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How to Clean Your Home or Garden Pressure Sprayer

Posted in Pest Advice on September 01, 2018

We recommend having dedicated spray equipment for different types of pesticide product you would use in the home and garden and to have the equipment clearly marked. This would help ensure that there are no harmful residues that would cause plant injury. Ideally you would have sprayers for:

Even if you have separate equipment for different classes of product it is still important, for several reasons, to clean your backpack and garden spray equipment between uses:

  • To prevent plant injury due to contamination.
  • To avoid chemical incompatibility of mixed formulations.
  • To prevent drying and hardening of product residues. 
  • To reduce the risk of corrosion and damage to spray equipment. 

A sprayer should never be left to sit overnight without cleaning.  If the same product mixture is to be used the next day, flushing the sprayer system with water should be enough.  However, if switching products, a more thorough cleaning is needed. 

Cleaning

It is best to make up only the amount of spray you need for the job and use it all. If there is spray mix left in the tank after the job it is best disposed of by using it; go over the area again or find another suitable place to use it.

Clean your sprayer in an area inaccessible to children, pets and livestock.  The best disposal of rinse water is also best done by spraying it back in the area you have been using the product. If that is not possible, dispose of in waste ground provided that:

  • Runoff into sensitive areas does not occur.
  • No spray mixture enters any surface water (e.g. streams or ponds).

The following sprayer cleaning procedure is recommended for all pesticides, in general.  Read and follow the label directions of products to check if it specifies a different cleaning procedure.  

  1. Drain the sprayer tank and thoroughly rinse the inside surface with clean water.  Spray rinse water through the spray nozzle/s for at least one minute.
  2. Fill the spray tank with clean water again and add an appropriate cleaning agent if necessary*. Allow the sprayer to sit for two hours or overnight while full of cleaning solution so the pesticide residues are fully removed from inside the sprayer.  
  3. Spray the cleaning solution through the nozzles.
  4. Clean nozzles, screens, and filters.  Rinse the sprayer to remove cleaning solution and spray rinse water through the nozzle.
  5. Finally rinse the entire system with clean water.

*Kiwicare products can be cleaned effectively without use of a cleaning agent, however you can use some clothes washing powder to assist cleaning.

David Brittain
Kiwicare

We recommend having dedicated spray equipment for different types of pesticide product you would use in the home and garden and to have the equipment clearly marked. This would help ensure that there are no harmful residues that would cause plant injury. Ideally you would have sprayers for:

Even if you have separate equipment for different classes of product it is still important, for several reasons, to clean your backpack and garden spray equipment between uses:

  • To prevent plant injury due to contamination.
  • To avoid chemical incompatibility of mixed formulations.
  • To prevent drying and hardening of product residues. 
  • To reduce the risk of corrosion and damage to spray equipment. 

A sprayer should never be left to sit overnight without cleaning.  If the same product mixture is to be used the next day, flushing the sprayer system with water should be enough.  However, if switching products, a more thorough cleaning is needed. 

Cleaning

It is best to make up only the amount of spray you need for the job and use it all. If there is spray mix left in the tank after the job it is best disposed of by using it; go over the area again or find another suitable place to use it.

Clean your sprayer in an area inaccessible to children, pets and livestock.  The best disposal of rinse water is also best done by spraying it back in the area you have been using the product. If that is not possible, dispose of in waste ground provided that:

  • Runoff into sensitive areas does not occur.
  • No spray mixture enters any surface water (e.g. streams or ponds).

The following sprayer cleaning procedure is recommended for all pesticides, in general.  Read and follow the label directions of products to check if it specifies a different cleaning procedure.  

  1. Drain the sprayer tank and thoroughly rinse the inside surface with clean water.  Spray rinse water through the spray nozzle/s for at least one minute.
  2. Fill the spray tank with clean water again and add an appropriate cleaning agent if necessary*. Allow the sprayer to sit for two hours or overnight while full of cleaning solution so the pesticide residues are fully removed from inside the sprayer.  
  3. Spray the cleaning solution through the nozzles.
  4. Clean nozzles, screens, and filters.  Rinse the sprayer to remove cleaning solution and spray rinse water through the nozzle.
  5. Finally rinse the entire system with clean water.

*Kiwicare products can be cleaned effectively without use of a cleaning agent, however you can use some clothes washing powder to assist cleaning.

David Brittain
Kiwicare

We recommend having dedicated spray equipment for different types of pesticide product you would use in the home and garden and to have the equipment clearly marked. This would help ensure that there are no harmful residues that would cause plant injury. Ideally you would have sprayers for:

Even if you have separate equipment for different classes of product it is still important, for several reasons, to clean your backpack and garden spray equipment between uses:

  • To prevent plant injury due to contamination.
  • To avoid chemical incompatibility of mixed formulations.
  • To prevent drying and hardening of product residues. 
  • To reduce the risk of corrosion and damage to spray equipment. 

A sprayer should never be left to sit overnight without cleaning.  If the same product mixture is to be used the next day, flushing the sprayer system with water should be enough.  However, if switching products, a more thorough cleaning is needed. 

Cleaning

It is best to make up only the amount of spray you need for the job and use it all. If there is spray mix left in the tank after the job it is best disposed of by using it; go over the area again or find another suitable place to use it.

Clean your sprayer in an area inaccessible to children, pets and livestock.  The best disposal of rinse water is also best done by spraying it back in the area you have been using the product. If that is not possible, dispose of in waste ground provided that:

  • Runoff into sensitive areas does not occur.
  • No spray mixture enters any surface water (e.g. streams or ponds).

The following sprayer cleaning procedure is recommended for all pesticides, in general.  Read and follow the label directions of products to check if it specifies a different cleaning procedure.  

  1. Drain the sprayer tank and thoroughly rinse the inside surface with clean water.  Spray rinse water through the spray nozzle/s for at least one minute.
  2. Fill the spray tank with clean water again and add an appropriate cleaning agent if necessary*. Allow the sprayer to sit for two hours or overnight while full of cleaning solution so the pesticide residues are fully removed from inside the sprayer.  
  3. Spray the cleaning solution through the nozzles.
  4. Clean nozzles, screens, and filters.  Rinse the sprayer to remove cleaning solution and spray rinse water through the nozzle.
  5. Finally rinse the entire system with clean water.

*Kiwicare products can be cleaned effectively without use of a cleaning agent, however you can use some clothes washing powder to assist cleaning.

David Brittain
Kiwicare

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