Vinyl Siding cleaner?

[gdoebs]

Hi guys,
I need to clean some green stuff of the vinyl siding on the front of the house. I've seen the "Wet and Forget" at Costco which seems nice, but after reading the bottle it says it can take like 6 months to work. Anybody have any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[FredP]

clorox, let sit 10 min and power wash.:icon_thum I hook the bottle to the syphon hose on my PW and spray it on low power then after 10 min spray on higher preasure with water. takes it right off. if you have city water presure you may not need PW. vinyl cleans easily.

 

[Trent Mason]

clorox, let sit 10 min and power wash.:icon_thum I hook the bottle to the syphon hose on my PW and spray it on low power then after 10 min spray on higher preasure with water. takes it right off. if you have city water presure you may not need PW. vinyl cleans easily.

+1 :icon_thum

 

[JimmyC]

clorox, let sit 10 min and power wash.:icon_thum I hook the bottle to the syphon hose on my PW and spray it on low power then after 10 min spray on higher preasure with water. takes it right off. if you have city water presure you may not need PW. vinyl cleans easily.

+2:icon_thum

 

[Splinter]

I use Krud Kutter from Lowes. It is usually in the Pressure Washer section of the store. Spray it on with low pressure nozzle of the pressure washer by using the syphon feature of the pressure washer and let it set a few minutes and spray off with the higher pressure nozzle.

 

[Tarhead]

1cup **** N Span + 1/2 Gallon bleach + 2 gallons of hot water. Brush on, let it sit 5 minutes, hose it off. No power washer required.

 

[MrAudio815]

clorox, let sit 10 min and power wash.:icon_thum I hook the bottle to the syphon hose on my PW and spray it on low power then after 10 min spray on higher preasure with water. takes it right off. if you have city water presure you may not need PW. vinyl cleans easily.

Now would the PW depending on the angle of the water go up under the siding and soak the particle board on the inside? And may work it's way down to say a Foyer area??? :eusa_thin


I'm just asking cause I had my house PW by a friend in May, not knowing how high the pressure he used or how long he kept it in one spot, to maybe make some small holes??? Possibility? YES OR NO :eusa_doh:

Maybe this is how the Front foyer damage happened as this was the side that was PW. :BangHead:

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

The water from the PW could work it's way under the siding, but the sheathing should have tar paper on it to keep the water away. If your friend stayed in one spot for an extended period of time he could have pushed a lot of water up under. More likely, if he stayed to long at the soffit venting and blew a lot of water in that way, it could have found it's way across to your damaged area, but I would expect to see water stains on the interior drywall. Also the extent of the damage does not lend itself to a one-time exposure.

As for the PW doing damage to the siding (making holes), I really doubt it. Maybe if he had an extremely powerful machine and held the 0-degree tip right against the house it could be done, but I still doubt it.

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

As for a cleaning mix, it depends on your application method. Assuming also that you only have access to store bought 3% bleach.

To apply via bug sprayer:
3 parts clorox
1 part water
Palmolive dish soap to add some cling and surfactant. (DO NOT USE A SOAP THAT CONTAINS AMMONIA ie. DAWN. Ammonia and bleach mix to create chlorine gas aka mustard gas)

Rinse the house first with garden hose, apply cleaning mix from the bottom up and let stand 5-10 minutes. Rinse.

If you have a PW or access to one with a soap injector:
Straight bleach with a little palmolive for the aforementioned cling.

Rinse the house first. Apply chems with the black tip from the bottom up. Let stand 5-10 minutes and rinse with white tip.

** No matter what method you use, rinse the solution from the windows almost immediately. Keep any/all ground plants wet throughout and make sure to rinse them well when done. The bleach, when mixed strong enough to thoroughly clean is also strong enough to burn plants, and if the windows are not rinsed good enough it will leave streaks that are difficult to remove. Keep the PW tip a good distance from the windows and door seals. It's awful easy to blow the seals out of a window (making them fog between the panes), and even easier to have water penetrate via the door seals.

My methods & chems differ from what I described above, but I use commercial equipment and chemicals. If you have any questions feel free to send me a pm.

 

[gdoebs]

Thanks for all the tips. I don't have a PW so I'll go with Matt's formula. I'd be nervous using a PW too cause the neighbor across the street had someone PW his house and now you can see the marks left by the PW. Looks really bad.

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

Using a PW is not difficult, it just requires using the grey matter. That's why I said to use the white tip for rinsing. The marks left on your neighbors house were almost certainly caused by having the PW tip too close to the home.


Depending on the size of your home (area you want to clean) you could be in for a long day with the bug sprayer method. Good luck with it.

 

[jlwest]

Be careful around and shubs or plants. The bleach can kill them. Rinse them after you are done with plain water.

Jeff :icon_thum

 

[RobS.]

Good advice here. You don't need a PW. If you already have one then I'd use it. Otherwise a water hose, a scrub brush on an extension pole and a bucket of bleach/water/other detergent (I use TSP 90 available at most hardware stores) will work fine. If you use bleach (1:4) start low and work your way up to avoid streaks and rinse frequently. Spray the shrubs down good before moving to the next area. Repeat once a year.

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

Good advice here. You don't need a PW. If you already have one then I'd use it. Otherwise a water hose, a scrub brush on an extension pole and a bucket of bleach/water/other detergent (I use TSP 90 available at most hardware stores) will work fine. If you use bleach (1:4) start low and work your way up to avoid streaks and rinse frequently. Spray the shrubs down good before moving to the next area. Repeat once a year.

TSP is truly a fantastic cleaner, but should be used with great caution around your windows. Tri-Sodium-Phosphate will etch glass if left in place too long.

 

[RobS.]

TSP is truly a fantastic cleaner, but should be used with great caution around your windows. Tri-Sodium-Phosphate will etch glass if left in place too long.

I did not realize that it could etch. I guess the frequent rinsing pays off. I have had bleach etch a new 5 V tin roof - or I should say an idiot who was helping me did it. Thorough rinsing would have prevented it though.

TSP is also a food preservative!!

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

Yeah, it really pays to research what cleaners you are using on what.

When I started powerwashing for my business I spent weeks researching how to do it correctly so as not to do any damage. Still managed to blow the seal out on one of my own windows.

 

[ashley_phil]

(DO NOT USE A SOAP THAT CONTAINS AMMONIA ie. DAWN. Ammonia and bleach mix to create chlorine gas aka mustard gas)

ammonia and bleach do make chlorine gas and it is toxic, but it is not mustard gas.

 

[Matt Schnurbusch]

Sorry, you are correct. I knew that that chlorine gas was used in WWI, and made the incorrect assumption that it was mustard.:slap:

Hence the saying about assumptions. My apologies!

 

[ashley_phil]

Sorry, you are correct. I knew that that chlorine gas was used in WWI, and made the incorrect assumption that it was mustard.:slap:

Hence the saying about assumptions. My apologies!

no problem, i just occasionally feel the need to put my chemistry degree to good use.

and i'd hate for a ncww'r to decide on a mustard gass assault and use chlorine gas in their attempt to take over the world.

how embarassing would that be.:rotflm: