What is Soft Washing?

Soft washing is one of the best ways to clean your home’s exterior surfaces. However, not everyone knows about this effective cleaning method. Here is everything you need to know about soft washing.

Everything You Need to Know About Soft Washing

“What is soft washing?” To answer this question, homeowners need to know about pressure washing first. While more people may be familiar with pressure washing, they often think that soft washing is the same thing. These two cleaning methods are very related, but they are not the same. Here’s an explanation of soft washing vs pressure washing.

Pressure Washing

Pressure washing is a cleaning method that uses high-pressure water to clean exterior surfaces. It is typically used on hardscapes such as driveways, sidewalks, and decks.

Most of the time, the high pressure alone is enough to blast away dirt, dust, mold, mud, gum, and other unwanted substances. There is another version of pressure washing called power washing. It is essentially the same technique, except for the use of hot water.

Soft Washing

Soft washing is a cleaning technique that uses low-pressure water to safely clean the exterior surfaces of a house. This method also uses cleaning solutions to effectively kill mold, mildew, moss, bacteria, and other microorganisms. The cleaning solutions are made up of three main ingredients:

• Bleach: The primary agent for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.
• Surfactant: This goes in between surfaces to loosen up dirt, mold, and other substances
• Water: This is used to dilute the bleach concentration

Due to the use of lower water pressure, this method is ideal for cleaning more the more fragile surfaces of your home’s exterior. These surfaces would be damaged if you used higher water pressure. Here are the best surfaces for this type of cleaning method:

• Roof shingles
• Windows
• Glass doors
• Lanais
• Screens
• Patio enclosures
• Stucco
• Coquina
• Vinyl siding
• Cedar shake siding
• Wood panel siding
• Outdoor furniture

What Are the Benefits of Soft Washing?

Regular soft washing of your home’s exterior will boost curb appeal and help maintain property values. Apart from that, here are soft washing benefits you can enjoy.

1. You Can Clean Even Hard-to-Reach Areas

A soft wash allows you to clean even the hard-to-reach areas of your exterior. From the ground, the water can reach up to 50 feet high. Thus, you won’t need to use ladders, extension poles, or scaffolding to reach areas like the roof or gutters.

2. There Is Less Damage to Your Home’s Exterior

A low-pressure wash system reduces the potential damage to your home’s exterior. If you used high-pressure water to clean delicate surfaces such as roof shingles or windows, you may end up with a granular loss or broken glass. In addition, pressure washing can remove the roof’s coating, which will reduce its ability to reflect sunlight.

3. You Can Achieve a Longer-Lasting Clean

High-pressure water is not always enough to remove mold, mildew, algae, or moss from your home’s exterior. There’s also a chance that they could start growing again within as little as a few days. With soft-washing, cleaning solutions contain bleach so it can kill mold and other microorganisms at a molecular level. Not only are they removed from the exterior, but they also won’t grow back for a year or more!

4. Cleaning Solutions Are Eco-Friendly

Soft washing solutions are biodegradable and eco-friendly. Even if these solutions contain bleach, it is diluted with water. Thus, it is safe to use. It is the same concentration that you would typically see in swimming pools or when disinfecting drinking water.

5. You Can Enjoy a Healthier Home Environment

If left unchecked, the presence of mold, mildew, algae, dirt, grime, and pollen can lead to health issues for your family. With soft washing, the combination of low-pressure water and cleaning solutions effectively removes these contaminants from your home