Are you ready to make your home look neat and presentable in time for spring? Do you want to wash the front of your business because of distasteful stains? If exterior cleaning is what you’re looking for, you can pick between a soft wash and pressure wash.
These are both great ways to keep your home clean and restore it to its prime. If you're selling a property, this is essential to increase its value and make it more appealing.
In this guide, we’ll discuss their differences and how you know which one is the right choice for you. Soft Wash vs Pressure Washing
What Is Soft Washing?
Let’s begin by describing what a soft wash is. Soft washing is the method of cleaning that involves a low-pressure stream and special cleaning solutions. With it, you can get rid of bacteria, algae, and mildew forming on the external part of a building.
In 2020, 5.64 million homes got sold, which made the housing market a supporting pillar for the economy. You may have also considered selling your home and buying a new one. However, before you can sell a house, you need to make sure it’s presentable.
A soft washing service can do just that. The low-pressure jet of water you see from soft wash cleaners is powerful. Other than the mentioned ones, it can also treat and remove fungus, moss, lichens, and more.
In soft washing, professionals use special treatments and cleaners. Most of the products used by pros have environment-friendly qualities. At the same time, you can rest assured that your garden or other delicate elements in your property won’t get affected by them.
What Is Pressure Washing?
Pressure washing is much like soft washing. It aims to clean the exterior of a home or business without affecting other things. You can use it to remove paint, chewing gum, grime, and many unpleasant layers on exterior surfaces.
Pressure washing is also available for residential and commercial cleaning applications. Often, heavy industries see the most benefits from pressure water systems. It helps increase the efficiency and production capacity of industrial equipment.
How Does a Pressure Wash Differ From a Power Wash?
Power washing and pressure washing can confuse you if you’re not familiar with them. Both use a powerful jet of water to clean outdoor surfaces. Almost everyone, no matter what business they have, can use one of the two high-pressured washing systems.
However, pressure washing, and power washing are also different in one major way. Their main difference is heat. Almost everyone, no matter what industry they're in, can use one of these washing systems.
A power washer is great for cleaning places that house serious grime. Mildew, salt, grease, and rust stains on the ground are common examples. The heat and the high-pressured jet of water make it easier to clean their surfaces.
Key Differences of Soft Wash vs. Pressure Washing
Now, let’s talk about how a soft wash differs from a pressure wash and vice versa. The main difference between them is the pressure of the water that jets out from the washers. A soft washer uses lower water pressure, often under 500 PSI (pounds per square inch).
Pressure washers use a much higher water pressure compared to soft washers. You can use as much as 1500 PSI for softwood, porous pavers, and stained concrete. On harder surfaces, you may need between 2000 and 3000 PSI.
With this comes the difference in their usage. There are specific applications for only soft washing and pressure washing. For example, you use pressure washers on surfaces that a high-pressured jet of water won’t destroy.
Another difference lies in what comes out of the house. Pressure washers are great at removing dirt and grime with high-pressured jets alone. Soft wash systems use a combination of soaps, bleach, and water to clean surfaces.
Benefits of Pressure Washing
Now that we’ve discussed their main differences, let’s focus on their pros and cons. This time, we’ll start with pressure washing.
You won’t need to schedule the time for a pressure wash with a crew. To a degree, it’s cheaper than hiring a cleaning service.
Hiring professionals also helps if you don’t have the energy and time to spare for cleaning. If you decide to hire commercial power washing services, you can focus on other tasks. Pressure washing is also useful if you want to keep away from chemicals or substances.
Doing this is a great way to protect your home from sustaining damages. Grime staying on your wall for a long time can both stain and damage your house's exterior. It can cause your home to grow mold, which can penetrate through the walls, later on, causing health hazards within the house.
Pressure washing also does the same to dust and mildew. It gets rid of anything that can compromise the health of your family in case they have a bad reaction to either factor.
Because pressure washing is quick, it also does a great job of increasing your curb appeal overnight. This is great when you have an event you want to hold the next day.
In the long run, all these work towards the maintenance of your home. Keeping it clean and free of hazards prevents it from degrading. This is a great way to save money since your exterior's longevity gets increased.
