How do you softwash wet pour safety surfaces and keep children safe?

May 31, 2019 2 Comments

A customer asked us, "Could you recommend the most effective product to softwash wet pour safety surfaces?"

We replied: Benz Lightning Cleanze applied to a wet pour surface at 10-5:1 dilution will do a brilliant job.

What's the best way to rinse softwash chemicals from a wet pour safety surface

Either a regular hose pipe or pressure washer set to low pressure and/or fitted with a fan jet nozzle, held well back from the surface a good foot or so, will do an excellent job of rinsing.

We can't state a specific quantity of water to use for rinsing – just use copious amounts until all chemical residue has been thoroughly diluted and washed away. Letting the surface to dry before allowing the children back is an additional safety precaution.

What's the best way to protect children when softwashing a wet pour safety surface?

The good news is that Lightning Cleanze is not classified as harmful or corrosive to skin at 5:1 – just a mild irritant. But we strongly recommend that contractors take no chances given that children will be playing on the newly clean, softwashed wet pour surfaces.

As there is a very small possibility that the product could affect the more sensitive skin of a child, we believe all possible safety precautions should be taken.

So we suggest allowing a full 60 minutes for the product to activate before rinsing and allowing to dry.

Take into account the ambient temperature, as softwash chemicals increase in strength the hotter it gets.

And, hopefully this is obvious, keep children away from the working and mixing areas at all times.

Before softwashing a children's play area – a wet pour safety surface – with Benz Lightning Cleanze

 After softwashing a children's play area – a wet pour safety surface – with Benz Lightning Cleanze

Can wet pour safety surfaces be power/pressure washed?

Power washing can get the worst of the filth off, but ... you need to be very careful because too high a pressure can damage the surface.

And of course pressure washing alone will not kill the spores, which means that the wet pour surface will rapidly recolonise.

Quick tip: Using Lightning Cleanze before using a power washer will kill most of the spores.

Pre-treatment will also enable a much lower water pressure to be used, thus safeguarding the surface. Most of the time, when a power washer is only used for rinsing, the pressure can be set to tap water level.

We are pleased to report that, after using this approach to softwash a wet-pour safety surface, the children are enjoying their newly cleaned recreation area and are playing happily and safely.

We hope this information is helpful.

Cheers,

Ben, Leo & Fiona

PS: Always treat a small test patch first to determine the optimum dilution for the specific wet pour surface you are treating.

Click Here to explore the full range of Benz popular softwash cleaning products

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