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Benz Softwash Systems

 

BENZ "CLEAN & MAINTAIN" PROFESSIONAL SOFTWASH SYSTEMS

Using our "Clean & Maintain" approach to professional soft washing means you can keep your customers' properties permanently clean.

Watch this short (1 minute) video to quickly and easily understand soft washing

Click here to download our Product Documentation Pack (includes simple Application & Dilution guides, SDS, PDS, RAMS, PPE & Mask info, COSSH, sample Contract and more)

 

What are the Benz "Clean & Maintain" Professional Softwash Systems?

The essence of Benz "Clean & Maintain" Professional Softwash Systems is to first sterilise and clean the unwanted organic material – sometimes referred to as the "biofilm" – from exterior surfaces.

We use Benz Lightning Cleanze and/or Tornado Cleanze are to achieve this as they offer the rapid cleaning results most customers want.

We then protect the surfaces from re-colonisation by biological growths, through applying a residual-action biocide – Benz Bio Cleanze. This product penetrates deeper into the surface than can other cleaning products killing any remaining spores. And continues to be active for up to a year or even more.


Quick tip: The time that residual protection lasts for depends on a number of variable factors, such as:

  • The porosity of the surface (Bio Cleanze cannot offer residual protection on non-porous surfaces)
  • The strength of the applied product
  • How soon it rains after application
  • How clean the surface was before being treated with Bio Cleanze

Bio Cleanze should be applied immediately after treatment with Lightning Cleanze and/or Tornado Cleanze – also after pressure, power or jet washing – as part of an ongoing maintenance programme.

Lightning Cleanze and Tornado Cleanze are "first clean" treatments that sterilise the surface from unwanted biological growths and their spores. 

They can be used as stand-alone softwash solutions, or in conjunction with pressure, jet or power washing. They are also the perfect partners for use in conjunction with Bio Cleanze.

 

Lightning Cleanze is the only government approved sodium hypochlorite softwash biocide

 

Bio Cleanze continues to have a cleaning effect through time and can be used as a stand-alone first clean product in it's own right, on porous surfaces.

In the context of the Benz "Clean & Maintain" Professional Softwash Systems Bio Cleanze is applied as a post-cleaning treatment that soaks deep into porous exterior surfaces.

It can be applied following pre-cleaning with Lightning Cleanze, Tornado Cleanze or power washing, offering residual biocide protection.

Click here to learn more about "residual biocide protection" against recolonisation

The principles of Benz "Clean & Maintain" Professional Softwash Systems can be applied to most exterior hard surface such as:

  • Rendered walls (dry dash, pebble dash, coloured render including K Rend and Weber)
  • Tiled and slate (natural and artificial slate) roofs
  • Industrial buildings (including Kingspan and other metal cladding)
  • Painted surfaces
  • uPVC gutters, soffit and fascia
  • PVC coated surfaces
  • Stone
  • Tarmac
  • Concrete
  • Brick
  • Timber structures such as decking, sheds, fencing, and wooden boats. (The active ingredient in Bio Cleanze and Perma Cleanze is a highly effective wood preservative)

Applying complementary biocides in lower dilution strengths than when used alone, improves health and safety for staff, customers and the general public.

And including light power washing only when necessary, cleaning contractors can now meet their customer's expectations of enjoying a permanently clean property.

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Your choice of "Clean & Maintain" softwash systems

Benz "Clean & Maintain" Professional Softwash Systems have flexibility and choice built-in – which means they give you options to suit your customer's individual needs and finances:

1) Rapid softwashing plus good protection against re-colonisation

Lightning Cleanze / Tornado Cleanze + Bio Cleanze

For customers who want the fastest and longest lasting clean.

2) Rapid softwashing only

Lightning Cleanze only, or in conjunction with Tornado Cleanze.
The choice, for example, of someone selling their property who wants it to look the best when being viewed but is not interested in looking after it long-term.