Benefits of Soft Washing
Now, let’s inspect the pros and cons of using soft washing. If your goal isn’t only to clean but also to disinfect, you’ll need a soft wash pressure washer. Since a soft wash pressure washer uses lower water pressure, it’s much easier to use or handle.
You don’t risk destroying parts of your property, be it your business or home. This means you won’t need to spend any money on repairing the damaged parts of the home. With low-pressure roof washing, you also don’t risk getting your water into the soffit.
As we said, the consequences of getting water into the crevices of your home can cause mildew. Keep your family healthy and avoid this health risk by using soft wash.
The next advantage of using soft wash equipment is that it increases the longevity of your home. Like dry and rough weather, pressure washing can cause unnecessary wear on your home. Soft washing sits in the middle of those two extremes.
Soft washing keeps your home clean and beautiful-looking. This cleanliness can keep rodents and birds from using it as their homes. If you want to sell your house in the future, this maintenance can ease your house-selling journey.
Finally, soft washing can help you save energy and is good for the environment. A dark and stained roof can attract more sun and absorb more heat, keeping it warmer. It’ll get you to turn your AC up more often, which won’t help your electricity bill or the environment.
Picking the Right Type of Wash for Your Home or Establishment
Now, you know the differences between a soft wash and a pressure wash. We’ve also discussed the pros and cons of each one. Despite that, you may still have some confusion on which one you need.
To help you, we’re going to elaborate on the surfaces on which pressure and soft wash are most appropriate.
A pressure washer is a powerful tool, and you need to use it on tough surfaces only. That includes surfaces like concrete, brick, and compound surfaces. Some examples of compound surfaces include stamped concrete and gravel.
Most often, the areas you use a power washer on are:
You’ll need a soft wash for all other surfaces that are less tough or durable than those mentioned. The best surfaces to use a soft washer on include:
Wood decking, siding, or fencing
Metal
Asphalt
Stucco
Ceramic
Drywall
If you’re unsure about which material your house or ground has, the smart move is to hire an expert. They'll know what's better for which area in your home and the material they're made of.
The typical areas that you soft wash are roofs, siding, and fencing. You can also use soft washers to clean outdoor rooted plants and outdoor wood furniture screens. For enclosures and porches, you’d also want to use soft washing to clean them.
Cost of Soft Wash vs. Pressure Wash
The cost will depend on a lot of factors. The biggest influence will be the area of your home. The larger the area, the more resources and time will get consumed by the service you hire.
This naturally means that you'll need to spend more to get your property pressure washed. What's great is that you can specify the areas that you want cleaned to help yourself cut down on costs.
The part of your house that needs cleaning will also factor in the total cost. Areas like your property pavement, backyard area, or the ground-level exterior walls will cost less because they're simple and straight forward.
The walls on the upper floors or the roof of your home will cost more. This is because it will cover any extra equipment used to reach the area. It also covers different hazards they may encounter while in a high place.
In contrast, a soft wash on the outside of a house can cost a lot more. This is because professionals will also use different chemicals to help clean your home. If you want chemicals that won't harm the plants around your house, you can expect it to cost a bit more, too.
The same factors will also apply to soft washing services. So, you can expect the price to double or even triple when compared to pressure wash services.
Tips on Hiring a Cleaning Service
Before we end, here are a few tips to help you find and hire the right cleaning service. Ask for the price of the service first. To avoid confusion about the pricing, ask if they’ll charge hidden fees.
If you’re having your roof washed, you should inform them of the condition of your roof, so they know what equipment to bring.
It's also best to look up your desired cleaning service before hiring them. Check their page for their recent works. They often have a list of their latest projects that you can inspect to see how they do.
If they have a social media page, you can even visit it. This is where you can see what other people have to say about them. Comments on social media platforms are often a reliable source of honest, unfiltered reviews on how their service is.
All you need to do is check the authenticity of the account posting the comments. Most may be accounts seeking to undermine other businesses. Once you've confirmed it's an authentic comment, you can take it into consideration before hiring the service.
Pick the Right Way of Cleaning Your Buildings and Exterior
Cleaning your home is a key step in maintaining it. It’s especially vital if you plan to move after some time and sell your house. Learn about soft wash and pressure wash to know what's best for your home today!
Are you looking for a local outdoor cleaning company to wash down dirt from your property? Talk to us via chat on our main page or get a quote here.