Knowledge center
The chemistry, the stains, and the limits. In writing.
Sodium hypochlorite is bleach chemistry. We say so. These pages are what Alton will tell you before a truck is booked: what the mix is for, what it will not remove, and what we will not promise. 3,533 pages on this site point back to that standard.
People also ask
What chemical is actually in a soft wash?
Diluted sodium hypochlorite, the same family as bleach, plus a surfactant so it can dwell. Then it is rinsed. It is not a secret eco formula.
Is it chemical-free?
No. If the black streaks die, a chemical killed them. We will not use that phrase.
Will bleach remove red clay or rust?
No. Clay is soil. Rust is iron. Oil is oil. Each one is a different product, and bleach is never mixed with the acid used on rust.
How long does it last?
On a shaded wall in this climate, organic film often shows again in a season or two. Sunny walls last longer. Nothing about it is permanent.
Will it burn the plants?
Dry plants can spot. We soak them first and rinse them after. That is the method, not a promise that every leaf is immune.
The chemistry
What is in the tank, what it is for, and what we will not mix.
Sodium hypochlorite is the chemical in a soft wash
It is the same chemical family as liquid bleach and pool chlorinator, diluted for the surface and rinsed off. We will not call it chemical-free.
Why a soft wash needs a surfactant
Water and sodium hypochlorite run off a wall. A surfactant lets the mix dwell on the growth instead of in the flower bed.
Dwell time does the work, not the nozzle
Organic growth dies while the solution sits. Pressure is how people scar a house trying to hurry that.
How plants are protected on wash day
We soak the landscape with water before any mix touches the wall, and we rinse it again after. That is the method. It is not a guarantee that every leaf is immune.
Chemicals that do not go in the same tank
Sodium hypochlorite mixed with ammonia, or with an acid, can make a gas that puts people in the hospital. We do not do that. Ever.
We will not call a soft wash chemical-free
If the black streaks die, a chemical killed them. Water did not. “Green,” “eco,” and “just soap” are marketing words unless the product is named.
Why we will not advertise one mix percentage
Trade practice is a diluted solution, weaker on paint and stronger on heavy organic growth. A single number on a website would be a false promise.
Rust is a different chemical than a house wash
Irrigation rust and fertilizer burns are iron. Sodium hypochlorite will not lift them. A rust treatment is a separate, careful step.
Oil and grease need a degreaser, then a rinse that has a plan
A house-wash mix will not pull set-in motor oil out of concrete. Degreaser, dwell, and agitation might improve it. Years-old oil often will not disappear.
What you will smell, and what is left when we leave
You may smell chlorine while we work. The mix is rinsed. We do not leave a bleach coating on the siding to “keep working” for a week.
Pets, kids, and when the yard is yours again
Keep animals inside while we mix, dwell, and rinse. When the surfaces we washed have been rinsed and are dry underfoot, normal use resumes.
Downstreaming is not the same as a soft wash
A downstream injector sips chemical into a pressure washer. A soft wash puts a known mix on the surface and lets it dwell. The injector is a tool. It is not a method.
Surfaces
Vinyl, brick, shingles, stucco, concrete, and the method each one can take.
Vinyl siding: soft wash, never a close nozzle
Vinyl warps under a hot, close pressure washer and it chalks if you scour it. Organic film comes off with chemistry and a rinse.
Brick and mortar are not a driveway
Mildew on brick is a soft-wash problem. Mortar that is already soft is a mason’s problem. We do not sandblast, and we do not pretend to.
Black streaks on asphalt shingles are algae
The dark runs, especially on the north slope and under trees, are almost always Gloeocapsa algae. Pressure knocks off granules. Granules are the roof.
Metal roofs film up, and they hate a pressure washer
The black film on metal is organic. Pressure dulls the finish and drives water under the laps. We soft wash, and we do not walk a slick slope.
Stucco and EIFS: low pressure, or you own a leak
Stucco texture and synthetic systems can be forced full of water. Organic staining is a soft wash. Cracks are not our repair.
Cedar and wood: kill the mildew, do not raise the grain
Wood holds mildew and it also holds a bad wash forever. Force fuzzes the grain. A wood-safe soft wash is slower on purpose.
