Can Render Be Cleaned?
How’s your render looking lately? Do you have a problem with stained render and are now wondering, ‘Can render be cleaned?’ and if so, ‘How?’
Render is a fabulous exterior option for your property; it’s affordable, looks smart, and protects your property from the elements (good job, given the British weather!) Render is also brilliantly durable and can last decades as long as it’s well-maintained.
Do you want to clean up your render? Do you want it to last for as long as possible to protect your investment and keep your property looking attractive? Would you like to know whether your dirty render can be cleaned and the best way to go about it? Here’s everything you need to know…
What Is Render?
Render is essentially a protective wall covering for the exterior brickwork of your property. It helps to stop erosion and weathering of the brickwork, a shield if you like. The render itself is usually a mix of either sand and cement, lime-based, or a synthetic resin-based coloured render. It’s also extremely pourous, meaning that algae, bacteria and mould sneakily make their home in its pores.
Whichever type of render you have on your property, its efficiency and longevity very much depend on how well it is maintained. Are you seeing stains? Are there algae, fungi or other unknown bacteria growing on your render? If so, your render can become cracked, broken, and compromised.
Your property will then be more exposed to damp, which could cost you a fortune to fix, not to mention the price of redoing your render. So what’s to be done? Can render be cleaned in an effort to avoid deterioration?
Is It Possible To Clean Render?
Can render be cleaned? Yes, it is possible to clean render, as long as you choose the right method. But what does that mean? Well, there are different ways to clean exterior walls, such as power washing, detergents, fungicides and softwashing.
Some of these options are better than others at cleaning and preserving your render. Many modern renders, while better at protecting your property from the elements, are made from more delicate materials such as polymer. Modern renders are excellent at weatherproofing and allowing your property to ‘breathe’, but not so good under pressure and chemicals.
How do you know which cleaning option is right for your render? More on that next…
Why Should You Avoid Power Washing Your Render?
You might be wondering, ‘Can render be cleaned with jet or power washing?’. Most people these days own their own power washer or at least know somebody who does – it may seem like the quickest and easiest option for you to get the clean render results you want.
Stop! Hold up! Before you ask your mate Jimmy if you can borrow his jet washer to clean your render, you should know, it could do more harm than good. That’s right, power washers can actually make your render problems worse.
How’s that? Power washers work by releasing water under immense pressure against the surface you direct them at. The intensity of the water hitting the surface, blasts off the dirt, grime and stains. It’s an effective cleaning method for some types of outdoor surfaces. But your render isn’t one of them.
Powering up a high-pressure washer against your render could leave it in worse condition than before you started – chips, marks, scratches and discolouration are all risks with a power washer. Instead of improving the lifespan of your render, you could bring it to a much earlier demise. Exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.
Can render be cleaned then? What other options are there? Lucky for you, there’s an alternative.
Softwashing Your Render
Softwashing is the supreme cleaning method you may or may not have heard of. No idea what softwashing is? No problem, here’s the low-down:
Softwashing is a gentle yet very effective way to clean your outdoor surfaces, whether it’s your driveway, roof or render. Unlike power washing, a steady gentle stream of water and biodegradable cleaning solution is applied to your render by trained and qualified professionals.
You won’t need to borrow a power washer or buy your own. Nor will you need to put yourself in harm’s way climbing ladders to reach dirty render spots. Worried about cowboy traders? Don’t be. Softwashing requires certification, and you should ask about it when you hire a softwashing company. Decent ones know their stuff and have the qualifications to prove it.
There’s no need for harsh, toxic chemicals or high-pressure water either. The clever biodegradable cleaning solution – that just so happens to also be safe for your pets, children and the environment – gets rid of the grime, bacteria, algae and fungi from the roots out. With the stains and bacteria gone for a good while, you only need to pay for your softwash render maintenance every once in a while.
Softwashing is the ultimate solution to your question, ‘Can render be cleaned?’. And best of all? Softwashing is gentle enough to be perfectly safe on your delicate render, yet capable of handling stains and bacteria. It will leave your render looking as good as new and keep it that way. Think of softwashing as a protective treatment, insurance against deterioration.
You’re probably thinking, ‘That all sounds fantastic, too good to be true – so how much does softwashing cost?’
Typically,softwashing can be a more expensive outlay. For a small 2-3 bedroom house, it’ll set you back in the region of £1000, rising to around £1350 for a medium 4 bedroom house, and up to around £1800 for a large 5 bedroom property.
Softwashing isn’t the cheapest cleaning option. But when you factor in the frequency and suitability of softwashing compared to other cleaning methods, softwashing actually saves you money long-term. With far less chance of damage to your render, and its innovative technique only requiring an occasional application, you’ll likely find it’s the more long-term cost-effective render cleaning choice.
What about time? How long does softwashing take to complete? You can read all about that here. (link to how long does softwashing take to complete?)
Choose Your Render Clean Wisely
In summary, can render be cleaned? It sure can. But make sure you choose a safe option. Harsh chemicals and power washing can create further damage to your delicate render, so it not only looks worn out but is worn down and damaged. Scuffs, chips and stains can all result from the wrong render cleaning method.
Are you worried about choosing the right render cleaning process? Do you want to clean your render without making issues worse? Want to save yourself money in the long run? Then softwashing is the ideal way – protective, effective and value-for-money.
Would you like to know more about how you can make your property look valuable and attractive? Check out our recent post here.