Most wood fences in Springdale spend their lives under oak and hickory canopy or shaded by a neighbor’s privacy line. The shaded side is where mold and mildew settle into the grain first, and by the third or fourth spring the boards turn flat gray. The pressure-treated pine standard in newer builder fences across Rogers, Bentonville, and Centerton picks up the same look even faster.
We are Arkan Softwash, a veteran-owned exterior cleaning company based in Springdale and serving Northwest Arkansas. We clean wood, composite, and painted fences with detergent chemistry and a soft wash rinse instead of a high-pressure wand against the boards. On bare wood we follow that step with a wood brightener so the fence is restored, not just rinsed. We are fully licensed and insured, and Plant and Property Protection certified through Spray Wash Academy.
If your fence has been graying for a few seasons, or if a cheaper crew already left wand marks across the boards, we would rather give you an honest free estimate than a sales pitch. Call or text 479-877-5399, and we will scope your fence the right way.
When you call or email, you get a real person who scopes your fence on the phone: length, height, wood versus composite versus painted, age of the boards, prior staining or sealing, and the outcome you are after. About half of our estimates come back from photos. The other half need an in-person look when access is tight or we want to see possible rot ourselves. Either way, the number arrives by both text and email.
Within a day of the estimate going out, a short text and email check in on questions about the brightener step, the bundling math, or stain options. Once you give the green light, we schedule the job.
Half an hour before the truck arrives, you get a phone call and a text so you have time to move yard furniture, secure a dog, unlock a side gate, or pull a vehicle out of the driveway. The crew knocks at the door with a business card, then walks the fence with you. We confirm where the work starts and ends, whether both sides are being cleaned, and any sections you want skipped. We also flag loose pickets and rot pockets before chemistry touches the wood.
Before we mix anything, the area gets prepped. Garden beds and lawn get a pre-wet so they do not pull in concentrated chemistry. Pet areas get diluted ahead of time. Siding, windows, and outdoor furniture get covered or pre-wet where needed. Agent pink bleach neutralizer goes on plants and delicate surfaces near the work zone.
On bare or stained wood, sodium percarbonate or sodium metasilicate is applied and dwelled. On composite and painted fences, sodium hypochlorite is applied at the right strength. The detergent does the cleaning; the rinse carries it away. The wand stays 12 to 24 inches off the boards through the soft wash system at low pressure, which is the working distance that prevents the wand-mark damage homeowners describe from previous pressure washing.
On bare and stained wood, the oxalic acid brightener gets applied, allowed to bond, and rinsed clean. On composite and painted surfaces, we neutralize surface and runoff. If you booked clean and stain, a previously sealed fence first gets a sodium hydroxide strip and neutralization, then dries to under 12% moisture before two even coats of deep-penetrating oil-based stain go on. Most fence cleanings take 2 to 3 hours on site, since the prep is the slow part.
When the work is done, we walk the fence with you. Anything that does not look right gets addressed before the truck leaves. Pet and plant areas get one more check. The invoice goes out the same day, a thank-you text follows within a day or two, and a Google review request comes by text and email.
Every fence cleaning comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If something on the job is not right, we hear about it and we fix it immediately. The walkaround at the end is the front-line check, and it catches the vast majority of issues before they become complaints. We back that promise with credentials you can verify:
Fence cleaning does not come with a separate time-bound warranty the way some specialty services do. A fence cleaned today still sits outside under the same trees, shade, and humid summers it sat under last year. If we find pre-existing rot, loose pickets, or sagging panels on the walkaround, we point them out and tell you straight whether cleaning will help or whether the fence needs repair work first.
Soft washing means the cleaning chemistry does the work, not the water pressure. On bare wood we apply sodium percarbonate or sodium metasilicate. On composite and painted fences we apply sodium hypochlorite. Either way, the rinse is at low pressure with the wand 12 to 24 inches off the boards. That is why a soft-washed fence comes out clean without wand marks, raised grain, or gouged wood.
No. We do not put a high-pressure wand directly against the boards. The cleaning happens because of the detergent that already dwelled on the wood, and the rinse is at 12 to 24 inches off at low pressure. That is the technical reason we do not leave the marks homeowners describe from cheaper pressure washing operators.
Yes. Painted fences get treated similarly to composite, with a sodium hypochlorite solution and a soft wash rinse at a lower strength to protect the finish. Stained fences get the same bare-wood process unless they have been sealed, in which case we strip the old sealer first.
We are Plant and Property Protection certified through Spray Wash Academy. All runoff is heavily diluted and neutralized. Agent pink bleach neutralizer goes on plants, delicate surfaces, and windows near the work zone. Areas with pets get extra dilution so standing water will not affect them. We are honest that any cleaning chemical can be harmful if misused, which is why we invest in dilution, neutralizers, and the certification.
Yes. Our clean and stain service starts at $500. The cleaning step is the same, except a previously sealed fence gets a sodium hydroxide strip and a neutralization step first. The wood has to dry to under 12% moisture content before any stain goes on. Then we apply two even coats of deep-penetrating oil-based stain.
Our cleaning minimum is $200. Clean and stain combined starts at $500. The final price depends on square footage, wood type, height, age, accessibility, how dirty the wood is, how much mold is present, and whether the fence has been stained or sealed before. Every quote is free and is sent by both text and email.
Most fence cleanings take 2 to 3 hours, with about 2.5 hours as the typical working time. Clean and stain combined takes about the same amount of time as cleaning alone, because the prep is the slow part, not the staining itself.
Yes, when we can access both sides. We scope this on the walkaround and write it into the estimate before the job starts. Whether both sides are being cleaned, whether neighbor-side access is available, and how shared sections are handled all affect the price. Telling us up front gets the most accurate quote.
It depends on the fence’s exposure, shade, tree cover, and prior maintenance. Fences in shaded yards with heavy tree canopy in Springdale, Rogers, and the surrounding area need cleaning more often than fully sun-exposed fences. Send us a photo and we will tell you honestly whether it is time. Bundling a fence cleaning with house washing, gutter cleaning, or other services on the same visit also brings the per-service price down.
We will tell you on the walkaround. If the fence is rotted, if half the boards need replacement, or if posts are failing, we suggest you put the money toward repair or replacement instead of cleaning. We would rather lose the quote than take payment for a job that will not actually improve the fence.
When you are ready to see your fence look the way it did when it went up, call or text Arkan Softwash at 479-877-5399, or send a few photos so we can get a free estimate back to you, usually the same day.
