Soft washing a house means cleaning the outside walls with a cleaning solution at low pressure, then rinsing it away gently. The solution loosens the dirt and growth, so the water never has to hit hard.
That’s the whole idea. Force isn’t doing the cleaning. The solution and a little time are.
What it takes off, and what it won’t
A soft wash is built for the stuff that grows and settles on a house:
- The green or black film on shady siding, which is usually algae or mildew.
- Gray streaks running down the gutter faces.
- Spider webs and dirt packed into soffit corners.
- Pollen and road dust on the side facing the street.
It won’t fix what’s broken. Cracked or loose siding stays cracked. Paint that’s already peeling can lift more once it’s wet. Rust marks may fade without going away. We point those out before we start, not after.
Which parts of a house it suits
Most of what sits above the foundation: vinyl and painted siding, trim, stucco, soffits, gutter faces and brick, older soft brick most of all. The driveway is the exception. Flat concrete can take more force, so it usually gets pressure washing instead.
Why pressure isn’t the tool on walls
Siding is made to shed rain falling down, not water fired up at it. The siding trade group, now the Polymeric Exterior Products Association, tells owners to “Hold the power washer straight at eye level” and not to aim it upward, since that can push water in behind the panels.
Now stand back and look at a two-story wall. Eye level covers the bottom few rows. Everything above that, a person on the ground has to aim up at. A soft wash puts the solution on the high rows at low pressure, so no hard stream gets driven under the laps.
Know the brand on your siding? Mention it when you call, and we’ll look up that maker’s cleaning rules first.
The method is laid out step by step on our soft washing page, and house washing covers vinyl versus brick. To find out what your walls need, book a free exterior evaluation or call or text Revive Exteriors at (812) 664-6222.