If the exterior of your home is looking a little dull after a particularly rough winter — or because of the natural wear and tear of an aging home — you may be thinking about giving it a bit of a makeover. If you know how to assess when to soft wash instead of pressure wash your home and you’ve come to the conclusion that a soft wash will do the job, don’t let the cost of doing so dissuade you. There are a few ways to save money on your exterior home cleaning project, so long as you consider practical factors. For instance, start with whether or not to hire a professional to do it, and if you decide to do it yourself, consider how much you’ll need to spend on the equipment to soft wash your home.

A 2024 report by Thumbtack showed the yearly cost of home maintenance for a single-family home has risen by an average of 8.25% every year since 2020. By the fourth quarter of 2023, the cost of maintaining a home in the U.S. arrived at $6,663 per year. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, the cost per year to maintain the average single-family home in the U.S. climbed to $10,147, which Thumbtack’s research finds is a result of extreme weather conditions and homeowners’ attempts to maintain their homes through them. That said, any way you can save money on home maintenance, including soft washing yourself, is a win.

Making the decision to soft wash your home yourself is an immediate game changer. Taking the time to learn how to soft wash your house will save you from having to hire a contractor to do it, and is an investment that will pay off in the short and long term. Different estimates suggest that hiring a pro will cost you anywhere from $250 to $500 on average. This can be affected by other factors such as the size of your home, since some contractors will charge for washing by the square foot. You may also be charged per floor, at an average of $450 to $1000 for two stories, but costs can go even higher if you want your deck or roof washed too. 

How often you should wash your home’s exterior depends on several factors. Extreme weather has an impact on the amount of maintenance required on a home, and cleaning your exterior figures into that. Humidity is a factor in the proliferation of algae, mold, or mildew, and these lead to potentially higher costs for soft washing your home. Doing it yourself can save you hundreds of dollars, and if you need to do it more than once a year, potentially thousands.

If you want to use equipment close to what the professionals use, outlets like Home Depot will rent them to you based on availability. A soft wash trailer can cost a few hundred dollars to rent. That said, you may be able to find soft washers for rent for anywhere as low as $40 to $100 per day, with extra equipment like a tripod costing you more. The good news is that you don’t really need much more than a few typical household items, and these items can be cheaply purchased at your local Lowes, Home Depot, Dollar General, or Walmart. 

The equipment you’ll need is an everyday garden hose, a hose-end sprayer, concentrated bleach, dish soap, and a soft bristle brush. It’s highly unlikely you don’t already have at least some of these items at home, but let’s just assume you don’t. You can find a decent 100-foot garden hose for just over $29 if purchased online. For a hose-end sprayer, you can find one for just under $16.You can also easily find the other items you need at your local hardware store. For the best results, look for a bleach with around 7.5% Sodium Hypochlorite or higher. Once you have all the items you need, you’re ready to soft wash your home without breaking the bank.