Customers often wonder if we pressure wash with chemicals. Before we address that, let’s clarify the use of the term “pressure washing.” This term is often used mistakenly when customers mean “soft washing” or “house washing.” We use different cleaning systems for specific parts of your property to ensure the job is done right and without any damage to your home. You don’t want us to pressure wash your roof or siding like we would your driveway (see our blog on The Power of Soft Washing to learn more). With that technical clarification aside, let’s move on to the topic this blog will clarify. 

When our customers ask, “Do you use chemicals,” what they’re really asking is, “Are your practices eco-friendly?” After all, just about everything is a chemical. It’s not about whether or not we use chemicals. It’s about which chemicals we use and if they are harmful to our customers, their property, or the environment.

What is a chemical, and does that apply to house washing?

The word “chemical” conjures the image from the original ‘Batman’ movie with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson when the Joker fell into a vat of chemicals. It was slimy and obviously toxic. But not all chemicals are. If you jump into a pool of pure water, you’re jumping into a chemical. 

Technically, a chemical is any substance consisting of matter. Hydrogen and oxygen make up water (H2O); most toothpaste contains zinc oxide (ZnO). Both are chemicals, safe, and eco-friendly. Furthermore, chemicals are often necessary to improve the safety and cleanliness of a given environment. For example, chlorine dioxide (CIO2) is used to disinfect drinking water (article here). And, as we noted in our blog on soft washing with bleach, the context and use of a chemical dictate whether or not it’s safe. While bleach is an effective chemical for stopping the spread of Covid-19, it should not be ingested or injected (article here). Hopefully, you didn’t need this information, but you may be eligible for a Darwin award if you did. 

Our snarkiness aside, it’s not about whether or not your exterior cleaning services contractor uses chemicals. It’s about which chemicals they use and how. 

Does your contractor use eco-friendly soft washing chemicals?

DAPrDAN’s mission is to serve you. If chemicals were inherently harmful to you, your property, or the environment, we would not use them. Also, we’d be out of business since we wouldn’t be able to clean your home without them. Therefore, when our customers ask if we use chemicals, we inform them that every solution we treat their property with is both a chemical and biodegradable, which means it will decompose by natural biological processes. So, when you’re shopping for eco-friendly pressure washing, ask the contractor if the chemicals they use are biodegradable (and confirm they won’t actually pressure wash your roof or siding, as we stated in the introduction). If they don’t use biodegradable chemicals or aren’t sure, run in the opposite direction. Contractors new to the business are known to inadvertently create homemade mustard gas by mixing chlorine bleach with phosphate-based dishwasher detergent. Your exterior cleaning services contractor should know which chemicals they use because they mindfully chose them with you, your home, and the environment in mind. And, if they did mindfully choose non-biodegradable chemicals, well…we don’t know what to say to that. It’s just not good for anyone.

Prior to eco-friendly chemicals for soft washing, houses were washed with high pressure and water. While this seems environmentally friendly, its consequences were not. Because the high pressure tore off the home’s paint, primer and new paint were used to replace it. Both these chemicals are not eco-friendly.

Everything DAPrDAN does, including the chemicals we use and the methods we apply them, is on purpose with your well-being in mind. This is why we are certified by Softwash Systems, which is vital for many reasons, including the fact that we use their biodegradable cleaning solutions. Softwash Systems went to great lengths early in their tenure to create a biodegradable cleaning solution. (i.e., eco-friendly). They’ve always been committed to eco-friendly practices. In their own words, they are not “a new GREEN company.” Hopefully, when you read what they write on their Chemicals page, you will disconnect the association between the word “chemical” and the Joker’s vat in ‘Batman’ and replace that association with a clean home in a lush, vibrant neighborhood. Or even better, maybe you can think of DAPrDAN instead (*wink wink*). 

Can you clean your property without chemicals?

Whether soft washing your roof or pressure washing your driveway, chemicals are necessary to treat your property with the appropriate care to get the job done right. This is the case because everything is a chemical, as we’ve already established, and because effective cleaning solutions applied by qualified technicians will remove dirt, debris, and organic growth while preventing it from growing back. Fortunately, you now know that this is not a bad thing.

Now that we’ve alleviated your anxiety about chemicals, we must state the obligatory and obvious, though true: if your property needs any exterior cleaning services, DAPrDAN is your trusted partner with your best interests in mind serving Seattle and surrounding cities, including Burien, Medina, and Deer Harbor. 

Get an instant quote today.