Window cleaning removes mineral and film from glass using pure water and a squeegee, at no pressure. Pressure washing blasts hard surfaces — concrete, brick, pavers — at 2,000 to 4,000 PSI. Soft washing cleans siding, painted wood and stucco with cleaning solution at under 100 PSI. Wrong method on the wrong surface causes damage.
Window cleaning applies essentially no pressure: glass is cleaned with a squeegee or a water-fed pole, and the water itself does the work. Pressure washing applies the most, running 2,000 to 4,000 PSI through a narrow tip so that mechanical force strips what is stuck down. Soft washing sits at the bottom of the range, usually under 100 PSI at the surface, roughly what a garden hose delivers; the cleaning is done by a diluted solution left to dwell for five to ten minutes and then rinsed, with landscaping saturated in plain water before the solution goes on and rinsed again afterward. Practical translation: pressure washing removes what is bonded to a hard surface, soft washing kills and lifts what is growing on a coated or hollow-backed surface, and window cleaning removes dissolved mineral and film from glass without using either approach.
Pressure washing belongs on concrete driveways, sidewalks, patios, pavers, block retaining walls, and unsealed brick — dense materials that will not absorb water or shed material under force. Soft washing belongs on anything with a coating on it or a cavity behind it: vinyl siding, LP and fiber-cement lap siding, stucco, painted wood, soffits, and gutter exteriors. Glass always gets its own method. Window screens get hand cleaning rather than a wand, because insect mesh tears at a small fraction of the pressure that cleans concrete. Solar panels get deionized water and no pressure at all, since forcing water at the frame seal risks the panel rather than just the dirt. Naming the surface first is the entire decision. A contractor who quotes an address without walking it has not made that decision yet.
Window cleaning at Reflekt starts at $199 and is quoted by pane count rather than square footage; screen cleaning adds $50 and gutter cleaning starts at $199. Pressure washing is $0.20 per square foot, so a 600-square-foot driveway prices near $120. Soft-wash house washing is $0.18 per square foot of wall area, so roughly 1,800 square feet of siding prices near $324. Frequency is a separate question from price. Across the Treasure Valley, exterior glass generally wants cleaning twice a year, or quarterly on homes where pressurized canal irrigation sprays the windows all summer. Siding usually goes 12 to 24 months. Concrete typically goes 12 to 18 months. Reflekt's Monthly and Quarterly memberships carry no contract and include a free annual screen clean, and same-day and next-day slots are often available. Those are Reflekt's rates and Reflekt's scheduling guidance, not industry standards.
Vinyl and lap siding is a drainage system, not a sealed skin: water driven upward under the laps at 3,000 PSI gets behind the wall and into sheathing and insulation, where it can sit for months. Wood and cedar fur up, because high pressure tears out the soft spring growth between grain lines and leaves a raised surface that then holds dirt worse than it did before the wash. Asphalt shingles shed the granule layer that protects them from UV. Window screens tear. Old mortar washes out of brick joints. Painted trim loses paint. None of these fail dramatically while the contractor is standing there, which is exactly the problem — the damage surfaces one or two seasons later as a stain, a soft spot, or a repaint, long after anyone connects it to the wash.
Most of what makes Treasure Valley windows look bad is dissolved mineral — calcium and magnesium left behind when hard water evaporates on the pane. Municipal water across the valley commonly runs 8 to 13 grains of hardness, and pressurized canal irrigation puts untreated water on the glass on a timer through the whole summer. Washing that glass with more hard water simply leaves more mineral behind as it dries. Reflekt cleans glass with 100% pure deionized water filtered to near-zero dissolved solids and no soap, so the water lifts mineral off the pane and then evaporates leaving nothing, and no detergent film remains to catch dust. Reflekt calls that finish RainShield. Pressure is irrelevant to this problem: no amount of PSI removes bonded mineral, and a wand aimed at a window can crack tempered glass at an edge chip.
