home siding "soft washing"

So I am sold on soft washing my vinyl sided house instead of pressure washing.

I can buy a pressure washer, but how to I buy a soft washer, and what chemicals do they use? Most searches lead directly to services rather than products. That may indeed be the best option, but I'd love to see what the hardware costs to compare.

When Google fails, GRM prevails.

Hmm... Never seen pressure washing damage vinyl.

Is there special equipment? Pressure washers can deliver liquids at low pressure.

Not sure I would choose a chemical solution in my ground water, but whatever floats your boat.

SVreX wrote: Hmm... Never seen pressure washing damage vinyl. Is there special equipment? Pressure washers can deliver liquids at low pressure. Not sure I would choose a chemical solution in my ground water, but whatever floats your boat.

I have read that it can get behind the vinyl and get trapped in my non-Tyvek'ed OSB wallboards. I've also heard of vinegar being a good cleaner for either solution, which is totally fine on the ground. That's why I am asking, though. I'd also be more willing to do soft washing myself as it can be done from the ground rather than climbing all over the house with a ladder as you'd (I think) need with a pressure washer.

Vinegar may be fine in your groundwater but it is still an acid (although low concentration) and enough of it will still kill the E36 M3 out of landscaping plants.

I got nothing on softwashing, never heard of it. Off to teh googlez...

EDIT: So...it's like spraying your house with soap and a garden hose? Ummm...okay...

I did find a company selling the eqipment though...http://www.powerwash.com/shop-by-industry/soft-wash.html

The $600 softwash machine generates 100 PSI....our local city water system hits around 60psi...pretty sure with the right screw on sprayer I could save about $575...

tuna55 wrote: I have read that it can get behind the vinyl and get trapped in my non-Tyvek'ed OSB wallboards.

Wow. Where did you read that? Is that the latest scare?

You said you were sold on soft washing. I'm not here to convince you otherwise.

But on the issue of water getting behind the siding...

Water CAN get behind the siding when spraying uphill under pressure. In minuscule amounts. In much smaller quantities then the condensation that could normally form.

Vinyl siding is pretty well ventilated. I don't see the problem.

Does your house have tar paper wrapping? Anything?

BTW, chemical washing of the roof makes sense.

Roofs have a porous surface which organic matter is pretty good at growing in. They also have a surface that can be easily damaged by pressure washing.

No so for vinyl.

I've been pressure washing my vinyl sided house for many years with no problems.

I am of the opinion that done properly, powerwashing vinyl siding is fine. Well, maybe not if you're doing it every weekend, but otherwise, it's fine.

I've washed my vinyl sided house(s) for years using a long extension pole and a brush. Used either bleach/water or vinyl wash and hose rinse. Works well. My first house was a Cape Cod style and north wall always seemed to get a little mold on it in the spring. Brush and bleach took care of it. Current house doesn't have that issue. Now that I have a small pressure washer, I use a combination to wash the house at least once a year.

In reply to wlkelley3:

How do your plants like that bleach?

I've never harmed a plant using diluted bleach. I guess I've just been lucky.

BTW I also use a pressure washer

I think its faster to use the garden hose and a carwash brush with an extendable handle on my bungalow. With the scrubbing of the brush, no soap required.

wlkelley3 wrote: I've washed my vinyl sided house(s) for years using a long extension pole and a brush. Used either bleach/water or vinyl wash and hose rinse. Works well. My first house was a Cape Cod style and north wall always seemed to get a little mold on it in the spring. Brush and bleach took care of it. Current house doesn't have that issue. Now that I have a small pressure washer, I use a combination to wash the house at least once a year.

This was going to be my suggestion. At the end of the day, the grime that forms on vinyl siding usually needs more of a scrub then a high pressure blast. Low pressure water plus a LOOOOOOONG scrub brush is the way to do it IMO.

In reply to HiTempguy:

I guess I don't get that. Why work harder to do the same job? I don't use soap with my pressure washer. I just aim it an blow the dirt away. No scrubbing necessary.

In reply to SVreX:

It's all internet sleuthing, albeit a bit more informed than average I would hope.

As far as my house, it's vinyl on OSB, nothing else. I was surprised too.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to HiTempguy: I guess I don't get that. Why work harder to do the same job?

Its not the same job IMO. No different than washing a car. The "grime" that forms is not removed with high pressure water, there just isn't the same mechanical "removal" force involved.

This is my opinion. You don't have to agree with me, but I don't consider a car clean (or siding clean in this case) if I rub my finger over it and something comes away. Then again, I'm pretty anal about these things!

In reply to HiTempguy:

Well you are right, I don't agree, because pressure washing does in fact get my white house clean.

I use the brush on a stick method to clean my vinyl siding.

Ive seen siding torn up with a pressure washer. Undoubtedly generated pressure is a factor. Ive also seen the underlayment torn up with a pressure washer and a ham fisted operator.

Been quite surprized at thr effectiveness of a long poled pool brush, cleaner and lower pressure water.

Here is the note from Mr. Contractor guy, who does both and comes recommended:

1. Softwashing is just that using the same amount of pressure that comes out of a hose the exterior's surface is gently cleaned. A pressure washer is still used to apply the volume of water requires to provide proper cleaning. High pressure will strip, stripe and possibly break the vinyl siding. Also the softwash greatly if not completely eliminates pote potential water damage.

2. The cleaning solution is between 97-98% water. We have never had any issues with landscaping.

I guess I've been lucky, when I lived in a vinyl house it didn't need much cleaning and when it did I used a power washer (extension wands keep one on the ground and off ladders.

Tuna, I was under the impression that a tyvek type housewrap was code almost everywhere, how certain are you that yours doesn't have it?

Hell, all the new construction houses I was putting vinyl siding on back in '95 were only OSB on the corners. The main run of the walls was this mat kind of crap that was the consistency of matted dog hair and made from what seemed to be coconut fiber. you could easily tear through it with a claw hammer. Houses that were fully decked in OSB were unheard of and would have cost the builder a pretty penny.

The running joke was that all construction guys new the easiest way to break into a modern house was to walk around to the back side where the cheap vinyl siding was and tear your way through the wall with a framing hammer. It would be easy - rip off the vinyl and you've got a layer of mat board, some insulation, and then sheetrock. You might be able to jump though it with a good running start.

Most new houses use house wrap.

90% of existing houses do not have it.

KyAllroad wrote: I guess I've been lucky, when I lived in a vinyl house it didn't need much cleaning and when it did I used a power washer (extension wands keep one on the ground and off ladders. Tuna, I was under the impression that a tyvek type housewrap was code almost everywhere, how certain are you that yours doesn't have it?

Certain. Surprised, disappointed, but sure. House is circa 2002.

In reply to tuna55:

So, it's a pressure washer, right?

No such thing as a "soft washer".