Q: Help me understand soft wash roof cleaning?
Back in 2008 I cleaned my shingles with a contractor grade roof cleaner. I mixed the product with water, sprayed it onto the shingles with a pump sprayer, then after 30 minutes rinsed it off with a wide spray on my pressure washer (green tip I think).
I am not sure how a roof shampoo or soft wash is different from what I did years ago. Any ideas?
R Harris from Gulf Shores
A: Soft Wash Roof Cleaning = Chemical Cleaner & Low Pressure Rinse
- Are you using bleach on my roof?
- Are you using a pressure washer on my roof
Of course the answer to the first question (are you using bleach? ) should always be NO !
But the answer to are you using a pressure washer really shouldn’t be no. Why? Gravity The reality of roofs being over head means that household water pressure has to work even harder to get to the roof, which means the pressure is lower. Typically a garden hose at roof level will output no more than 65psi in a jet stream, and well under 10 psi in a fan spray.. Essentially useless!
A pressure washer (also called a power washer in some areas) is needed to get a consistent working pressure onto the roof. Not a crazy roof drilling 3000psi of pressure, but a working pressure between 150 – 200psi. So to get in front of the question of a pressure washer, the term soft wash roof cleaning became one of several roof cleaning buzzwords. ( High Volume Low Pressure Rinse, Roof Shampoo and others). All these terms mean is a sensible use of pressure to rinse the roof without damaging the shingles (or roof tiles).
So to answer your question. Back in 2008 when you cleaned your roof you actually were performing a ‘soft wash roof cleaning’ ! What’s different now? Nothing , just better terminology from an roof cleaning industry that is maturing. So order the same Contractor Roof Cleaner you had back then, and put that green tip on the pressure washer and soft wash your roof again!
Thanks for the quick answer to my question. I agree with your idea that “if you have a question then so might some one else…”
Funny you mentioned the ‘someone else might ask’.
I had almost finished an email to ask about soft wash roof cleaning, but decided to google it.
And turns out the answer was right here!