Pressure washing is an ideal way to clean stuck-on dirt buildup in order to make your exterior surfaces look as good as new. However, while the chemicals used in pressure washing detergents may be safe for use around people and for the surfaces being pressure washed, your plants are another story.

Chemicals from pressure washing can indeed hurt or kill your plants. That said, there are steps that you can take in order to protect your plants so that you can have both sparkling clean exterior surfaces and lush landscaping. 

Here is what you need to know about how chemicals from pressure washing can hurt or kill your plants and what you can do to prevent this from happening. 

How Can Chemicals From Pressure Washing Hurt Or Kill Your Plants?

While the chemicals used in pressure washing are safe for the surfaces being pressure washed, such is not the case for your plants. Runoff into your flower beds can lead to plant death due to how the chemicals dehydrate your plants and make it difficult for them to absorb water. 

As long as the pressure washer is not sprayed directly onto the plants – which no professional pressure washer would do! – your plants should be fine. Even if some chemicals do get on them, most plants bounce back quickly, as long as they weren’t sprayed directly. 

How To Protect Your Plants During A Pressure Wash

The steps that you take to protect your plants from chemicals from pressure washing depend on the type of plants you have and how many of them you have.

Just Move Potted Plants

If you have potted plants, you’re in luck. Protecting them from the dangers of pressure washing chemicals is as easy as moving them somewhere else while the job is being done. 

However, if your plants are planted in the ground, you can’t transport them to safety. Fortunately, there are measures you can take in order to protect your planted greenery in addition to your potted darlings. 

Prewet Your Plants, Then Rinse Them Off Afterwards

Prewetting plants fill them up on water so that they are less likely to absorb chemicals. You need to have a mind to the types of plants around, as some are more sensitive than others. Watering and pre-wetting the plants before pressure washes dilutes bleach and detergent runoff. This prevents bleach from dehydrating your plants. 

Rinsing them off after a pressure wash removes chemicals that would have gotten on them. Even a small amount of chemicals left in your garden can lead to plant death, so ensure that you’re thorough with rinsing your plants off after a pressure wash. 

Cover Them Up

Another option to protect your plants from pressure washing chemicals is to cover them up with a plastic sheet. You only want to cover your plants during the pressure wash, because covering them for too long can cut off their air supply. Depending on what you’re having pressure washed, the job can take some time to complete. 

For instance, if you are getting house washing, you don’t want to leave all of your plants covered the entire time. Rather, you can move the sheet as the pressure washers move so that only the plants that are in imminent danger are covered while the others get to breathe freely. 

Watch The Weather

Keep an eye on the weather, as well. This is something that your pressure washer should already be doing, due to how weather can impact the effectiveness of a pressure wash. If it rains soon after your service, this means that the chemicals will stay active for longer and that your plants are at risk of runoff. 

Professional pressure washers will reschedule as needed in order to ensure that your pressure wash is as effective as possible. You want clear skies for at least 24 hours. 

What About Environmentally Friendly Pressure Washing?

Detergent-based pressure washes are more environmentally friendly than bleach, as they are less likely to cause damage to your plants. You still need to exercise caution because less likely doesn’t mean that it won’t, just that the damage won’t be as bad if it happens. 

While soft washing is gentler than pressure washing, you still need to be mindful of the chemicals in detergents and how they can impact your plants. While we here at True Clean Power Wash & Seal use green cleaners, this doesn’t mean that your plants are home-free. Even environmentally friendly detergents can hurt plants, as plants aren’t meant to be exposed to these things. 

Again, watering your plants before a pressure wash and rinsing them off after or covering your plants with a plastic sheet during the process is recommended in order to keep your plants protected. 

Professional Pressure Washers Who Care

True Clean Power Wash & Seal provides professional pressure washing services to revitalize your commercial or residential property in North Carolina. We know how important it is to protect your plants. We don’t want to hurt or kill your plants!

