Pressure washing uses pressurized water to cleanse a surface. It can remove or loosen old paint and get rid of mold, grime, mud, dirt, slime, and pollen. Pressure washing is a powerful (and sometimes dangerous) way of getting a tough job done.
How Does Pressure Washing Work?
Pressure washers are gas or electric powered machines that take water from a source and pressurize it into a powerful stream. Water is funneled into the machine through a hose. The machine pressurizes the water. The pressure is represented as PSI or pounds per square inch. This reflects how much water is coming out of your machine at what speed per minute.
The PSI can be adjusted as pressure washing machines typically have a range of pressure. Some pressure washings can pump at tens of thousands PSI (30,000 or higher). For context, a PSI of 1,200 is the maximum you’d want to use when pressure washing a wood deck as higher pressures would cause the wood to split. Needless to say, ultra-high pressure washing in excess of 4,000 PSI is typically reserved for industrial purposes.
What Can Be Pressure Washed?
Typically, pressure washing is used to clean exterior surfaces and vehicles; though, it can have indoor applications (such as showers, bathrooms, or tile floors). Because of the mess of the spray, though, pressure washing is rarely used indoors. That said, the following items are routinely cleaned via pressure washing:
- Building exteriors (including homes)
- Sidewalks, driveways, street curbs
- Decks and patios
- Deck furniture
- Cars, boats, SUVs, canoes, and kayaks
- Industrial equipment
- Fencing
- Gutters / roofs
Different amounts of pressure are required for different projects. Different tips or nozzles are also useful when pressure washing as the tips and attachments can be used for different surface areas. Importantly, you need to know what to use when pressure washing, or you could cause a lot of damage.
For example, if you want to pressure wash your house, if you use a pressure too high, you could end up ripping shingles off the roof or blasting through siding. That’s a very expensive “oops”. Pressure washers turned on people can also inflict serious damage, especially if you’re using a nozzle intended to create a fine stream of pressurized water (such as the red zero-degree nozzle). This is why it’s important to make sure that people and pets are out of the way when pressure washing.
What Does Pressure Washing Do?
You might be wonderful if pressure washers are so dangerous, why do people use them? The answer is simple. Pressure washing removes dirt, debris, mold, mildew, pollen, and paint that simply cannot be removed another away.
Pressure washing thus cleanses surfaces in a way that is thorough and effective. If you’ve ever seen a pressure washer in action, then you know what pressure washing does. Pressure washing removes particles on such a fine scale that you can often see a change in color in whatever it is your cleaning…sidewalks become brighter and whiter, or decks return to their wooden luster.
In terms of what else pressure washing can do is it can also extend the livelihood of your property. Pressure washing gets rid of debris, mold, pollen, etc. that eat away at whatever needs cleaning. Over time, the dirt and damage are harder and harder to remove. Pressure washing once or twice a year, depending on the surface, will keep things newer longer; pressure washing helps minimize the number of repairs you have to make due to damage caused by neglect.
When to Pressure Wash
Pressure washing, as noted, should be done once or twice per year depending on the surface. A deck, for example, can get away with one washing in the spring. The same is true of houses. Other surfaces like driveways and sidewalks and such can be pressure washed twice a year. Fall and spring are the best intervals in which to pressure wash. You don’t want to pressure wash in the winter when there’s a potential for the water to freeze, for example.
Pressure washing does a lot to maintain the aesthetic and integrity of your home. Having your home professionally pressure washed doesn’t take much time, and it pays for itself in the long run.
If you’re interested in learning more about what pressure washing does, contact the experts at Advanced Cleaning. Located in Algood, TN, Advanced Cleaning has over three decades of professional cleaning experience and can answer all of your questions about pressure washing.