This approach works well when:

  • A "rapidly clean" effect is required, which is what the majority of customers want and expect.
  • The surface is contaminated with black, red or green algae – or white, black and yellow lichen, mould and moss.
  • The surface is soft, such as sandstone – which cannot be power washed without increasing the weathering effect and causing damage.
  • The surface to be cleaned is hard, smooth, and non-porous such as uPVC, steel tanks and piping, and painted surfaces.
Quick tip: Our experience is that treating with Bio Cleanze is usually the best choice for porous roof surfaces and often even non-porous surfaces such as slate – because its chemical nature enables it to get under the laps and into crevices that other products cannot.

3) Slower soft washing plus some protection against re-colonisation – at a lower price

This option can be used when colonisation is red, green or very light black algae or yellow lichen. The customer must be willing to wait some time for results. The residual biocidal protection will be relatively limited as the active ingredient in Bio Cleanze will have been partially, or even completely, broken down by organic matter and the biological growths. Therefore a second treatment after a few weeks may be required to offer longer-term residual protection.

Quick tip: It can sometimes be a good idea for the contractor to draw up a written contract, signed by the customer, to ensure their agreement to wait up 6-12 months for the full cleaning effect to be seen. Memories can be unreliable ...

From then on, a maintenance schedule, offering repeat treatments of Bio Cleanze every 6-36 months, is an excellent service to offer your customers.

We do not advocate asking domestic customers to sign a maintenance contract as this can put them off. But commercial customers are usually fine with a formal contract and can even appreciate it as a sign of professionalism.

This approach works particularly well when:

  • The customer wants to save money and is willing to wait some time to see the full cleaning effect.
  • The surface staining is mostly from red or green algae.
  • Some elevations have black staining and the others are red or green. As it's not essential to use Lightning Cleanze on all the surfaces, this brings down the cost to the customer.
  • The job consists of large areas of concrete (car parks, etc) of medium colonisation, and when the customer is willing to wait. It offers minimal risks to the general public and is very cost-effective.
  • Used for ongoing maintenance programmes, offering residual biocide protection against re-colonisation when applied every 6-36 months*. If caught in time the algae, and other growths, will not have time to build up and cause a problem. So customers can enjoy their property being perpetually clean, usually eliminating the need for repeated power washing.

    * The length of time a surface will remain clear from colonisation depends upon multiple variable factors such as the porosity of the surface, ambient temperature, presence of organic matter such as leaves and grass cuttings, and the general local environment (e.g. the presence of overhanging trees, hedges, shaded areas, etc).


4) Light pressure washing followed by soft washing with Bio Cleanze

Post-treating with Bio Cleanze achieves long-lasting results that cannot be achieved through power washing alone.

This is because pressure, or power washing does not kill the spores, which rapidly re-colonise, leading to the customer's property rapidly looking "dirty" again.


This approach works well for:

  • Pre-cleaning of horizontal surfaces – e.g. paths & patios – to remove surface debris and grit prior to brushing in a softwash chemical (avoiding potential damage to the surface from brushing in grit).

  • Heavy colonisation of horizontal surfaces that soft washing alone may not be able to shift.
  • Cobblelock, block paving, with heavy weed and moss growth.
  • Shaded areas that will not be exposed to heavy weathering and so may not fully self-cleanse using Bio Cleanze alone.

 

More and more pressure washing companies are adding soft washing to their services to gain an edge over their competition

 

 

5) High pressure washing alone without a post-treatment of Bio Cleanze

  • Not recommended


Quick tip: Benz Softwash Ltd were the first to originate and develop the principle of using of two complementary biocides in our "Clean & Maintain" softwash systems. We put in hundreds of hours researching, testing and refining our products and specialised application systems.

Because of our years of experience and knowledge we are now in the best possible position to help our customers establish highly profitable soft washing businesses.

