A method of using a laser ablation system to clean an area of a surface with a laser beam, having a target fluence and a target irradiance. The area comprises scan regions, each having a scan width. The method comprises determining a traverse scan speed, a laser-beam average power, a laser pulse repetition rate, a laser pulse width, and a laser-beam spot area of the laser beam for each one of the scan regions to achieve the target fluence and the target irradiance. The scan width of at least one of the scan regions is different from the scan width of another one of the scan regions. The method also comprises sequentially scanning, across the scan width, each one of the scan regions of the area with the laser beam at the target fluence and the target irradiance.