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How do I Clean Vinyl Siding
How to Clean Vinyl Siding
By
Mark J. Donovan
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Cleaning vinyl siding
is usually necessary to do a couple of times a year. Due to
pollen and other airborne dirt and dust particles, vinyl siding
can become dirty looking fairly quickly. In addition, pollen
from trees can also act as a food supply to mold and mildew
spores on the siding. How many times have I passed the vinyl
sided home with green mold growing on it, I can’t tell you.
However suffice it to say, it’s a fairly common site in northern
New England.
Cleaning vinyl siding
is an easy do it yourself project. Albeit you may spend the
better part of a day doing it, and you most likely will get a
little wet and have some sore muscles the next day. |
So how do I clean
vinyl siding? There are basically two choices when it comes to
cleaning vinyl siding. You can either use a power washer or you
can use a soft bristle brush and some elbow grease. If you want
to use a power washer see my article on “Pressure Washing Vinyl
Siding”. If you do not have a power washer, nor want to rent one
then pull out the hose, bucket, brush, dish detergent and some
warm water. As an alternative to the dish detergent you can also
use a specially formulated vinyl siding cleaner.
Vinyl siding cleaning begins with
hosing down all of the shrubs around the house to protect them from the vinyl
cleaning solution or detergent. For added protection you can also lay drop
clothes over the shrubs.
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Once you have
prepared your work area, rinse the vinyl siding with a hose
and nozzle on the end of it. Make sure, however, when rinsing
the vinyl siding, that you aim the water nozzle in a downward
direction. When cleaning vinyl siding it is important to not
direct the nozzle upwards as water can easily work its way
behind the vinyl siding. Due to the fact that not all vinyl
siding is installed with a water shield affixed to the
exterior home sheathing, water can easily work its way up
under the siding if the nozzle is aimed upwards. Once the
water gets underneath the siding it can damage the
unprotected wood sheathing and potentially lead to mold and
mildew growth.
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After rinsing the
vinyl siding, use your soft bristle brush, preferably on a 4-5
foot pole, and your bucket of warm vinyl cleaning solution to scrub a
section of the vinyl siding. Work your way from the bottom of
the home siding upwards. Typically limit your scrubbing area to
approximately 100-200 square feet of siding before rinsing it
with the hose. You do not want the cleaning solution to dry on
your siding as this could lead to stains.
Continue to work your
ways upward on the home siding, alternating between cleaning and
rinsing the vinyl siding. You may need to use a ladder to reach
the high areas of the home siding. Also make sure when rinsing
the upper levels of the home siding that you rinse the entire
wall down to the foundation level. Otherwise you may have
loosened dirt and grime from above clinging on the lower levels
of the vinyl siding.
Though cleaning vinyl siding is
tedious and strenuous work the results can be amazing. It is incredible how
dirty vinyl siding can become without ever realizing it. So brighten up the
exterior of your home by cleaning your vinyl siding.
Patching Wood Siding Ebook
- If you require detailed instructions and pictures for patching wood siding see HomeAdditionPlus.com's
Patching Wood Siding Ebook. This Ebook provides very detailed
instructions, along with pictures for each key step in the
process of patching wood siding.
How to Finance your Home Siding Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Home Siding Information
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