What’s the Difference Between Power Washing, Pressure Washing & Soft Washing?
Should You Choose Pressure Washing, Soft Washing or Power Washing for the Exterior of Your Home or Business?
Soft washing, power washing and pressure washing and are all effective methods for cleaning the exterior of your home or business. Are you tired of scraping your mossy roof every year, dredging through the gutters and endlessly scrubbing your siding? Are your clients walking into your office under an unattractively stained awning? All these things take away from the curb appeal of your home and business, making it look unkempt and uncared for – not the first impression you want to make!
When it comes to cleaning the exterior components of your home or business, it’s important to know whether power, pressure or soft washing is the best method. Otherwise, you risk a torn awning, damaged siding, and more of a mess than you started with. This is why it’s always a good idea to bring in a professional cleaning company for these big exterior cleaning jobs.
At Mayfair Building Services, we’re that company! We offer a wide variety of exterior cleaning services for residential and commercial settings. Beyond looking great, your home or industrial facility will be sanitized and free of pests, moss, lichen and other organisms that can age and damage the exterior of a building.
What is Power Washing?
Commonly confused with pressure washing, power washing is a more heavy-duty method of using pressure to clean hard surfaces. It uses pressure and extremely hot water to easily blast away mold, mildew and grime from solid outdoor surfaces like asphalt and concrete. Power washing is highly recommended for larger spaces, since it can get the job done faster. Visit homes.com for a quick read on what you should know before you power wash anything.
What is Power Washing Used For?
- Cleaning grease and stuck on stains from the driveway and garage floor
- Weed- killing (the extremely hot water can destroy weeds without the use of chemicals)
- Washing salt off driveways and sidewalks
- Removing dried on items like chewing gum
- Clearing mold and mildew from patios and decks
- Clearing dirt and grime from hard outdoor surfaces like:
- Cement
- Brick
- Parking lots
- Rock
- Sidewalks
What is Pressure Washing?
Commercial pressure washing uses a powerful hose and pump to blast surfaces clean. Unlike the electric or smaller gas-powered pressure washers that are marketed for residential use, commercial pressure washers are much more effective. Unlike their power washing counterpart, pressure washers typically use cold water. As with power washers, it’s important to know how to properly operate them to prevent property damage or injury.
What is Pressure Washing Used For?
- Weedkilling (weeds will be blasted away, but they will come back quicker than if they were treated with hot water)
- Clearing dirt and grime from hard outdoor surfaces
- Cement
- Brick
- Parking lots
- Rock
- Sidewalks
Never Pressure Wash or Power Wash These Surfaces:
- Painted or stained surfaces (unless you’re intentionally stripping them)
- Fabrics and tarps
- Playground equipment
- Patio furniture
- Gutters
- Wooden surfaces (decks, furniture)
- Electrical panels and equipment
- Vehicles
- Areas that cannot dry out easily (this will introduce mould and mildew)
- Windows or glass panels
- Old mortar
- Light fixtures
- Soffits
Applying a high-pressure jet of water to soft surfaces like siding, fabrics, loose gravel, etc. can be disastrous. Jets of water under the siding damage the siding materials and can let water up into the soffits, into the insulation and into the attic. This creates a breeding ground for mould inside the building.
What is Soft Washing?
Soft washing is a gentler method for removing algae, mildew, moss and mould from the entire exterior of a building. It’s used to clean and disinfect textiles like awnings and boat canvas where pressure washing would cause damage. It’s also a longer-lasting solution, keeping your exterior clean and sanitized up to 4-6 times longer than power washing or pressure washing.
With a combination of eco-friendly cleaners and a lower pressure wash, it’s a longer-lasting system. When our expert team soft washes a home, it lasts 4-6 times longer than with traditional power or pressure washing. Your mossy roof and slimy gutters are no match for soft washing.
- First, we spray on a solution of environmentally friendly cleaners. We use half the pressure and less water than a pressure or power washer.
- Next, we let the surfaces soak to let the cleaners get down deep to the trouble spots and lift up tough grime. As it soaks, the surfaces are sanitized.
- Finally, we rinse off the cleaning solution, again using a lower pressure that will not harm siding, gutters or any softer surfaces.
What is Soft Washing Used For?
- Awnings
- Gutters
- Roofs
- Asphalt (flat and tiled)
- Cedar shakes
- Clay tiles
- Cement
- Glass
- Metal
- PVC
- Slate
- Plinths
- Siding
- Signs
- Stucco
Are you thinking about spring cleaning but you’re already dreading dragging out the ladder? Give us a call. At Mayfair, our experienced and fully trained team offers complete cleaning services inside and out. We’ve been serving happy customers in the Greater Vancouver area for over 30 years now!
From cleaning your commercial windows to power washing residential / commercial driveways, we can handle anything that’s needed to clean and beautify your home or business. We schedule our services to work around your lifestyle and schedule, whether you need a one time, weekly, monthly, or annual deep clean inside and out. Contact us to speak to our friendly staff and book an appointment today.