What Is The Difference Between Power Washing And Soft Washing?
Sources
Brick Cleaning Concrete / Driveway Cleaning Deck & Fence Cleaning Deck Staining Exterior Siding Cleaning Oxidation Removal Roof Cleaning Rust Stain Removal Specialty Stone Cleaning Drive Thru Cleaning Fleet Washing Graffiti Removal Heavy Equipment Cleaning Oil And Grease Removal Oxidation Removal Parking Lot Cleaning Rust Stain Removal Sign Cleaning[2]
For most household units, the gallons per minute ranges from one to four.
Published 2022-10-26 Author 2022-10-26
Lets Start By Talking About What Is Similar Between The Two
Power washing and soft washing both aim to achieve a clean surface. Typically, both use water as the main component of their cleaning process. As well as water they both use pumps to increase the pressure of the inlet water (typically a hose but both methods can use storage tanks). We will talk about the difference in risks between the two cleaning methods, however they both require experienced power washers or soft washers to mitigate the risks. Either method, done incorrectly can do serious hard to even the toughest of surfaces. Power washing and soft washing share some similarities, the list of differences is much longer.
Power Washing
Equipment
Typically, power washers use either gasoline or electric motors to drive pumps that increase the pressure at the nozzle to in some cases 4000PSI and above. These pumps usually use the properties water source (Spigots) to feed the pumps before they increase pressure. Most pressure washers need a flow of 5-8 GPM (Gallons Per Minute) to be able to function properly. At the tip, for most household units, the gallons per minute ranges from one to four. Power washers have historically been the only way to clean many of the thing's homeowners need. They are cheaper and much less sophisticated than soft wash systems. They simply require a water source and fuel, and they are ready to work. One benefit of power washers is they can connect to attachments such as surface cleaners, commercial power washers can even have water heaters attached to them. While just about every commercial power washer uses combustion to run, there has been a over 300% increase in searches related to "Electric power washer" in the last 18 years. Compared to a roughly 178% increase in "Gasoline power washer" searches. Electric power washers have come a long way due to the advancements from company's like Ryobi. Unfortunately, they have limitations and those are unlikely to change any time soon. The biggest being they need either heavy battery packs or a power source to be connected. Furthermore, they just aren't built with the same materials of traditional power washers. They typically use plastic in place of metal.
Areas Of Use
Power washers are suitable for tough surfaces such as concrete, brick and unpainted steel. Due to the pressures they produce they can very quickly damage surfaces including those listed above. Historically there has never been another option for homeowners to clean their exterior so the risks did not outweigh the rewards. Damages are less likely to happen if you hire a professional power washing company.They can usually achieve decent results because they are familiar with what surfaces they can and can't damage and adjust their pressures accordingly. We may power wash a surface if they fall into one of the categories below.
- Concrete
- Brick
- Unpainted Steel
- Asphalt / Parking Lots
Soft Washing
Equipment
Soft washing is a rather new concept of surface cleaning. It is more complex due to its integration of multiple systems to achieve superior results when compared to power washing. Soft wash systems very in complexity ranging from a single electric motor connected to a storage tank, all the way up to entire skids that offer multiple storage tanks for separate chemicals, booster pumps, proportioner valves for adjusting mixtures and power washers integrated into the soft wash system.
The complexity of soft wash systems is what limits homeowners from purchasing them, many systems costing more than $20,000. Why would someone purchase that when they can buy a commercial power washer for under $2,000? Because soft washing provides the best possible results. As a business you are expected to provide professional results without damaging customer property, that cannot be consistently done with power washers.
Complexity is necessary in soft wash systems because of the amount of chemicals and concentrations of those chemicals we deal with. No two home have the process. A lightly soiled house requires different mixtures compared to heavily soiled house. That goes for all services including gutter brightening, oxidation removal, rust removal, roof cleaning and more.
Areas Of Use
This is where soft washing shines (literally). Soft washing can achieve better results with just about every single surface compared to power washing. Soft washing doesn't rely on pressure to blast contaminants away, we find the problem and solve it by blending the correct chemicals to tackle it. Some of our chemicals are typical safe to the touch chemicals ranging up to caustics for things like rust removal. If your skeptical, see what insurance company's have to say about soft washing a roof.
As you can see, soft washing is much more in depth and requires much more knowledge. That is why exterior cleaning should be left to PowerPros L.L.C and NOT a professional power washer. With our experience we can achieve the cleaning of almost any surface including but not limited to:
Providing the Port Huron area with power washing and soft washing services.
- Drive Thru Cleaning
- Fleet Washing
- Graffiti Removal
- Heavy Equipment Cleaning
- Oil And Grease Removal
- Oxidation Removal
- Parking Lot Cleaning
- Roof Cleaning
- Rust Stain Removal
- Specialty Stone Cleaning
- Sign Cleaning