Softwashing & Powerwashing
We clean siding, brick, roofs, gutters, awnings, driveways,
sidewalks, decks, garage floors, and more...
Call for a free estimate: 937.436.4499
Do you have algae and/or mildew on the siding of your home? Do you have moss growing on your brick? Does your driveway and sidewalks have years of soil and ‘gunk’ built upon them? We can help! We offer both soft washing and power washing services now. Here are some educational thoughts regarding this.
We Use Heated Water
Did you know that for every 15 degrees you increase temperature, you double your cleaning ability? That is why hot water is so much more effective at cleaning all kinds of soiled surfaces! Many soft wash and power wash companies use cold water because the equipment costs thousands of dollars less and is less expensive to operate. However, it is not nearly as effective as hot water. We heat the water up to a level safe for siding to more effectively clean your surfaces, typically around 120 degrees. Going from 70 degree tap water to 120 degrees more than quadruples the cleaning power of the water!
Soft Washing vs. Power Washing
Soft washing is using low pressure, high volume heated water, a one to four percent solution of bleach, and an environmentally safe, biodegradable surfactant, to gently remove algae, mildew, soil, spider webs, etc. from the vertical surfaces of your home. (Our surfactant is also what we clean windows with! I can sell it to you for general house cleaning, it’s so safe! We’ll even give you a free sample!)
Power washing is using high pressure, high volume, heated water, sometimes with the same chemicals, to clean your flat surfaces such as driveways, sidewalks, garage floors, etc.
But I Power wash My Own Home!
Pressure washers use both water volume and pressure to clean. A pressure washers cleaning ability is measured using cleaning units, which is calculated with the formula Cleaning units = Pressure x Volume. An average garden hose allows water to flow at a rate of 5 - 6 GPM (gallons per minute) at a pressure of 30 - 50 PSI (pounds per square inch). That gives a maximum 300 cleaning units. A typical light duty residential pressure washer uses 1.6 GPM at a pressure of 1750 PSI, which is 2800 cleaning units. This gives the residential pressure washer 9 times more cleaning power than the garden hose, but it is not even close to the power of a commercial machine and does not have nearly enough volume to do soft washing. (Remember, soft washing is all about high volume, and 1.6 gallons per minute is not enough to do soft washing.) Our professional machine is 3000 psi and flows 5 gallons per minute. That is 15000 cleaning units. Add heat and that 15000 cleaning units becomes 60,000 cleaning units! That’s 300 times that of a garden hose, and over 21 times that of the residential unit.
We Have Trained Crew
Since we wanted to add these services last fall, we sought out new crew members with many years of experience doing both soft washing and power washing around homes. Our three men have over 16 years of combined experience.
So give us a call and we can take care of the exterior cleaning of your home and your flat, hard surfaces.