Not everyone knows their soft washing from their pressure washing, do they? Heck, if you're not working in the power washing cleaning game like us, it would be weird if you did.
But sometimes understanding your cleaning service options is vital - especially for render cleaning services. There are so many options out there, you'll be left scratching your head. Or you would be, if we here at RenWash weren't such gems...
Below we'll talk you through all things soft wash - what it is, its benefits, how we carry it out, when to use it, and why it's sometimes the best option for the job.
So, if you're looking for a render cleaning solution for your home or business, look no further. Soft washing (and us) might just be the answer you've been searching for...
Softwash is a render cleaning technique designed to clean a range of render surfaces (more on that below). It's the BEST technique to use when you have organic growth and organic matter messes that need to be removed from the outside of your render surface.
The black stains, red stains, and green algae growth associated with organic matter are unsightly, and they'll take your home or business from a welcoming, beautiful building to a horror film set real quick. Let's face it, black staining on the outside of a property just screams haunting, right?
That's why a render cleaning company like ours will come out and clean render for you.
Softwash simply uses cleaning solution and biocides with a low pressure render cleaning pressure washer that removes the unsightly stains, algae, mould growth, mildew, and other natural organic growth, without damaging your sensitive rendered surface.
But what makes it so special?
Rendered surfaces, despite popular belief, don't require high pressure washing to make it effectively clean. In fact, jet washing with high pressure would be a bad idea with rendered surfaces.
But if we only use gentle cleaning solutions, water, and low pressure, how can softwash be effective at cleaning render?
To illustrate our point, let us talk you through an example of how we might softwash your building to deliver excellent results. (And yes, we will be talking you through it as if we're MI5. But no, it's nowhere near as complicated...)
Like all good secret service missions, we here at RenWash start with a little recon. Sometimes we do this over the phone, as you talk us through your building and the problems you're facing - algae, moss, stains, what have you - and we can get an idea of how we might deal with the issue.
We'll also need info like the size of the building, the exterior surfaces we'll be cleaning (and how many there are), and general information about the property. This just helps us with our weapon selection... Office buildings will need a little more firepower than a 1 bed bungalow, for example.
Next, we pick the weapons we'll need for the job.
Because softwashing relies on a gentle mixture of different cleaning solutions and biocides, we can tailor a solution to your building. Meaning when we spray it, we tackle EVERYTHING. All at once. No fuss.
As a render cleaning business, we also have a range of treatment options available. Sometimes softwashing alone is enough. But in cases where algae growth has run wild, additional work might be necessary to clean up your rendering and restore it to its former glory. You can also check out our post on how to remove green and red algae from walls.
Here, we might use steam cleaning to support the softwash. With exterior cleaning, trial and error are sometimes necessary. But don't worry, we haven't yet come across exterior walls that can beat us.
With an armoury like ours, render cleaning is easy.
All good MI5 agents know that a little target practice is necessary to sharpen up your skills and make sure your weapon is as pin-point accurate as it should be.
That's why when we're on site, we do a little target practice of our own.
We haven't yet caused irreversible damage to rendered walls, but that's because we're careful to ensure we don't. Render surfaces are delicate, which is why we always try out our solution on a small patch before going in.
Start with the pistols, move to the grenades later. Are we right, MI5?
As soon as we're happy that our solution is working, we'll get started. And because we're so good at what we do, that's almost always the case.
And on the rare chance that our solution isn't cleaning quite like it should, we mix together a new solution.
Trial and error. But we don't stop until we win.
Stained rendered walls, we're coming for you.
Next up is the fun part - getting your render looking right.
As soon as we know our solution is going to deliver results, we simply spray the building, cleaning render and saving lives as we go. (OK, maybe not that last part, but we take our render cleaning services seriously).
We spray every render surface from the ground up (roofs included if necessary) and then we wait. Considering our cleaning solution will have different biocides, etc., it may take a while to clean render thoroughly. Usually waiting 15 minutes will do the trick before the cleanup begins...
After waiting 15 minutes, we wash off the solution with just clean water. This will help clean render further, but also removes any harmful biocides that might affect the environment if not dealt with effectively.
We take an eco-friendly approach to our render cleaning services. That means we can clean render all whilst taking the safety of the environment into account. We do our best to protect it from our treatment, and make sure we clean up thoroughly before leaving.
That means washing off the rendering, of course, but the area surrounding the render surface we've cleaned too.
Once everything is washed away and the waste water safely disposed of, we can leave you to your clean render surface and stellar new look!
