When you choose to use a pressure washer on your building or home, it’s always best to hire a professional. A pressure washer is a powerful tool that requires skill and knowledge to use safely and properly. If you need to save the money and do the project yourself, it’s important to keep several important points in mind.
First, make sure you wear the right protective gear. You will always want to use eye protection, and, if you are using harsh chemicals or the material you’re cleaning is dangerous, you may require further protection. A pressure washer is a very powerful tool, and can easily injure you or damage the item you’re attempting to clean.
The next thing to keep in mind is the type of washer you’ll be using. Always research and buy or rent the right washer for the job. And please be careful about the attachment that you’re using. Pressure washers come with different nozzles for various spray angles. The wrong nozzle can cause considerable damage, and a poorly attached nozzle can even become a dangerous projectile!
Once you have your washer and attachment, you'll need to determine the best distance you should keep between the nozzle and the object you’re cleaning. Start from several feet away to test the power of the water stream. Standing too close can have dire consequences. Accidentally penetrating a building with the stream can allow fungus to grow behind walls and destroy them. If you’re cleaning shingles, the force of the stream can easily tear off the sandpaper-like granules, drastically reducing their life. And be wary around glass--windows can easily be blown out of their mountings and be launched into the interior of a building, where they can cause substantial injury and even death.
Finally, be very cautious about the chemicals that you use--the wrong chemical can easily damage the surface that you’re cleaning. Chlorine bleach is a favorite that most inexperienced operators use for siding and other surfaces. Chlorine does kill fungus, but it also kills pigment in siding, protective finishes on wood and casements, and promotes rot. The damage you do will more than offset the problem you cure. If you must use bleach, use it on uncolored concrete like driveways and sidewalks, but even here there are better choices for these surfaces. Washing fungus without the right chemicals is only a temporary solution, and can actually spread the problem to other areas; germs and mold will easily grow back over time.
Bottom line: check labels carefully. Good chemicals are specifically formulated for different types of surfaces; to be safe, make sure they are environmentally friendly and cleared for use in your pressure washer.
These are the best tips we've collected through our experience as an Orlando cleaning services company. We've seen a lot of pressure washing jobs done by others that have gone badly, so we think that it's always safest to hire a professional when handling this kind of powerful tool. But if you do want to pressure wash on your own, keeping these tips in mind should help you take the right precautionary steps to increase your chances of a safe and effective outcome.
