DIY House Wash Safety
Always wear the proper PPE! Pressure washing and soft washing can be very dangerous. Be aware of your surroundings. Make sure that your ladders and other equipment is in proper working condition before you get started. Soft house wash chemicals can be irritating to the eyes, skin and respiratory system if not handled properly. If you are not comfortable on a ladder or working with bleach, please call a professional. DIY house wash is not for everyone.
Safety Glasses
Gloves
Hat
Clothes
DIY House Wash Equipment
The main things that are needed to soft wash a vinyl house are a ladder, a bleach pump-up sprayer, a pressure washer, outdoor bleach or liquid pool shock, and detergent. The detergent must be bleach-stable. Do Not use liquid dish soap. All hardware stores have DIY house wash soaps or laundry detergent that can be used. A water hose with a high-range nozzle can be used in place of a pressure washer.
Soft House Wash Directions
Cover all fragile plants with plastic. Bushes and other shrubs should be thoroughly rinsed before, during, and after treatment. Mix the beach and water to dilute the bleach to 1%. The percentage of the bleach should be on the bottle. For instance, 2 gallons = 7.57 liters. So for a 2-gallon sprayer and 12% bleach, the equation would be: (.12x_ ) / 7.57= .01. This would be .63 liters of 12% bleach in a 2-gallon sprayer. Sorry for the math quiz. Now mix in approximately 1 ounce of soap and shake it all up.
Start spraying in 10 foot sections from the bottom up as high as the sprayer will reach from the ground. Once the algae have disappeared, it is ready to rinse. Use the black 65 degree nozzle on the pressure washer or a garden hose to rinse the section. Most pump-up sprayers will not reach more than one story high. DIY house wash isn’t recommended for two or more stories. Repeat this process over the entire surface of the exterior wall. Make sure to coat spider webs and other debris with the house wash mix solution. The detergents will make them easy to rinse. It is very dangerous to spray while on a ladder. Be sure that you have a spotter on the ground and take your time. Never mix the bleach in the pressure washer soap reservoir. It will cause damage.
Professional Soft House Wash
A professional company should possess the equipment that makes house washing substantially easier and safer. With the proper equipment, spraying 3 stories from the ground is possible. Detergents should be high-grade and made for the purpose of house washing. ProClean never uses store-bought bleach. We have our chemicals and detergents delivered from well-known and trusted sources in the industry. This post is for informational purposes only. ProClean Power & Soft Wash LLC does not recommend homeowners without experience to DIY house wash with chemicals, high pressure, or ladder work.