When you realise that the exterior surfaces of your home and its immediate surroundings need cleaning, you have several options and the two cleaning methods which come to the fore are pressure cleaning and power cleaning.
However, although both of them have their merits, they also tend to generate a great deal of confusion for some homeowners.
One of the reasons is that the terms pressure cleaning and power cleaning are often used interchangeably as though they were the same cleaning process, but that is not the case.
As such, many homeowners arrange power cleaning for their homes when what they need is pressure cleaning, and vice versa.
Thankfully, professional pressure cleaning and power cleaning companies will ascertain when a homeowner calls which type of cleaning service they need and arrange for that to be done if they offer that service.
A more problematic scenario arises when a homeowner tries to do the cleaning as a DIY project, hires the equipment they think they need, and tries to use it for cleaning purposes, only to discover that it does not have the cleaning effect they were expecting.
Worse, it may even do some damage to their property, albeit that is only in the very worst cases.
To help anyone reading this who is somewhat confused between the terms pressure cleaning and power cleaning, here are some key differences to ensure that when you need to use one or the other, you know exactly what exterior cleaning service you should be hiring.
- The first difference is that whilst both use water, power cleaning does not always rely on high-pressure water. Instead, it uses heat so that the water is hot when it meets the surfaces being cleaned, whereas with pressure cleaning the water is usually cold.
- The hot water in power cleaning acts to help ‘melt’ away substances like oil stains, mould, and mildew. With pressure cleaning, it is the extremely high pressure of the water when it hits the surfaces being cleaned that blasts away the dirt, grime, mould, and mildew.
- Power cleaning machines usually consist of a water tank that has a heating element in it to heat the water, a wand to direct the water, and are powered primarily by a small diesel motor. The unit usually has wheels, or it is mounted on a trolley so it can be moved around.
- Pressure cleaning machines are somewhat simpler in that they require no heating equipment, but they will often look identical to a power washer with a wand and a trolley to move it to wherever it is to be used.
- The water pressure from a pressure cleaning machine can reach as high as 2,800 psi to give it the force required to remove hardened dirt, grime and other undesirables which have attached themselves to the exterior of homes.
- Power cleaners are ideal for removing chemical and man-made substances such as oil, petrol, paint, and grease. Pressure cleaners are best when dirt, grime, and natural phenomena such as mould and mildew need to be removed, especially if they are clinging stubbornly to exteriors.
In closing, we must point out that both cleaner types must be used with caution and care, as both can damage surfaces and exteriors if used incorrectly.
The best advice we have is that you hire a local professional pressure cleaning or power cleaning company who are the experts in cleaning residential exteriors.