 

USE BENZ "CLEAN & MAINTAIN" SOFTWASH SYSTEMS TO BUILD REPEAT BUSINESS

 

Click the links below to learn more about Benz softwash products:

 

Benz Softwash "clean & maintain" systems help build your professional soft washing business by creating repeat business

If you already run a cleaning or garden maintenance business adding a soft washing service could take your company to the next level of profitability.

And if you want to start a brand new business, then soft washing using Benz "Clean & Maintain" professional soft wasing systems could be just what you've been looking for.

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Softwashing Health & Safety

Customers and members of public, including children and pets, must be excluded by barriers and signs from areas being treated with softwash cleaning chemicals.
Keep adults, children and animals away from areas treated with Bio Cleanze (max 40:1 winter, 50:1 summer) if the suface will be walked on by children or animals) until the surface has dried.

Areas treated with Benz Lightning Cleanze or Tornado Cleanze will be safe once the surfaces have been fully rinsed and the run-off disposed of safely.

Always erect physical barriers on private and public paths and walkways that are being treated, or are next to property being treated, and place hazard warning signs in appropriate places. Place at least one team member as a "lookout" to ensure the public do not enter the working area. Ensure both operators and the public are kept safe from spray drift and the possibility of contact with softwash chemicals.
Operators should always wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and adhere to all safe working practices.

Click the links below to explore our technical information pages:


Environment & Drains

It is important to protect our environment by keeping "run-off" to a minimum.
Run-off can be controlled by using Benz Softwash spray nozzles along with skilful spray and brush control techniques.

If some run-off to surface drains would be unavoidable, block the drains and/or gutter downpipes until application has been concluded. Then either remove the run-off from site or direct into a foul drain.
Permission should be obtained from the relevant local water authority to discharge diluted softwash chemical run-off into drains.

How to control and remove run-off and rinse water:
  1. First determine if the drains on-site are foul drains or surface water drains.

    If foul, there is not usually a problem.

  2. Check with the local water authority as to what they allow to go into their drains, as the regulations vary throughout the country.

    Quick tip: EU regs allow for one-off discharges of some cleaning products into drains. It is usually repeated discharge over time that harms our environment. But in the UK we should abide by the local regulations.

  3. Downpipes can be temporarily blocked with rags, foam or an old tennis ball. Run-off from roofs can then be sucked from the gutters.

  4. Skilful application techniques, using the correct nozzles and flow rates, will significantly reduce run-off and therefore reduce environmental risk.

    Quick tip: There is seldom an issue when treating with Bio Cleanze as the run-off is very slight. It is the rinse water from treating with Lightning Cleanze and Tornado Cleanze that requires careful handling.

  5. Erect dams around the area being treated to contain the run-off. Then suck it up with an industrial suction machine. In hot weather the collected run-off will also evaporate, reducing the quantity needing to be removed from site.

  6. If practicable, brush rinse water into a safe on-site area to evaporate or be sucked up.

  7. Important: Septic tanks and reed beds should never have any run-off or rinse water fed into them from any soft wash product.

Correctly applied, Bio Cleanze, Perma Cleanze, Tornado Cleanze and Lightning Cleanze have no detrimental effect on plant life*

* When applied skilfully and carefully, within correct H&S guidelines, and by following our advice for the care and protection of plant life on the product labelling and on this website, Bio Cleanze, Perma Cleanze, Tornado Cleanze and Lightning Cleanze will not harm plant life.

Click here to get more practical soft washing how-to tips

How to find answers to most soft washing questions: Simply enter a relevant "keyword" or short phrase (e.g. keyword for above link = "how to") into our in-site Search Engine (the magnifying glass icon on main menu) 

Order Benz softwash chemicals & equipment online or by phone:

GB (England, Scotland, Wales)

Phone: 0800 70 74 222 

Online: www.benzsoftwash.co.uk


Ireland and other countries

Phone: 00353 214 622 978

Online: www.benzsoftwash.com


Lines open Monday - Friday, 9am – 5pm

Please note: The above numbers are for orders only (click here for tech support)