Rant: People confuse power washing with soft washing way too often

I was at a job site downtown last Tuesday and a homeowner watched me set up, then asked why I wasn't using a 4000 PSI gun on their old siding. They were convinced higher pressure means better cleaning, but that's how you shred wood and force water behind windows. Has anyone else run into folks mixing up the two methods?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage_dixon9d ago

@sandra_anderson2 I gotta push back a little here. You said "spray of doom" like high pressure is always bad, but it has its place. I've seen soft wash guys foam up a roof and still leave streaks because they didn't have enough muscle to flush out deep dirt. For driveway gunk or concrete stains, you sure as heck aren't getting that off with a garden sprayer. @miles946 probably knows what I'm talking about. Soft wash is great for siding and shingles, but acting like pressure is useless just ain't right. There's a middle ground where both tools earn their keep.

sandra_anderson21mo ago

Sympathize with you completely on this one. Had a lady last spring who watched me set up my soft wash gear for her vinyl siding and kept asking if I could "just crank up the pressure a bit more" like I was being lazy. I tried to explain that a 4000 PSI gun would rip through her siding like butter, but she just shook her head. Later I saw her on Nextdoor raving about a guy who used a pressure washer to clean his house... then a follow up post about how his siding is all warped and windows are leaking. Drives me nuts how folks think the spray of doom is always the answer.

miles9461mo ago

That Nextdoor post must've stung, especially since she ignored your advice and then praised the guy who messed up his own house. Did she ever circle back and admit you were right, or did she just double down and avoid you after that?