Cleaning rendering isn't always easy. First you have to take into account the type of render, the type of solution you'll need, and the surface you're working on.
But before all that, you need to know the messes you'll be fighting off.
And it helps if you know the messes softwash can help with, too, because then you'll know when to call us. So, here are the main things softwash cleaning can help with:
If you're facing any of these issues and need to protect your render from unsightly messes, then contact us for a free quote today. We can't wait to transform your wall and show of your building at its best.
Here at RenWash, we take our commitment to protecting the environment seriously, and we know environmental issues will be important to most of you, too.
To help ease your mind, we've already explained how we take the cleanup part of our job just as seriously to ensure wildlife and plants are protected from our work.
But some of you will want to know which biocides, algaecides, and other solutions are used during our cleaning. And we're an open book.
Here are the main chemical solutions we use:
Because we don't always use the same cleaning solution, not all the chemical solutions above will be used. And we may require more nuanced ones on occasion. If you want to know specifics for your project, you can always ask us on site too, and we'll be happy to talk you through exactly what we're using. Check out our guide on cleaning render with bleach.
If you're using chemical solutions, then you can't claim that it is safe for the local ecosystem. But we can PROMISE that we take every available precaution to ensure NO HARM is done. From using plant protection solutions where plants are likely to be affected by our spray to dealing with all waste wash water in the safe and proper manner.
We'll clean the surrounding area - not just your wall - afterwards to make sure any surface that may have been affected by the chemical mixtures we've used are effectively cleaned and the chemical is neutralised.
So no, it isn't safe. But we make sure it comes to no harm.
Just to illustrate how seriously we take our responsibility to your local environments, let us talk you through the lengths we go to in making sure the waste wash water is dealt with properly.
It is illegal to allow waste wash water to enter storm drains in the UK. Which is why our waste wash water collection system doesn't allow for one drop to go where it shouldn't.
And when we take your waste wash water away from the site, we dispose of it according to local guidelines to ensure no harm is done.
Does it take more time and money to do it this way? Yes. But is it worth every second and penny spent on us? You bet!
There are a range of renders that softwashing can be used on:
Just about every other render known to man...
We can't think of a single render surface that softwashing can't be used on.
With that said, if you have concerns about the render on your wall and the suitability of softwash for cleaning that surface, then don't hesitate to speak to a member of our team. Contact us, and we'll give you the same level of expert, friendly advice that you've become accustomed to throughout today's post!
The age old question - softwash vs pressure wash - which should I use?
First, you need to understand the main differences with pressure washing so you can understand why a pressure washer and render surface don't make the best of friends...
Softwashing is all about cleaning the render on your wall in a gentle, yet effective way.
Pressure washing is all about blasting the living daylights out of things until it barely knows who, what, or where it is. And don't get us wrong, the high pressure of pressure washing is some of the most fun you can have - but it's best kept away from render.
So, if you have a delicate render - anything from monocouche to k rend, tyrolean to roughcast - remember that softwashing is the answer to your dirty render problem. You can also check out our guide on how to clean roughcast render.
Often we see people wondering if softwash cleaning is something that can be done on commercial as well as residential buildings.
And yes.
It can.
We're not fussy here at RenWash. If you've got a render that needs cleaning, we'll be there to handle it - no matter your building classification!
Throughout today's post we're sure we've charmed you, shown off our expertise, and convinced you that render is all we think about day in, day out (much to the annoyance of our friends and family).
But if you still need a little nudge in the RenWash direction, here's a quick summary of why we're (probably - according to our recent research into the matter asking RenWash employees) the best in the world at what we do!
"My render never looked so good." - You, after hiring us to clean your render.
That's how confident we are that we can deliver incredible results that will change your render and change your lives.
Or, you know, the render at the very least...
We don't hang around when we're hired. If you've got a render cleaning job that needs taking care of, we're quick to deliver the best results we can.
ALL the amazing results with ZERO fuss.
All you have to do is contact us and tell us about the render problems you're facing, and Voila, we'll take care of the rest.
Because your render will look better than ever before, your building will too. That means more compliments from friends and family. More customers wandering into your premises. And more bragging rights.
Who knew a little render spruce up could change so much?
Our softwashing render cleaning services deliver every time. So, if you've got organic growths, dirt, or general messes on your render, there's really only one solution: RenWash.
Call or contact us today for a free quote, and we'll be able to fight your render problems together.
MI5 style.
(But if MI5 dealt with algae, not national security threats...)