Concrete can take pressure. It still needs the right pretreatment.
A surface cleaner is the right tool on a driveway. It is the wrong tool if you skip the clay, the rust, or the oil and expect the wand to erase them.
Pavers: clean the field without emptying the joints
Pressure in the joints blows out the sand. A motor court can be cleaned and still hold together, if the joints are treated as joints.
Gutter brightening is not gutter cleaning
Cleaning takes the leaves out. Brightening treats the tiger stripes on the face of the gutter. They are two visits’ worth of different work, and the chemistry is not mild.
Glass, screens, and what bleach spots
A house wash rinses the glass. It is not a window cleaning. Dried chemistry spots glass, and hard-water etch is already in the pane.
Pool decks: the rinse does not go in the pool
We clean the deck. We do not treat the water, and we do not wash a load of hypochlorite into it and call that “the pool needed chlorine anyway.”
Stains
Algae, clay, rust, oil, and the stains a house wash will not touch.
Black streaks are a colony, not dirt
On roofs and on siding under trees, black runs are algae. They are killed. They are not scrubbed off with force.
Green film on the north wall
The green is organic. It dies with a soft wash. Scrubbing it spreads it and can mark the paint.
Red clay does not rinse off
Clay is soil stained with iron, ground into concrete and splashed onto brick. A hose smears it. Bleach does not dissolve it.
Irrigation rust is iron, and it shows up after the wash
Sprinkler stains hide under dirt. When the organic film is gone, the orange is what remains. That is a rust treatment, not a complaint about the house wash.
Set-in oil: improved is an honest result
Fresh drips release. Old drips that have soaked a summer into the slab often leave a shadow. We will say which one you have.
Oxidation is sun damage, not dirt
If color comes off on your hand, the surface has chalked. A wash should not scrub that chalk into stripes.
Pollen is not a reason for a full soft wash
Yellow pollen rinses. If that is all that is on the house, you do not need a chemical wash. If the film underneath is green or black, the pollen was hiding it.
Tannins from leaves and oaks
Leaves left on concrete and wood leave brown prints. They are not oil, and they are not always a one-rinse fix.
White crust on brick is salt, not mildew
Efflorescence is mineral salt left when water leaves the masonry. Bleach does not solve the moisture, and scraping it like mildew can cut the brick.
Hiring and limits
What a straight quote includes, how long a result lasts, and when the answer is no.
Questions worth asking before anyone washes the house
Ask what chemical, what surface gets pressure, who is insured, and what they will not promise. A straight company is relieved by those questions.
What a real quote includes
A useful quote names the surfaces, the method, and the limits. “Whole house, $X” with no sentences under it is how arguments start.
How long a wash actually lasts here
Organic growth on a shaded wall in this climate often shows again in one to two years. Sunny walls last longer. Nothing we do is permanent.
What goes wrong with a store-bought bleach wash
A jug of bleach, a pump sprayer, and no rinse plan is how plants die and glass spots. The chemical is real. The method is the part people skip.
Jobs we turn down
Failing roofs, paint that is already letting go, a site a lift cannot safely stand on, and anything that asks us to mix bleach with acid.
Granules in the gutter after a roof wash
A few granules in a gutter can be normal age. A handful after a pressure wash is the wash. We do not sell the second one.
Who is insured, and who actually shows up
Southern Style Soft Wash LLC is Alton Johns. The person who quotes the odd, tall, or expensive jobs is the person who does them.
When the job is a lift, and when it is a no
Alton rents the lift and runs the wash. If the grade, the power lines, or the drop make that unsafe, the job does not happen.
What winter is actually for
Mild winters still grow algae, but the work that matters when the hose is unhappy is gutters, leaks at the foundation, and the short list on the house.
What a property manager should expect
A commercial quote names the elevations, the hours, and whether a lift is in the visit. “The building” is not a scope.
HOAs, monuments, and what a wash will not cure
A monument can be soft washed. An HOA letter about dead sod, a leaning fence, or peeling paint is not solved by a washer.
The photos that make a quote honest
Stand back for the whole wall. Then get close to the stain. Send the worst side. A flattering front elevation is how quotes go wrong.