What's the best way to remove lichen by soft washing? (video)

Several customers have asked for our suggestions about the best way to remove lichen.

Lichen are the round white, brown, yellow and black growths that can be particularly difficult to remove. They grow on slate and concrete tiled roofs, as well as concrete paths, paving, walls and other exterior surfaces.

And they can be very tough to remove.

How to remove lichen by softwashing

In this short video, Leo explains what lichen is, why it can be so stubborn, and how we tackle it using Benz Lightning Cleanze followed by Benz Bio Cleanze.

Softwashing lichen: the basics

Lichen grow into, and attach themselves very firmly to, the surfaces of roofs, paths, walls and other exterior surfaces.

The best way to remove lichen is to first kill it by treating with Benz Lightning Cleanze.

For particularly stubborn areas, Benz Tornado Cleanze can also be used where necessary. Its gel formulation helps it cling to the surface, making it useful for targeted treatment of stubborn lichen.

Where appropriate, brushing the treatment into stubborn areas with a medium stiff brush can also help.

Removing the dead lichen

Depending on the strength and resilience of the surface being treated, a light pressure wash following the softwash treatment can be helpful to quickly remove the majority of the dead lichen.

The important point is to kill the lichen first. The pressure wash can then help remove the dead growth rather than trying to blast living lichen from the surface.

Always adjust the pressure and cleaning method to suit the surface being treated.

Follow with Bio Cleanze

After the initial treatment, apply Benz Bio Cleanze.

Bio Cleanze is a spray-and-leave treatment which continues working through time on any remaining lichen and biological growth.

Any lichen remaining after the initial treatment will gradually deteriorate and weather away. How quickly this happens will depend on the surface, the severity of the growth, the local environment and prevailing weather conditions.

Bio Cleanze also provides residual biocide protection against re-colonisation of biological growth, which is why we use it as the final stage of the treatment.

What if some lichen is still visible?

Don't expect every trace of established lichen to disappear immediately.

Some stubborn lichen may remain firmly attached to the surface even after it has been killed. This does not necessarily mean that the treatment hasn't worked.

Bio Cleanze will continue working through time, allowing the remaining dead lichen to gradually weather away naturally.

Keep the surface clean with regular maintenance

Once the initial clean has been completed, putting the property onto an ongoing Bio Cleanze maintenance programme can help prevent biological growth from becoming heavily established again.

Regular maintenance is generally quicker and easier than allowing roofs, paths, walls and other exterior surfaces to become heavily colonised before treating them again.

More softwashing help from Benz

You'll find more practical Trade Tips, how-to articles and videos in our free online softwash training.

You can also visit the Benz Softwash YouTube channel for more practical soft washing videos.

We hope this information is helpful and sincerely wish you great success in your soft washing business.

Team Benz

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