At Piedmont Home Services, we understand how much you care about your home, and we want to help you take good care of it. One of the ways we do this is by offering thorough exterior cleaning services to keep your roof, siding, and other exterior structures free of damaging organisms such as algae.
There are two main ways to remove grime from exterior surfaces—softwashing and pressure washing. Our team offers both, and we have put together this article to go over some of the key differences between these methods.
- Water Pressure – The most significant difference between softwashing and pressure washing is the level of water pressure used in each. As the name suggests, pressure washing relies primarily on the pressure of the water to remove dirt and grime, so the pressure tends to be quite high at 1,300 – 3,000 PSI. Softwashing, on the other hand, uses pressure of just 500 PSI or below.
- Method of Cleaning – The reason softwashing is able to use such a low water pressure relative to pressure washing is because this method does not rely on pressure alone. Instead, softwashing involves first treating the target surface with a specialized blend of cleaning agents to loosen the dirt and grime, which is then easy to wash away with low-pressure water.
- Use Cases – In general, our team reserves pressure washing for use on tough materials such as concrete. For most other cases, such as washing your siding, roof, or deck, our founder (who does everything himself) will recommend soft washing instead, as the lower water pressure is gentle enough to use on these softer materials.