Soft washing is the perfect solution for those hard-to-clean surfaces such as windows, roof shingles, and screens. But what exactly is soft-washing, and what are the benefits?
Soft washing is a cleaning method that uses a low-pressure washing technique and a mixture of algaecides, bleach, surfactants, and water to safely clean exterior surfaces of organic stains, mildew, and algae. This type of washing is ideal for delicate surfaces, like shingles and stucco, that can get damaged from traditional pressure washing.
Power washing or pressure washing is a method of cleaning that uses high-pressure water to remove dirt, grime, and other buildups from surfaces. This type of cleaning is ideal for tougher stains and thicker buildups. Pressure washing can damage delicate surfaces, so it's important to use the right equipment and techniques.
Although soft washing, power washing, and pressure washing seem similar, they are pretty different. Soft washing uses a low-pressure washing technique to clean exterior surfaces, while power washing or pressure washing uses high-pressure water to clean surfaces.
While soft washing is best used on notoriously hard surfaces or would be damaged by high-pressure cleaning such as windows, roof shingle siding, etc., its original purpose was to remove algae from roofs.
There are many benefits of soft washing, including:
- Delicate surfaces are not damaged
- Effective for removing organic stains, mildew, and algae
- Safe for the environment
- Doesn't require harsh chemicals or detergents
There are a few different ways to soft wash, but the most common method is to use a low-pressure washer with algaecides, bleach, surfactants, and water. You can also use a soft brush to help loosen any buildup on the surface.
Although not as common as using a low-pressure washer, soft washing with a drone is becoming more popular due to being more efficient, safer, and more profitable. A Lucid Bots cleaning drone can be used to get into tight spaces and hard-to-reach places that a low-pressure washer can't reach.
Using a Lucid drone will eliminate 95% of the safety risks associated with the exterior cleaning industry. It can also save time by reducing setup time and speeding up the cleaning process because a Lucid drone can cover 100 square feet in about 1 minute.
You will need to mix a solution to apply to your surface area, which consists of 12% bleach and 88% water solution as an industry standard.
Bleach kills any mold and mildew spores, algae, moss, or other plants or fungi growing on your roof. Using bleach also gets into and kills off any root systems to prevent further damage to the tiles and keep anything from growing back.
Water dilutes the bleach to prevent over saturating the surface.
Many people believe pressure washing is the only way to exterior clean. But in reality, it is not the magic fix-all and can lead to more problems than solutions. For more information on soft-washing or using a Lucid drone as a soft wash tool, you can speak to a Lucid Bots rep by emailing or calling us at 980.498.1894.