Soft Washing vs. Pressure Washing
It is amazing how dirty the exterior of your house can get throughout a year. Some of the most typical stains include mud or dirt, algae, mold and mildew. These things can give your house an unkempt, messy look, even though you invest a lot of time, money and maintenance into it.
Some materials, like dirt, are harmless, but algae and mold can be damaging to both your health and to your house. They produce allergens that can impact your family, and some, like algae, can grow directly underneath vinyl or roofing and enter your house.
As a professional pressure washing company in Anaheim, we recommend you have your home’s exterior cleaned once every 12 months. The spring season is typically the most popular time to do an extreme home exterior washing, but you can really do it any time throughout the year as long as the weather allows.
WHAT NEEDS PRESSURE WASHING?
All of the following home surfaces need to be cleaned from time to time:
• Vinyl siding
• Rock and stone
• Brick
• Concrete and asphalt
Pressure washing used to be the only method to thoroughly clean vinyl siding, brick and painted home surfaces. Now in 2021, homeowners have another option for exterior house cleaning: soft washing.
As the names suggest, one method is much gentler than the other, but there’s more to it than that. Let’s go over the features of each to help you judge which is the right choice for your house.
WHAT IS SOFT WASHING?
The soft wash system uses less pressure than a typical pressure washer, hence the name. The maximum water pressure used in a soft washing system is 500 PSI. This lower spray is produced from a nozzle with a wider spray option, only a little more powerful than your typical backyard garden hose.
Soft washing uses a mixture of detergent, bleach and water in some combination to get rid of organic matter from your home, roof and other outdoor surfaces. The cleaning solution used in a soft washing system can include algaecides and residual inhibitors to help slow further growth of these types of organisms in the future.
Because chemicals, not pressure, are key to cleaning the exterior surfaces, no powerful water pressure is required. This means that soft washing should be used for fragile surfaces that might otherwise be damaged by harsher pressure washing.
The soft wash chemicals are sometimes washed off, but not every time. This just depends on what type of chemicals are used, if there’s plant or animal life that might be impacted by the solution runoff, and if the solution itself is powerful enough to harm surfaces over time.
Soft washing offers the advantage of getting down into small cracks to eliminate unseen organisms, meaning that its results can last longer than traditional pressure washing.
WHAT IS PRESSURE WASHING?
Pressure washing has long been the gold standard for cleaning home exterior surfaces. It is highly effective and fast, which is why a lot of home and business owners prefer it.
This cleaning system uses water only, there are no chemicals, to eliminate stains and organisms from home exterior surfaces. The use of plain water is a major plus to home owners that don’t want to use cleaning chemicals, either for the environment’s sake or to avoid zoning violations.
It can be used on many different materials. Home and business owners frequently prefer pressure washing for cleaning their driveway, patio, decks, walkways and patio furniture because it is fast, efficient and cost-effective.
Pressure washing uses anywhere from 1300 to 3100 PSI water pressure with water sprayed out from a tiny nozzle for maximum power. Both organic and inorganic stains are sprayed from your home’s exterior surface, prohibiting their growth and restoring the appearance of your house.
One drawback to pressure washing is that the water can sometimes be too powerful and can harm the surfaces of your home you want to clean. Pressure washing is powerful enough to cut grooves into wood and plastic, and it can get into cracks, breaking off chunks of brick or stone.
IS PRESSURE WASHING OR SOFT WASHING BETTER?
The real question for homeowners is, “Which one should I choose?”
Both soft washing and pressure washing are good choices for your home’s exterior, as well as sidewalks, driveways and more. Both cleaning systems can be done by a professional company – and truthfully, are more effectively done when left to the experts.
Soft washing is great for outdoor toys, gardening tools, roof shingles, decks, gutters, patios and painted surfaces because it is less likely to harm plastic and wood. It’s also a safe choice for vinyl siding.
It kills organisms that are present on the exterior surface, and it stops future growth for longer than pressure washing can.
A disadvantage of soft washing is that it can kill plants under the surface you’re cleaning. Remember to spray them down with water right before spraying the soft wash chemicals on your house or roof, and it probably shouldn’t be a problem.
Pressure washing is considered the recommended method for severe stains, and harder surfaces like asphalt, brick and stone. Pressure washing is the recommended choice for commercial properties. A professional pressure washing company in Anaheim might use a mixture of chemicals and water pressure to eliminate problematic stains, but they need to tell you if they will be using chemicals after your estimate.
It can be used on siding too (and has been for decades) as long as it is done safely. High water pressure can damage weak or small pieces of vinyl. A service that does pressure washing often are going to know how to protect these pieces, but a DIYer might do a lot of harm.
Your home’s roof is definitely off limits for pressure washing if there are slate, tile or asphalt shingles. The extreme pressure of the water could damage these materials and require you to replace your roof a lot earlier than expected.
Choosing between pressure washing or soft washing is best left for a pressure washing company. Which process is right for your house? Give Anaheim Pressure Washing a call at 714-597-6038 and we will send an experienced technician over to take a look!