Mistakes To Avoid When Pressure Washing Around The Home

Pressure washing is a great way to get various components of your home and yard clean. The high pressure of the water coming out of the device can power away grime, scum, and caked-on dirt. However, there are a few common mistakes you want to avoid when using a pressure washer. 

Mistake #1: Skipping the pre-soak.

Sometimes people just turn on the pressure washer, put the highest-pressure tip on the wand, and start blasting away. This will work, but you'll have to spend a lot of time pressure washing each area. A better approach is to first pre-soak the surfaces you plan on cleaning. Do this with a low-pressure tip, and possibly with a solution made specifically for soaking the surface you are cleaning. For instance, if you're cleaning concrete, use a concrete pre-wash solution. The pre-soak will help loosen grime so that when you later pressure wash with a higher-power tip, more of the grime comes away.

Mistake #2: Ignoring the angle of the wand.

As you power wash any surface, you need to pay attention to the angle at which you are holding the wand. If you hold the wand at too much of an angle, the pressure washing won't be as effective. You may notice some little bands of grime that remain. So, while you pressure wash, you want to make sure you hold the wand perpendicular to the surface. This will give you the most even results, speeding up the power washing process.

Mistake #3: Starting at the bottom.

When you're power washing a vertical surface, like a fence or the side of your home, it may be tempting to do the bottom part first because it's easiest to reach. But if you do this, when you later wash the upper portion, the grime from the top portion will run down onto your previously cleaned lower portion. So, it's best to start at the top of the surface and work your way down. This way, the dirt won't run down over the freshly cleaned surfaces. Yes, this approach means you'll have to get up on a ladder early on. But it will save you work in the long run.

When pressure washing your home or around your home, make sure you avoid the mistakes above. After you do this a few times, you'll get into the routine, and power washing will become second nature to you. For more tips, contact a residential pressure washing service, such as Charity Window Cleaning, near you.