Soft Washing vs. Pressure Washing
It’s amazing just how dirty the exterior of your house can get throughout the course of a year. Some of the most typical stains include mud or dirt, algae, mold and mildew. These things will give your house an unkempt, messy appearance, regardless of if you invest time and care into it.
Some materials, like dirt, are harmless, but algae and mold can be harmful to both your health and your house. These contaminants create allergens that can affect your family, and some, like algae, can even grow underneath vinyl or roofing and enter your house.
As a professional pressure washing company in Memphis, we recommend you have your home’s exterior cleaned once a year. Spring is the most common time to do an intense home exterior cleaning, but you can do it any time throughout the year so long as the weather permits.
WHAT NEEDS PRESSURE WASHING?
All of the following home surfaces need to be pressure washed 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, brick and painted home surfaces. Now, homeowners have another option for exterior house cleaning: soft washing.
Like the names imply, one method is much gentler than the other one, but there’s more to it than just that. Let’s review the features of each method to help you determine which one is best for your house.
WHAT IS SOFT WASHING?
The soft wash system uses less pressure than a typical pressure washer, hence the name. The highest water pressure in a soft washing system is 500 PSI. This lighter spray is produced from a nozzle with a wider spray setting, only slightly more powerful than your backyard lawn hose.
Soft washing uses a mixture of detergent, bleach and water in some combination to remove organic matter and debris from your home, roof and other surfaces. The cleaning mixture used in a soft washing process can include algaecides and residual inhibitors to help prevent further growth of these organisms in the future.
Because chemicals, not pressure, are responsible for cleaning the exterior surfaces, no powerful water is needed. This means that soft washing should be used for delicate surfaces that might otherwise be harmed by more powerful pressure washing.
The soft wash solution is sometimes washed off, but not always. This just depends on the type of solution is used, if there’s plant or animal life that could be affected by the solution runoff, and if the chemicals are powerful enough to damage surfaces over time.
Soft washing offers the advantage of getting into small cracks and crevices to kill even unseen bacteria, meaning that its impact can last a lot longer than traditional pressure washing.
WHAT IS PRESSURE WASHING?
Pressure washing has always been the gold standard for cleaning home exterior surfaces. It is highly effective and fast, which is why many home and business owners prefer it over soft washing.
This cleaning system uses water only, no chemicals, to remove stains and mildew from home exterior surfaces. The use of chemical-free water is a significant plus to property owners who don’t want to use cleaning chemicals, whether for the environment’s sake or to avoid zoning violations.
The pressure washing process can be used on many different materials. Home and business owners choose pressure washing for cleaning their driveway, porches, decks, walkways and outdoor furniture because it is fast, efficient and affordable.
Pressure washing uses somewhere from 1300 to 3100 PSI water pressure with water being sprayed out of a small nozzle for the most power. Both organic and inorganic materials are blasted from your home’s exterior surface, stopping their growth and renewing the curb appeal of your house.
One drawback to pressure washing is that the water can sometimes be too powerful and lead to damaging the surfaces you want to clean. Pressure washing is powerful enough to put grooves into wood and plastic, and it can push into cracks, breaking off pieces of stone or brick.
IS PRESSURE WASHING OR SOFT WASHING BETTER?
The real question for most homeowners is, “Which one should I choose?”
Both soft washing and pressure washing methods are good choices for your home’s exterior, including sidewalks, driveways and more. Both cleaning systems can be done by a professional – and truthfully, are more correctly done when left to the experts.
Soft washing is perfect for outdoor play sets, yard tools, shingle roofs, decks, gutters, patios and painted surfaces because it is unlikely to damage wood and plastic. It’s also a safe choice for vinyl siding.
It eliminates organisms that are present on the exterior surface, and it prevents future growth for a lot longer than pressure washing can.
A problem with soft washing is that it can kill plants under the surface you’re cleaning. Remember to spray them with water before putting the soft wash chemicals on your house or roof, and it shouldn’t be a problem.
Pressure washing is the preferred method for severe stains, and harder surfaces like concrete, brick and stone. Pressure washing is the preferred process for commercial surfaces. A professional pressure washing company in Memphis may use a mixture of chemicals and water pressure to eliminate tough stains, but they need to let you know if they are going to be spraying chemicals during your estimate.
It can be used for siding as well (and has been for decades) so long as it is done correctly. High water pressure can break off weak or small pieces of vinyl. A local service that does pressure washing all the time will know how to protect fragile pieces, but a first-timer could do a lot of damage.
Your home’s roof is definitely off limits for pressure washing if you have slate, tile or asphalt shingles. The high pressure of the water might damage these materials and require you to replace your roof much earlier than expected.
Deciding between pressure washing or soft washing is best left for a pressure washing company. Which process is right for your house? Give Memphis Pressure Washing a call at 901-459-5433 and we will send a trained technician over to take a look!