Virtually Every Truck Wash in America Uses Hydrofluoric Acid to Brighten Aluminum:HF is the most traditional way of brightening aluminum and the truck washes continue to use this product because it is cheap and effective. My concern today is that people are still taking their horse and livestock trailers to the truck washes.

How can that be safe for the animals that travel in these trailers? Are you putting your horses and livestock at risk? After reading some of this information about HF acid, hopefully you will find safer alternatives than truck washes for cleaning and brightening your trailers. Pressure washers are used at the truck washes which gets solutions into the cracks and crannies of your trailer. Now how much residue of HF is left behind? And for those that have been doing this for years and stating that it has never caused any problems, well that is what a lot of cigarette smokers say also.

Please take this warning serious and go out and do your own research on the dangers of Hydrofluoric Acid.How dangerous is HF?Hydrofluoric acid is extremely potent and dangerous. It can penetrate thick, calloused skin and even fingernails, causing extensive skin burns and scarring. A major exposure to concentrated HF can bind the body's calcium stores from the bones, causing seizures, bone destruction and death. Inhaling HF fumes can lead to pneumonia. A splash of HF in the eyes can cause destruction of the eye tissues and blindness. These are just some of the dangers of this highly poisonous solution. The internet is full of government and university web sites that will tell you the truth about HF concerns and why staying away from this poison is your best bet.There are safer solutions to cleaning and brightening your trailer that work just as well as (Hydrofluoric Acid) without the poisonous concerns to you and your animals.

This is not a debate, these are facts.Hopefully this article will enlighten those to the dangers of the chemicals used by the truck washes.

Never heard of this before and how many of us wash our trailers this way? Can't say I've really seen horses dropping over dead from it. Or people! And I suppose your product poses no risk whatsoever?

I am always suspect of someone who bashes their competitor's products.  It comes across like a sleazy used car salesman. 

BTW - when your username and signature line are the name of the product you are selling, YES, you are trying to sell us your product.  Take out an ad and quit bashing your competition.  (As a consumer, I would want to know why your product is good, not why someone else's is not). Every product has its appropriate application - even ones with a potential to be harmful.

He does have an ad with us. 

I did a google search on "hydrofluoric acid" and it's nasty stuff.  It's even listed as potential chemical agent for terrorism.  Greg's been around for years and is in the business of cleaning trailers so it's not surprising he knows about it. 

 I think it's a good thing to know - and I didn't want to keep this information from the public at large just because Streakmaster and other similar products compete with a a widely used process that uses dangerous acid. 

If anyone can give us further information about this please do.  We are learning alot about products that take years to kill us we didn't know before . . . like asbestos, lead paint, and  . . . . soft drinks, I'm told. 

pssst.  are you going to eat that Twinkie?

Oh those poor cows....

Well said.

I'd like to say that this isn't the first go-round that Greg Waltrip of Streakmaster has had with HTW posters.The bashing that he was accused of doing was turned around and HE became the one that was being bashed,just because of his thread which he had a right to come on here and create.Case in point: Dave commented favorably about it.

I remember the first time he took out his ad and made a post on here about it.He got all kinds of ugly remarks thrown back at him,accusations that he was not a "chemist" so,what right did he have to try to sell a product that he was expected to cite the exact chemical compounds down to the last ion? He stayed with HTW and continued to make and sell his products.

Everyone has the right to use what they want to on their trailers,and,not eveyone is set up to wash their own trailer nor are they able.I've tried both,truck washes,and,Streakmaster.Granted,it's a lot easier to pull through a truck wash.i'll admit that.But I know what happened when I got my  trailer home afterward.The acid was not completely rinsed from around the lights,fittings,crevices,rooftop,etc and,after the trip,it had run in streaks down the sides of the trailer.I was not able to get those streaks off,and had to replace some marker lamps.

I use Streakmaster,granted,it's tantamount to washing a Greyhound bus if you have large trailers.I have 3 aluminum trailers,and,for the investment in them that I have,I'd rather tend to my own "acid" washing of them.It's a good product,all 3 of the products that his company sells are good,I use them,have used them for a while,and,plan to continue to because THEY WORK.

Congratulations,Greg.You survived another one.

PS: that's not his first posting or first time to be a member,either.I think he bowed off the forum after the first onslaught,and,believe me,some of the comments were pretty rough.So I don't blame him for being absent for a while.