flow rate of 9 lpm.
Absolutely. You’ll save on both.
For example, to clean a prime mover, you’ll use around 150 ml of soap and spend as little as 15 minutes doing it.
To put this into perspective, 25 L of Carnet Jumbo will clean up to 100 prime movers or 400 family-sized cars.
No.
If used as directed, our Nerta and Chiefs soaps will never damage your vehicle. Our products are all manufactured to highly regulated European and Australian standards, are biodegradable and phosphate free.
Traditional cleaning products contain a high percentage of sodium hydroxide and are therefore highly alkaline (or caustic). These soaps tend to render paint chalky after extended exposure and will also strip wax from the vehicle’s surface. In and of itself, sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda) is an excellent and cost-effective chemical used in most vehicle cleaning products, but it does come with side effects when the concentration is high. Those Nerta and Chiefs soaps which utilise sodium hydroxide are formulated to keep paintwork looking its best over the long term.
Chiefs and Nerta chemicals are specifically designed to be used through a high-pressure foamer and depend more on smart science than brute cleaning power.
Carnet Jumbo, for example, does not make use of sodium hydroxide at all and is foamed on to the vehicle at a concentration of only around 2%. The resulting clean is just as good, if not better, than products with high concentrations of sodium hydroxide. That’s fast, easy, clean, and smart.
When washing a vehicle using conventional manual methods you apply soap, wash using a sponge or a broom, and then rinse off with water from the top to the bottom.
Touchless washing is a little different. At first, our bottom-to-top techniques seems counterintuitive but once you think about what we’re trying to achieve it makes perfect sense.
Soap is applied to the vehicle through a high-pressure foaming lance or via a downstream chemical injector. High-pressure water is then used to power wash the vehicle. Horizontal strokes should be used, beginning from the bottom and working upward toward the top of the vehicle. When washing a large vehicle or heavy machinery, you can also use vertical strokes and work your way backward along the vehicle. The reason we don’t start at the top is that we don’t want to simply rinse the foam straight off the vehicle. The high-pressure water and the soap work together in place of the manual scrubbing or brooming. Just as you would sponge where the soap is, we power wash directly into the fresh foamy goodness so that it can do the hard work for us. By beginning at the bottom (or working backward) we maintain the foam on the vehicle until we reach it, rather than rinse it off at the beginning which defeats the purpose.
After the power wash, a final quick rinse from top to bottom will remove any soap residue.
07 5493 8868
clientsupport@chiefsaustralia.com