A quote that says "exterior cleaning" without naming a method cannot be compared to anything. First question: what PSI is hitting my siding? Any answer above roughly 500 PSI on vinyl, stucco, or painted wood means a pressure wash is being sold as a house wash. Second: what happens to the water before it touches my glass — deionized, filtered, or straight from the spigot? That single answer predicts whether the windows spot again within two weeks. Third: what is not included? Screens, tracks, sills, interior glass, and second-story access are the five line items that most often turn a low quote into a larger invoice. Reflekt itemizes those up front, is fully insured with a certificate available on request, and backs exterior glass with a 7-day rain guarantee.
Reflekt does not clean roofs. Shingle roofs need soft washing, it is not a service Reflekt offers, and a mossy roof needs a roof-specific contractor instead. Reflekt will not pressure wash siding at any price, including when a homeowner asks for it directly. Reflekt does not repair windows: a fogged pane is a failed insulated-glass seal, and no cleaning on either side of that glass reaches moisture sealed inside the unit. Glass etched by years of sprinkler spray can improve substantially under hard water treatment but may not come back fully clear, and anyone guaranteeing a perfect result sight-unseen is guessing. And if the only thing on the house is a season of dry dust, a garden hose handles most of that for free. A house wash is worth buying for organic growth, chalking, or bonded grime — not for dust.
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Pressure and chemistry are reversed between the two. Pressure washing uses 2,000 to 4,000 PSI and mostly plain water, letting mechanical force clean concrete, pavers, and brick. Soft washing uses under 100 PSI — about garden-hose force — plus a diluted cleaning solution that dwells for five to ten minutes before rinsing, which is how siding, stucco, and painted surfaces get clean without driving water into the wall assembly.
No. High pressure does not remove hard water spotting, because bonded mineral is a chemical problem rather than a force problem, and a pressure wand can crack tempered glass at an edge chip or push water past a failing insulated-glass seal into the sealed cavity. Windows are cleaned at zero pressure using pure water with a squeegee or a water-fed pole. Reflekt uses 100% deionized water and no soap.
Often yes, and the damage usually shows up later rather than during the job. Vinyl siding is a drainage system of overlapping panels, not a sealed surface, so water forced upward under the laps at high pressure gets behind the wall and into sheathing and insulation. The visible result — a stain, a soft spot, blistering paint on adjacent trim — can appear a season or two after the wash. Vinyl should be soft washed.
Under roughly 100 PSI at the surface for siding, stucco, painted wood, and soffits, which is about what a garden hose delivers. Cleaning works at that pressure because a diluted solution does the job chemically over five to ten minutes of dwell time and is then rinsed off. Concrete is the opposite case and typically takes 2,500 to 3,500 PSI, usually through a rotating surface cleaner so the result comes out even.
They solve different problems, so what you are actually looking at decides it. Streaked or spotted glass with acceptable siding is a window cleaning job. Dingy, chalky, or green-tinged walls with acceptable glass is a house wash. Homes booking both should do the house wash first and the windows second, because rinse water and cleaning solution running down the wall will land on glass that was just cleaned.
Reflekt charges $0.20 per square foot for pressure washing hard surfaces and $0.18 per square foot for soft-wash house washing. A 600-square-foot driveway therefore runs about $120, and roughly 1,800 square feet of siding runs about $324. Those are Reflekt's Treasure Valley rates rather than a national average, and square footage means the actual area being cleaned, not the home's floor plan.
Most Treasure Valley homes do well on a 12 to 24 month cycle for siding, and sooner on north-facing or shaded walls where algae grows fastest. Exterior glass generally wants cleaning twice a year, or quarterly where pressurized canal irrigation sprays the windows through summer. Concrete typically holds up 12 to 18 months. Exterior washing also stops being practical below freezing, which in this valley usually means December through February.
It depends on whether the mineral is sitting on the glass or has etched into it. Fresh deposit caught within a season or two usually comes off completely with a hard water treatment. Glass sprayed by irrigation for years can be physically pitted, and pitted glass may only partially improve. Reflekt offers hard water stain removal but assesses the glass first rather than promising a clear result sight-unseen.
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