What is gentle washing?

Gentle washing is a method of cleaning and restoring various substrates and surfaces, that is, more delicate substrates on the exterior of a home or building.

Gentle scrubbing originated in Florida in the early 1980s. It was initially envisioned as a new and more effective way to clean asphalt tile roofs, however, from the earliest days, it has been further developed and is now a method for cleaning and restoring many other substrates and surfaces around a home or commercial property.

Soft Washing was developed to eradicate damage from Power Wash machinery and equipment by cleaning asphalt shingles. The electric wash shingles caused the small limestone particles present in the roof shingles to dislodge and enter the gutter system, leading to premature failure of the roof structure.

Green cleaning solutions began to be used to first break down and loosen black and green algae, moss, lichen, and dirt and grime in general, and subsequently eliminated the need for potentially harmful use of water cleaning methods. at high pressure that were in popular use at the time.

After news of these pioneering and highly effective methods spread across the United States and the rest of the world, it became the only recommended method for cleaning not only asphalt shingles, but many other substrates as well. Substrates including vinyl and aluminum siding, gutters and downspouts, bricks, sandstone, limestone, wood and roofing materials, some concrete areas, and many others.

Gentle washing is not only safer, it is much more effective in treating and removing a variety of microorganisms that thrive on pore substrates such as those mentioned above.

A special mixture of cleaning agents is applied to the substate being cleaned and an adequate residence time is provided for microorganisms such as moss, algae, mold and mildew to be effectively removed from the depths of the material. This is something that Power Washing cannot do.

Once the microorganisms have been treated and removed, low pressure water can be used to gently rinse the solution and remove dead spores. This method eliminates the potential for damage, slows the growth of algae, mosses and other microorganisms, is non-toxic and does not harm the environment.

Fast forward to today, gentle Soft Washing is the industry's preferred method of pressure washing to clean the exterior of homes, buildings, roofs, and many other areas.

Gentle washing is also used to clean concrete areas, as the method is exactly the same as for cleaning ceilings or other delicate substrates. It is particularly used in areas that are regularly maintained and may not be very dirty with dirt and other contaminants. A light spray of a suitable cleaning agent is applied to the concrete areas, which removes deeply embedded spores and delays their regeneration.