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Cleaning Vinyl Siding:
Cleaning vinyl siding
is no different
than washing a car. It is that simple. The only hard part about
cleaning
siding is that you might need ladders or have to work around
landscaping. Other
than that, this is a job just about anyone can do.
Trees and bushes
produce airborne
sugars that drift through the wind and stick to vinyl siding.
This nearly invisible layer of sugar is a food
source for mold and some algae. Dust and dirt can also stick to the
vertical
sides of vinyl siding, and these are also food sources for some mildews
and
algae.
The best way to clean
vinyl siding
is to rinse it down with a regular garden hose equipped with a nozzle.
Set the
nozzle to a medium misting spray. Never use a forceful direct stream of
water,
as it can penetrate behind the vinyl siding. There are many homes
covered with
vinyl siding that do not have waterproof membranes that cover the frame
walls.
The wood sheathing and framing lumber can get wet easily if you direct
water at
the edges of vinyl siding, seams where two pieces of siding overlap, at
inside
and outside corners and next to windows and doors.
Vinyl siding is
designed to shed
water falling from the sky, not water that is shot up from the ground.
Always
rinse off the siding pointing the hose down towards the ground. Never
aim a
hose up at vinyl siding as it can cause massive amounts of water to
seep behind
the siding.
Regular dishwashing
soap will do a
fantastic job of cleaning vinyl siding. Squeeze a generous amount in a
bucket,
and add warm water to make a frothy mix of soapy water. I like to pour
this
water into a hand-pump garden sprayer to apply it onto the vinyl siding
once it
has been rinsed with clear water. Always work on a section of siding
from
bottom to top, and always work in the shade. You never want the soapy
water to
dry on the siding before it can be rinsed off. I prefer to clean an
area about
six to seven feet wide at a time.
Purchase a soft brush
from a
recreational vehicle (RV) dealership. They sell special brushes used on
long
poles to clean the sides of RVs. These brushes are superb tools to use
on dirty
vinyl siding. Once the vinyl siding has been coated with soapy water,
dip the
brush in the soapy water and use side-to-side motions to remove dirt.
Start cleaning from
the bottom and
go up as far as you can reach. Immediately rinse the area you cleaned.
Proceed
up the wall until you get to the top alternately washing and rinsing.
As you
get higher, always make sure you rinse all dirt all the way down the
siding to
the ground.
Never use chlorine
bleach as an
additive to your soapy water solution. Chlorine bleach is a deadly
toxin for
any and all vegetation around your home. The chlorine ions soak into
the ground
and kill the roots of the plants, grass, trees and bushes.
If you feel compelled
to use a
bleach to help kill the mildew, use oxygen bleach. Oxygen bleach is
non-toxic,
has no odor and it injects oxygen into the soil.
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