Services / Soft Washing
Low-pressure exterior cleaning that lifts algae, mildew, and moss with biodegradable detergent instead of force — the right method for roofs, stucco, and painted siding. Licensed, insured, and trusted across the Sacramento region since 2005.
Soft washing is exterior cleaning that does the work with chemistry instead of force. Rather than driving water at a surface at two or three thousand PSI, we apply a biodegradable detergent that breaks down algae, mildew, moss, and lichen, give it time to work, and then rinse at roughly garden-hose pressure. The surface is never asked to survive the cleaning.
That distinction matters because most of what dirties a Sacramento-area exterior is alive. The green haze on a north-facing wall, the moss in the eaves, and the black streaking across a composition roof are all organisms, not dirt. Blasting them removes the visible layer and leaves the organism rooted in the surface — which is exactly why a pressure-washed wall looks clean for one season and then goes green again. Soft washing kills it at the root, so the results hold for years rather than months.
The second reason is damage. A great deal of the Sacramento region's housing — stucco tracts in Roseville and Natomas, pre-war bungalows in East Sac and Land Park, mid-century ranches in Rancho Cordova — is built from materials that high pressure harms: porous stucco, decades-old paint, wood siding, stone veneer. Soft washing takes force out of the equation entirely, which is what makes it safe on all of them.
Neither is better. They are different tools, and using the wrong one is how exteriors get damaged. Here is how we decide.
If high pressure could strip a finish, pit a surface, or force water behind it, that surface wants soft washing.
Composition shingle, tile, and metal. The black streaking on Sacramento roofs is a living organism — pressure washing strips granules and shortens roof life. Soft washing is the method roofing manufacturers accept.
Porous and brittle. High pressure pits the surface, opens hairline cracks, and forces water into the wall assembly behind it.
Clapboard, shiplap, and painted trim. Pressure lifts finish and drives water between boards. Low pressure and detergent do not.
Looks tough, but pressure gets behind the laps and traps moisture in the wall. Soft washing cleans the face without that risk.
Growth roots into the texture where rinsing cannot reach. Pressure pits the face and erodes mortar joints — an expensive repair.
Screens tear under pressure. Eaves and soffits collect moss, cobwebs, and nests and are usually the dirtiest part of a well-kept house.
Not sure whether your exterior needs soft washing or pressure washing?
We will tell you which one it is — free estimates, no pressure either way.
It lasts longer. Because the detergent kills algae and mildew at the root rather than removing the surface layer, regrowth is delayed by years. Pressure washing the same wall buys a season.
It does not damage the finish. No stripped paint, no pitted stucco, no eroded mortar, no water forced behind siding. On an older or high-end exterior, any one of those repairs costs more than the cleaning did.
It reaches what pressure cannot. Growth roots into texture — stucco, stone, and shingle all hold it below the surface where a rinse never reaches. Detergent gets into that texture and lifts it out.
It protects the roof. Soft washing is the accepted method for removing roof algae. Pressure washing a composition roof strips the granules that make the shingle work and takes years off its life.
For homeowners, soft washing is what restores a house that has gone quietly green without risking the paint. It is the method for stucco tracts, pre-war bungalows with original siding, shaded north walls, and the eaves and soffits that are always the dirtiest part of an otherwise well-kept home. HOA maintenance notices about exterior mildew are one of our most common calls, and this resolves them without a finish-damage risk.
For businesses and property managers, soft washing cleans building exteriors, multi-unit siding, and shaded walkways without the disruption, overspray, and damage risk that a high-pressure crew brings to an occupied property. We work with HOAs, property management companies, offices, retail centers, and multi-unit properties across the region, and we schedule around your tenants and your business hours rather than the other way around.
Need the whole exterior envelope handled as one job? That is our house washing service, which uses this same low-pressure method across the full house.
Soft washing is mostly patience. Here is how a Bailey Boys crew works a property.
We look at what the exterior actually is — siding type, paint condition, roof material, problem elevations — and tell you honestly what will clean up and what will not.
Plantings around the work area are pre-rinsed and protected before any solution is applied.
A biodegradable detergent is applied at low pressure and given time to work. Dwell time is what does the job — not force.
A controlled, low-pressure rinse carries the growth away. The surface is never asked to survive the cleaning.
Landscaping gets rinsed again, the work area is cleared, and we walk the results with you before we leave.
Safety is the reason we do it this way. Every crew member is trained, background-checked, and covered by our liability insurance. We work from the ground wherever the method allows, which keeps ladders off your siding and people off your roof — walking a tile roof cracks tiles, and walking a composition roof in the Sacramento heat scuffs granules. Soft washing lets us clean a roof without repeatedly walking it.
Bailey Boys Services is a family-owned, locally operated company that has been cleaning Sacramento-area exteriors since 2005, backed by 25+ years of industry experience, 1,715+ five-star reviews, and a satisfaction guarantee on every job. We were voted Best of Orangevale in 2022 and 2023, and finished Top 3 in 2025. If we do not think soft washing is what your exterior needs, we will tell you that too.
The full exterior envelope — siding, eaves, and trim — cleaned with this same low-pressure method.
Soft washing applied to the roof — the only safe way to clear black streaking from shingle and tile.
The right tool for concrete, pavers, and block — driveways, patios, and hardscape.
Soft washing is exterior cleaning that uses a biodegradable detergent to kill algae, mildew, moss, and lichen at the root, then rinses at low pressure — roughly what a garden hose delivers. The cleaning power comes from the solution rather than from force, which is what makes it safe for surfaces that high pressure would damage.
Pressure washing cleans by force, driving water at a hard surface at high PSI to strip material off it. Soft washing cleans by chemistry at low pressure. Pressure is the right tool for concrete, pavers, and block. Soft washing is the right tool for anything that can be damaged or that water can get behind — painted siding, stucco, wood, screens, and roofs.
Roofs of every type, stucco, painted wood and clapboard siding, vinyl and fiber-cement, cultured stone and stone veneer, screens, window frames, eaves, soffits, and fascia. As a rule: if high pressure could strip a finish, pit a surface, or force water behind it, that surface should be soft washed.
It should not. The detergents are biodegradable, and we pre-rinse and protect plantings around the work area before we start, then rinse them again once we are done. If you have anything you are particularly protective of, point it out on the walkthrough and we will plan around it.
Typically two to three years for most Sacramento-area homes — considerably longer than pressure washing, because killing the growth at the root delays regrowth rather than just removing the visible layer. Heavily shaded homes under a mature tree canopy sit toward the shorter end of that range.
Tell us what your exterior looks like and we will tell you what it needs. No obligation.