Soft washing siding, wood and brick with BIOLIFT

Surfaces this covers

What you need on the truck

• Soft wash setup or downstreaming pressure washer with a low-pressure tip
• Extension wand for second-storey elevations
• Soft brush for heavily grown areas
• Plenty of rinse water
• Gloves and eye protection

Dilution: Light cleaning 20:1, general cleaning 10:1, heavy cleaning 5:1. Soft washing is a dwell-and-rinse process — resist raising pressure when the answer is a stronger mix or a longer dwell.

Step by step

1. 1

   Walk the elevation and note the materials

   Vinyl, wood, painted trim, brick, glass and screens all sit on the same wall. Note where water can get behind a surface — open seams, damaged caulk, window tracks, weep holes, soffit vents — and plan around them.

2. 2

   Pre-wet plants, mulch and hardscape

   Soak the landscaping and adjacent hardscape before you spray anything, and again after. Pre-wetting dilutes drift, and it is far easier than explaining a stressed hedge later.

3. 3

   Apply low pressure, bottom to top

   Work upward in overlapping sections so runoff always lands on wet surface. Keep the pressure low enough that you are placing product, not driving water into seams and behind siding.

4. 4

   Let it dwell and watch the growth release

   Organic growth needs contact time. Keep the section damp; if it starts to dry in the sun, re-mist with water rather than reapplying product. You will see the surface change colour as the growth releases.

5. 5

   Agitate only where needed

   Heavily grown north-facing walls, wood grain and rough brick sometimes need a soft brush. Follow the grain or the coursing rather than scrubbing in circles.

6. 6

   Rinse top down, then rinse the surroundings

   Rinse from the top so you never re-soil clean surface, and take glass, sills and door tracks deliberately. Finish by rinsing the landscaping and hardscape the runoff crossed.

7. 7

   Treat odour sources as their own step

   Dumpster pads, grease-alley concrete and waste areas are bacteria problems, not stain problems. Treat them separately at the heavier dilution so the odour source is destroyed rather than diluted around the corner.

Mistakes that cost you the job

• Raising pressure on siding — it forces water behind panels and leaves permanent marks
• Spraying dry landscaping and skipping the post-rinse
• Working top down on application, so runoff streaks untreated wall
• Letting product dry on a sunny elevation
• Ignoring window tracks, sills and screens during the rinse

Questions we get asked

Is BIOLIFT a bleach substitute?

It replaces acids, caustics, quats and bleach with one formulation. You get organic removal and odour control without bleach's landscaping and fabric risks.

Is it safe on painted and wood surfaces?

Yes — it is safe on glass, siding, wood, brick, concrete and painted surfaces. Test an inconspicuous area first on aged or failing paint, as with any cleaner.

Does it handle odour, or just stains?

Both. It destroys odour-causing bacteria in the same step as removing soil, grime, soot and mold and mildew stains — which is why food service and municipal crews use it on waste areas.

Can I use it inside a restaurant or kitchen area?

It is approved for personal and commercial use and is widely used in food service settings. For heavy petroleum and cooking grease, pair it with ECOFORCE HD.

More guides

• Cleaning concrete with PUREPOWER XA step-by-step wash process for driveways, sidewalks, cart paths and parking lots — including dilution, dwell and rinse order.
• Aviation degreasing guideHow to degrease aircraft exteriors, hangar floors and ground support equipment with ECOFORCE HD — a solvent-free, butyl-free concentrate rated for Airbus, Boeing and Douglas cleaning.
• Removing efflorescence and hard water stains with PUREETCHReplace muriatic acid on concrete prep, masonry, tile, grout and glass — safely — with a controlled PUREETCH process.