How to clean a roof.

That is a statement that will get a few different answers. Although their is only one way that the asphalt manufacturers recommend to clean roofs, there are many companies that are cleaning roofs other ways. One of the worst things that can be done to clean a roof is using a pressure washer, or a surface cleaner. Homeowners are told that low pressure is being used with these machines but they are running at anywhere from 500-2000 psi. If you don’t think this will dislodge granules from your shingles take a look in your gutters. Rain itself will dislodge some granules from the roof so it stands to reason that using this kind of pressure on the roof will remove a lot of granules. Will a home owner be able to see it? The answer is no they probably won’t. This is because their are millions of granules on the roof. But what happens is so many granules are removed that what has basically happened is a couple years of protection has just been blown away. And this type of cleaning needs to be done every couple of years to keep it clean. After a few roof cleanings done this way you just took years of life off your shingles.

Soft wash Roof Cleaning

The concept of soft washing roofs came into existence a little over 20 years ago. It began in Florida where there was a huge explosion of the algae growing on roofs turning them black. With the some trial and error, and talking with the manufacturers of the shingles a way to safely clean roofs was developed. This method of cleaning has seen huge advancements in the last few years in both equipment used, and the cleaners and detergents. In layman’s terms what happens is: low pressure pumps are used to apply special detergents to the roof that clean and remove the algae, moss and lichen from the roof.

What about the chemicals that are used

What is the main ingredient used for soft washing roofs? Sodium Hypochlorite is what is used. This is also known as bleach. Bleach is used in so many things in our life and is not bad when used by professionals. Many companies that use pressure to clean roofs also say they use green cleaners. But, what they don’t tell you is it is the pressure that is doing the cleaning, not their chemicals. They will claim that the use of bleach will kill all the plants. Well, with trained professional roof cleaners, this is not the case. What is needed to protect landscaping is known and used. Many different treatments have been tried over the years to clean roofs and there is nothing that does the job as good or as cost effective for the homeowner as the soft wash roof cleaning does.