Soft washing is how exterior walls should be cleaned in Albuquerque: low pressure, the right solution, adequate dwell time, and a gentle rinse. It handles the organic growth and film that pressure cannot remove without damage — and on stucco and adobe it is the only appropriate method.
Quick answer
Soft wash kills mildew, algae, and bacteria on exterior surfaces using low pressure (~500 PSI) and a biocidal cleaning solution.
The checklist is the same everywhere. What is on your glass is not. These are the conditions that actually shape this job in Albuquerque — each one is true here and false in plenty of other towns we serve.
Stucco and adobe are porous by design — they are supposed to breathe. High pressure drives water past the surface into the assembly behind it, and it does not dry out from there. The result appears weeks or months later as blistering, staining, or a moisture problem that gets blamed on something else. Soft washing puts the work on the chemistry instead of the force, which cleans more thoroughly and leaves the wall intact. In Albuquerque this is not a preference, it is the correct method.
Albuquerque is served by the Water Authority's blend of San Juan-Chama surface water and deep groundwater, which carries a meaningful mineral load. Water that dries on glass here leaves deposits, and in high-UV sun those deposits bond rather than sitting loose on the surface. Catching them early is the difference between a cleanable film and permanent etching.
Albuquerque genuinely splits: older flat-roof construction drains through canales down the outside wall, while newer pitched-roof housing has conventional gutters. That means two houses on the same street can need opposite services. We look at the roof before quoting, and if your building has no gutters we will tell you that rather than sell you the service anyway.
Low-pressure (~500 PSI) wash of every exterior surface — vinyl, fiber-cement (Hardie), stucco, painted wood, brick, masonry. Hardware-friendly: trim, gutters, soffit, and fascia all included.
Biocide application — sodium hypochlorite-based solution (the standard for soft-wash) that kills mildew, algae, lichen, and the black/green biological staining you see on shaded north-facing walls.
Plant and lawn protection — surfactant rinse during application, then full rinse-down at the end so nothing carries to your landscape.
Window pre-coat — we coat windows with plain water before the biocide so any drift doesn't streak the glass. We can also include the windows in the same trip — soft wash + window cleaning is a popular combo.
Optional add-ons: deck soft-wash, fence soft-wash, full-property bundle with driveway pressure wash.
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Plant covers, lawn pre-rinse, window pre-coat (plain water). Pets indoors. We tape any wall outlets or vents that need protection.
Top-down soft-wash with the biocidal solution. Dwell time 5-15 minutes — long enough to kill the biological staining, not long enough to damage paint.
Plain-water rinse from top to bottom to remove all solution and dead biological material. We watch for any streaking and re-apply if needed.
Walk-around to confirm clean coverage, plants and lawn rinsed, no overspray on neighbors. Before/after photos emailed.
Most Albuquerque properties land between $290 and $650 for this service. That band is derived from real Albuquerque jobs, not a national average — which is why it differs from the number you would see on our page for a neighboring town. Here is how the job profiles break down:
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Custom homes with tall clerestory windows and portal-shaded openings — the shaded panes stay clean far longer than the west elevation, so we quote them separately.
Acequia-irrigated lots with mature cottonwoods; June cottonwood fluff sticks to screens more than to glass, so screen washing carries the job here.
Rural-feel village lots with horse properties and dirt drives — lower-level exterior glass carries a persistent dust film even between storms.
Older adobe and manufactured homes, many with ground-mounted coolers; the mineral streaking sits low on the wall instead of running from the roof.
Southeast against the Manzanos; late-day sun plus the Tijeras Arroyo means fine grit and hard UV on the south and west elevations.
West Side above the escarpment, fully exposed to spring wind off the volcanoes — the sandblast season here is real and we schedule accordingly.
See every neighborhood and the full local guide on our Albuquerque window cleaning page.
Colorado's freeze-thaw cycle is brutal on siding and stucco — water gets into hairline cracks during the day and freezes at night, expanding the cracks and creating perfect conditions for algae and mildew to colonize. Annual soft-wash kills the colonization at the root.
North-facing walls get little direct sun and stay damp longer after snow or rain — that's where Front Range homes show the worst biological staining. Soft-wash is the only safe way to clean these surfaces without damaging the substrate.
Heavy hail (Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland) — hail-dimpled siding catches more biological growth in the dimples. Post-hail soft-wash slows the colonization significantly.
Pressure washing uses force; soft washing uses chemistry at low pressure. Hard surfaces like Albuquerque driveways and walks take pressure fine. Walls — stucco, adobe — should never take it, because pressure drives water into the assembly where it causes damage that shows up later. Soft washing cleans those surfaces more thoroughly and does not put moisture where it does not belong.
A season to two years depending on exposure. North and shaded elevations regrow first because they hold moisture. The reason a soft wash lasts longer than a pressure wash is that the solution kills the organic growth rather than just removing what is visible — pressure leaves the biology behind and it comes back within months.
Soft wash uses low pressure (~500 PSI) and a biocidal cleaning solution. Pressure wash uses high pressure (~3,000 PSI) and mechanical force. Soft-wash is for siding, stucco, painted wood — anything that high pressure could damage. Pressure wash is for concrete, brick, and other durable hard surfaces.
Most homes run $300–$800. A typical 2-story 2,000 sqft home is $400–$550. Bundling with window cleaning saves 10-15% on both. Larger homes (3,000+ sqft) or full-property bundles run higher.
No, when done properly. We pre-rinse plants and lawn before applying the biocide, use a surfactant during application, and do a full final rinse so nothing accumulates. Plants are the same green color when we leave as when we arrived.
It kills the current colonization completely. New algae will eventually colonize again — typically 12-18 months in Colorado, faster on north-facing walls in shaded yards. Annual or bi-annual soft wash keeps it at bay.
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