Contact us today for more information about how you can protect your plants from the chemicals from pressure washing or for more information about our services.

If you’re preparing a surface for painting, you’ve likely had both pressure washing and sandblasting presented to you as excellent options. Both pressure washing and sandblasting ensure that surfaces are ready for paint, but they do so in different ways. Depending on your situation, one may be more preferable to you over the other.

Here is what you need to know about the difference between pressure washing and sandblasting so that you can better determine which is right for you.

What Is Pressure Washing?

Pressure washing, sometimes called power washing, is the use of highly pressurized waters and a cleaning solution in order to deep-clean surfaces. Some professionals use chemical cleaning solutions while others prefer to use eco-friendly options, like the team here at True Clean Power Wash & Seal. 

Pressure washing cleans away hard-to-remove residue for a fresh, renewed surface. Since it uses water, there’s no need to worry about dust clouds. While you can DIY pressure washing, it’s better to leave it to the professionals. This is because due to how pressurized the water is, unless you have extensive training and experience, you could accidentally damage your home instead of cleaning it. 

What Is Sandblasting?

Sandblasting is also known as abrasive blasting. Like pressure washing, sandblasting involves the use of highly pressurized materials in order to clean surfaces. Unlike pressure washing, though, sandblasting uses abrasive materials, like sand or glass.

There is both dry sandblasting and wet sandblasting. People typically opt for wet sandblasting when they want to avoid the dust that can result from dry sandblasting. As the names suggest, dry sandblasting uses air and abrasive materials while wet sandblasting uses water and abrasive materials. 

Both pressure washing and sandblasting need to be done by professionals. Sandblasting can also damage your home if done incorrectly, as well as present a fire risk. Professionals know how to sandblast while being mindful of dangers. 

What Is Pressure Washing Best For?

Both pressure washing and sandblasting are good services to have done, it just depends on your needs. Pressure washing is best for cleaning. You can pressure wash many different exterior surfaces, from driveways to roofs and more. Professionals know how to adjust the pressure settings to best suit the material being cleaned.

People have their properties pressure washed in order to clean them. They can also have their properties pressure washed to prep it for a new paint job, by ensuring that they have a nice, clean surface to work with.

What Is Sandblasting Best For?

Both pressure washing and sandblasting can clean your home and prepare it for a new coat of paint. However, if you want to remove old paint or you have residue stuck on your surfaces, you’d likely be better off with sandblasting. 

This is because while pressure washing has the pressure needed to do a deep clean, sandblasting has the abrasiveness needed to remove old finishes and the like. Sandblasting is best for surface preparation. 

Which Is Better: Pressure Washing Or Sandblasting?

When it comes to two different services, people always want to know which one is better. In many cases, as with pressure washing and sandblasting, it isn’t a question of one being superior to the other. It’s a matter of what you’re doing. Depending on the project, one service may be better suited to your needs than the other.

As mentioned above, pressure washing is best for cleaning purposes. You can pressure wash concrete, your house, and more. It’s important to leave this job to the professionals, tempting as it may be to try to DIY it. DIY pressure washing can lead to many issues, including injury and sickness. 

On the other hand, sandblasting is best for removing old finishes. Depending on the pressure used, you can clean with sandblasting, the same as you can with pressure washing. You can also do very powerful settings in order to prepare a surface in mere hours. 

So, if you just need to clean your home, pressure washing is probably better for you. However, if you want to remove old finishes, you would likely be better off with sandblasting.

As you can see, both pressure washing and sandblasting are helpful services to clean your home. They’re also both best left to professional hands, for safety reasons and to prevent property damage.

Do You Need Professional Pressure Washing Services?

True Clean Power Wash & Seal provides professional pressure washing services around the Charlotte, NC area. We can help you give your home a refresh to enhance its curb appeal, ensure that your business is a healthier, safer environment, and prepare your surfaces for painting. Contact us today to learn more about our pressure washing services and how we can help you.