Why You Should Soft Wash Your Roof to Remove Moss (Before It’s Too Late!)

By Mark Cave June 11, 2025

Why You Should Soft Wash Your Roof to Remove Moss (Before It’s Too Late!) 🧼🏠

Don’t Let Secrets Lurk on Your Roof 🌿😱

At first glance, moss on your roof might look charming or even harmless. But beneath that soft green carpet lies a silent threat capable of costing you thousands in repairs. Soft washing your roof isn’t just a cosmetic fix it’s a preventative strategy for home maintenance.

In this guide, you'll learn:

Why moss is more damaging than you think
How soft washing safely removes moss from your roof
What chemicals and tools the pros use
Common mistakes to avoid

Let’s look at why soft washing roofs is the smart homeowner’s secret weapon 💪.

⚠️ Moss: The Hidden Assassin of Roof Longevity

Moss may appear innocent, but it accelerates roof deterioration by holding moisture against the tiles. This can:

Weaken your roof structure
Cause tiles to crack and shift
Increase the chance of leaks and ceiling damage
Lower your property value

And it doesn’t stop there. Moss also creates an ideal environment for algae, lichen, and black spores spreading decay across your roof like wildfire. If you don’t remove moss properly, it can return in months, worse than before.

💡 Why Soft Washing Is the Best Method for Roof Cleaning

Typical pressure washing may blast away surface moss but damages tiles and fails to kill spores underneath. Soft washing uses a low pressure system combined with biocides and surfactants to gently clean, treat, and protect the surface long term.

Soft washing delivers:

Longer-lasting results (up to 5 years of protection)
No damage to shingles or slates
Complete removal of moss, algae & biofilms
Environmentally safer and chemical-balanced solutions

It’s the professional standard for a reason.

What’s in a Soft Wash Mix? 🧪

A quality soft wash solution includes:

Softwash Pro 50 Biocide Destroys moss and algae at the root
Clever Wash Surfactant Helps solution stick and penetrate
Sodium Hypochlorite Bleaches discolouration if safe to use

Need help mixing it right? Check out our full Sodium Hypochlorite Mixing Guide.

🔧 What Equipment Do You Need to Soft Wash a Roof?

Professional-grade results require the right tools. Some key pieces include:

Dosatron Biocide Injector Mixes chemicals automatically
Clever Injector Dosatron Ideal for commercial or domestic systems
Water Fed Pole Softwash Nozzle Safely reach multiple storeys

If you're just starting, our soft washing equipment collection has everything to suit every budget.

🚫 Common Roof Washing Mistakes (and Fixes)

Here’s what you must avoid when cleaning your roof:

Using pressure washers: This can shatter tiles and void warranties. Use soft wash only.
Incorrect mixing ratios: Always follow our chemical guide for safety and effectiveness.
Skipping PPE gear: Always wear protective gloves and respirators. Check out our SoftWash Chemical Safety Course to learn more.
Neglecting plant protection:Softwashing can affect nearby vegetation. Learn how to minimise plant damage in this podcast.

✅ Soft Washing vs Pressure Washing: A Clear Winner

Still not sure which method to choose? Our Soft Washing vs Pressure Washing podcast goes in depth on why soft wash is best for rooftops, especially older or porous surfaces.

🎓 Want to Learn Roof Soft Washing the Right Way?

The experts at SoftWash UK offer a hands on training course to teach safe, legal, and profitable soft washing techniques.

Prefer learning at home? Our self study chemical handler course covers everything from chemical safety to application strategy.

🌐 Protect Your Roof, Preserve Your Home

Moss won't go away on its own by the time you see damage, it's often too late. Soft washing your roof is more than just a clean it's a long term investment in your property’s value and safety.

Visit SoftWash UK today to shop industry leading soft wash chemicals, roof cleaning equipment, and get advice from the UK’s softwashing experts. 💧🛡️

🔊 Prefer audio learning? Listen to the SoftWash UK Podcast with Mark Cave Your #1 guide to safe and effective soft washing!

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Soft Wash Calculator App

Now you can say I've got an app for that!

Available NOW Click Here To Download

Softwashing calculator is an indispensable tool for juggling complicated chemical mixes. It helps reduce wastage and keeps operating costs down by giving accurate proportions

If you are having difficulty getting your head around the maths, trying to work out what percentage of softwash you need, how much chemical, surfactant and water to add, then this is the App for you.

The Soft Wash Calculator App allows you to work out your soft wash recipe by telling you exactly how much chemical, how much water and how much surfactant to add to get the desired soft wash recipe.
It doesn't stop there!.
- It can also remix your leftover softwash to a new stronger or weaker recipe.
- all controls in one place for see at a glance operation
- ease of input via pre-loaded dials. no more calculator style typing
- instantly responds to changes of complex combinations
- works in both Litres and US Gallons
- tested for Protan and Deutan colourblind users
- links to SoftwashingUK website

Take this scenario
You started with a 1% soft wash recipe of 50 gal (or litres) for a deck clean and you’re left with 13 gallons.

You get a call from a prospective customer to clean their roof. Past experience tells you a 4% soft wash recipe is needed, but what about your leftover mix at 1%?.

Do you waste time and effort driving back to base to transfer into a standby tank?
You could consider the 13 gal as just water, top up the tank and start again.
But that’s throwing away the value of the mix and raising your overhead.

Soft Wash Calculator App to the rescue.

You get to the new job and it requires 100 gal / litres.
Switch into remix mode , confirming the 13 gal already in the tank
Move the dials to your new recipe and the app immediately updates the different amounts to add in front of your eyes including the correct amount of extra surfactant.

You now have a 100 gal / litres tank of 4% soft wash recipe ready for your roof clean job!

Not forgetting you’ve saved money too, all without stress and uncertainty . Don’t underestimate what confident calmness has on your customer putting out referrals.

The same applies if you have a 4% recipe left in your tank and you need to dilute it down to 2%. Again the app will tell you how.

Softwashing calculator will also work for any chemical recipe. For instance you can use it for Sodium Hypochlorite, Bleach, Biocide , TFR traffic film remover and degreaser. Even the mathematically-challenged rocket scientist can top up their booster tanks to new fuel mixes after launch delays caused by changing weather conditions.

Using this app you will know exactly what chemical strength to put on any surface giving you the confidence and the knowledge of a professional soft washer and you’ll save money as well.

So if you have little knowledge of how to mix a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.
If you have little knowledge of how to remix a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.
If you want to save money when mixing a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.

This app is also backward compatible to devices running iOS7. We've done this so you can re-purpose an old iPhone 4 or iPod Touch 5 for what could be hazardous work environments. Just toss one in your cleaning van's toolkit.

Once you learn the methods and procedures of how to apply the soft wash to the different surfaces that need cleaning you’ll be unstoppable!

The app also has a guide to what percentage for what surface. And if you are the lucky owner of a Clever Injector it will remind you the correct setting for the job.
However you should always consider and risk assess what soft wash recipe you need to clean the surface.

** A major iOS code-base change may require a re-purchase. The appiverse at the time will confirm our promise that we won't do so unless the necessity is apparent.

01733 736191 Voicemail