Cleaning a dairy parlor: temperature, chemistry, and what the inspector looks for.
Agricultural washdown is non-discretionary spend — the parlor gets cleaned whether or not it has been a good year.
This is our backyard. Lancaster County dairy and Central Pennsylvania agriculture are close enough that when a machine goes down mid-season we can actually be there — which matters far more than any spec sheet when milking does not stop for equipment.
Temperature is a requirement, not a preference
Protein and organic soils in a parlor need heat to release. This is not a place where a cold machine with good chemistry gets you most of the way — it does not.
The water supply will surprise you
Farm well systems frequently cannot deliver what a high-flow machine demands, and a starved pump cavitates. Measure the actual available flow at the spigot you will be using before you size the machine. We have seen more than one good machine ruined by an assumption here.
Chemistry has to survive documentation
Sanitation-grade product at correct dilution, with something written down. An inspector is not evaluating how clean it looks — they are evaluating whether there is a process.
Reliability beats specification
A machine that is down during milking is a problem no amount of PSI solves. This is the single strongest argument for buying from someone close enough to fix it, and it is why farms tend to stay with a dealer for decades once they find one.