What chemicals/soaps/etc. do you like to use to wash vinyl siding? I don’t have a powerwasher, and from the look of things, don’t really need it, except perhaps for some hard-to-reach areas.
What’s best for cleaning asphalt shingles? Birch leaves have left it “spotted.”
Tips for picking the right paintbrush based on paint type, surface, and personal comfort.
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Replies
Any household cleaner and a srub brush will work on vinyl siding. I just did 20 sq. of vinyl siding cleaning two weeks ago with a product called Zep multipurpose cleaner, but could have used 409 or Mr Clean, since I mixed and sprayed it on with a pump up garden sprayer. Scrubed it with a brush on the end of an painters extention pole and rinsed with a garden hose.
You have to be real carefull with power washers and vinyl siding. You can blow a lot of water behind the siding, and if you don't know what the sheating cover is, it can end uop in the wall cavity. You can also unsnapp the siding laps with a power washer.
My way is more labor intensive, but safer and gives my customer a superior job, IMO.
Dave
A powerwasher on a house is likely to do more harm than good. Seals and flashings are designed to handle water flowing down with normal wind conditions.
blow that same water uphill under high pressure equivalent to several times the force of the wind and you will inject some of it into the wall cavities. The mold and mildew that result will surely bother you worse than these little old spots.
A scrub brush with some TSP mix and then hose rinse will clean up the vinyl if it really bothers you.
Excellence is its own reward!
The gizmo you use for washing cars with a brush and a hose wand works great. Some have a soap dispenser you can turn on and off. Plain old dishwashing liquid works fine. Some of the special car washing soaps are better because they're easier to rinse. I would not use a power washer. You can blow the siding right off.
Thanks ALL.
There goes any excuse I might have had for a powerwasher! I have heard it's not recommended for cleaning the wooden deck or fence, either. Not that I want to do them 'by hand' either.
NOW, about cleaning shingles?
AND, since I've mentioned it ... any suggestions on a good formula for cleaning a deck? I once found a formula that was relatively environmentally safe and friendly, put out by the forestry service or the epa (?), but the glut of misinformation on the internet has rendered it impossible (for me) to find.
Thanks again!
What are you trying to clean off of the shingles? What type of shingle, and where are they? Roof or siding, asphalt or cedar?
Dave
Asphalt. Less than 10 yrs on the roof. In Connecticut. One area has lots of leaves and seeds from a birch tree overhead, that left it discolored. Another area faces north and is in partial shade, so has mold from never quite drying out after rain or snow and runoff from main roof one storey above.
Thank you.
do web search on this.
most people use bleach, water, and tsp combo. may have to apply several times.
stay away from power washers
Check with the manufacturer. Most mfg. of shingles have included anti-fungacide in thier process within the last ten years. Most of the staining is likely fungus, not mold. You could be covered by the manufacturer warrenty.
I have not had much luck in removing that type of staining from asphalt shingle, but when I did catch it early enough to reduce it to acceptable levels, it still came back within two years. Many shingles manufactured before 1990 did not have anti-fungal agents in them, and are not covered by warrenties.
Dave
I don't agree with the previous posters as to power washers on vinyl siding.
Like anything else, you gotta use common sense. I don't use any detergent, except on real tough areas. I use the PW to wet down a side of a structure, then use a brush to scrub build up off. Then rinse with the PW. Use some green Scotchbrite pads on stained areas..
Never had any problems with vinyl siding coming loose. Most horizontal siding has weep holes along the bottom of each run, whicn allows the water to ecape if any gets behind.
Forget about the roof. It'll just come back. Cover it with metal.
I'm curious, How is it that you are so certain that you are not causing any problems with rot from all that water you are injecting into the walls.
Excellence is its own reward!
Like I said, use some common sense with the PW. Just don's sit there and blow it with 2500 PSI trying to get a little spot off. Just use it to rinse off what you have scrubbed.
I use the PW on my house, and havn't noticed any rot for 10 years.
"nuff said...."
There is a cleaner made by Shingle Shield, we get it at the roofing supplier. It is mixed 7:1, put in a garden sprayer, sprayed on, let set 20 min. then rinsed off with a power washer(wide fan tip, real low pressure) I cannot tell you how good this stuff works. It takes off the mold, leaf stains, and aluminum stains from gutters, everything. Works on decks and vinyl the same. Awesome, simply awesome.
One of my guys spilled some in the back of the truck, some splashed onto his sock(he was wearing shorts and those low footy type socks) on the way home he felt like his ankle was on fire, got home, sock was holy, skin burned off his ankle, deep wound, healed very slowely. Moral of the story...wash the roof, not your skin .
Sounds like the same type stuff they use in those automatic car washes. In concentrated form,that stuff is dangerous. Even diluted in use, the last rinse in most car washes contains a neutralizer to conteract the destructive nature of the "soap". Does the shingel cleaner label list warnings about its caustic or acidic effect?
I would be a little concerned about repeated use of such a product. I know long term use of the car wash product will degregate the paint on vehicles. I would think that the shingle cleaner would shorten the life of the roof along with anything else the it contacts.
Did you get an MSDS with the product?
Dave
i just found it at http://www.shingleshield.com, which is actually rainhandlers, a product which LOOKS great, but about which i have not heard ANY good anecdotal reports, only complaints; but i'm just a homeowner, and the last guy i spoke to about rainhandlers was a gutterguard salesman. gutter guards DO work, in my experience, which is in Connecticut.
(wish i could find something that worked like that for my driveway!)
so ... i'm not sure what i'd do about shingle shield roof protector, given the less-than-stellar performance (that i've heard about) of rainhandlers.
i really don't want to DISSOLVE the roof, just clean it.