How to clean vinyl siding
- by Francesca Clarke (RSS feed) on Oct 30th 2007 9:00AM
- Filed under weekend projects, cleaning
You chose vinyl siding for its clean look, and because you'll never have to deal with it flaking or rotting the way cedar will. Vinyl siding has lost its tacky reputation and has quickly become the most popular siding material in the United States.Although it's more durable than alternative sidings, over time vinyl siding can start to look dull and dirty. When that happens, you'll want to give it a good cleaning. Luckily, this is a project that you can easily take on yourself. You'll start with some important prep work, then grab your power washer or bucket and give your siding a solid clean.
How to prepare your vinyl siding for cleaning
- Cover any outside light fixtures or electrical outlets
- Move all your outdoor furniture and toys away from the house
- Cover any plants close to the house with plastic sheets
- Check for mold, mildew or dirt. These will be dark spots on the siding. To test it out, put a drop of bleach on the dark spot. Mold will turn white while dirt will stay black.
- Get rid of mildew with 5 parts water to 1 part oxygen bleach.
Comments [17]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-22-2008 @ 5:29PM
Peter said...
use a toothbrush.....it may take a little longer, but you'll get in every crevice!!!!
Reply
10-21-2008 @ 11:37AM
Scott said...
Ok, We now how to clean the stuff. Do any of you "Brainiacs" know how to keep the mold from growing on the house in the first place? That would be a much more welcome bit of info.
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3-05-2010 @ 9:59PM
Keith said...
Relative to at least KEEPING Mold & Mildew off, have a proffesional contractor apply Hot Wax Protectant Sealant to Vinyl siding AFTER power washing. The wax will go along ways in keeping mold & mildew from reforming for a lot longer than if you didn't have the wax applied.
Hope this helps.
Keith
1-22-2009 @ 12:06PM
Richard said...
Dan is right about bleach. There is a product on the market called Vinyl ReNu (www.vinylrenu.com). You can buy a DIY kit that has a great cleaner that will remove algae, mold, streaks, oxidation, etc. After cleaning you can apply Vinyl ReNu which will bring back the color of the vinyl making it look new and resist the growth of algae, mold, etc. for years. Good luck.
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10-30-2007 @ 8:39PM
willy said...
Allways be careful when using a power washer to clean vinyl siding, Do not use high pressure it will cause pitting in the smooth waxy finish, once it,s pitted more dirt and mold will stick to it than ever before and will make it harder to clean the next time.......USE LOW PRESSURE
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10-30-2007 @ 9:13PM
Brian said...
In Florida, one must be careful NOT to power wash because of what it will do to the other side of what you are cleaning. It will cause mildew and mold if one uses a power washer. It is recommended that you use "Orange" cleaner and the water hose...gently.
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10-30-2007 @ 10:05PM
chris brown said...
brownie,adds when useing a p.washer it AINT about the pressure,its ALL ABOUT the tip.when pressure washing vinyl use a #15tip,or a#25tip! never use a ZERO TIP,that is probably what willy is referring to. pressure IS NEEDED,JUST THE PROPER TIP IS CRUCIAL.AS FOR MILDEW&MOSS ETC. JUST PUT A GALLON OF BLEACH IN A PLASTIC GARDEN PUMP SPRAYER&HIT ALL THE AREAS THAT THE P.WASHER DIDNT REMOVE,YOU MAY FIND OUT THAT BLEACH WAS'NT EVEN NEEDED,BUT IF IT IS YOU'LL KNOW AS SOON AS YOU GO OVER IT WITH THE P.WASHER
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10-30-2007 @ 10:01PM
Jeanie said...
I have Jerry Bakers baking soda and vinegar book. He has a recipe in there for a super cleaner. I have a year round indoor pool with you guessed it, vinyl walls. His recipe for the super cleaner works amazing!! I can't wait to use it on the outside vinyl siding. Besides that, it's cheap and biodegradable to. Just take a mop bucket of very warm water, 1 cup of borax, 1 tsp of ammonia and 1/2 tsp of dish soap. That's it! Use this to mop, or wash walls, or ANYTHING. You'd not believe how this cleaned up my shower, and decking around the pool. Not to mention, it was CHEAP to do.
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11-03-2007 @ 6:20PM
Richard said...
Brian.......... I have lived in Florida since 1981 and a pressure washer is all that I have ever used and everything down here gets pressuer washed.
Good luck with your "Orange" and elbow grease..........what a workout you wil get.
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10-30-2007 @ 11:00PM
Brent said...
Oh this is obviously said by an unprofessional. Anyone that covers their plants with plastic on a hot steamy sun shining day will be employing their local landscaper to install all new plants. Sounds like someone is wanting to cost someone lots of money and headache and make them kill themselves in the process. Obviously again, if your removing mold/mildew from vinyl siding then you are using a product that mold/mildew doesn't like. I would not worry much about mold/mildew getting behind my vinyl from a pressure washer. Since the product removing the mold/mildew is going behind the vinyl IF any water goes behind it at all. A typical water hose uses 10 gal. of water per minute vs. a pressure washer 4 to 5 (gpm) gallon per minute. Which do you think will put more water behind the vinyl?
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10-30-2007 @ 11:02PM
Beth said...
Be careful when using telescopic scrub brushes or other such tools around the power lines near the house/mobile home.
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10-31-2007 @ 11:56PM
mike n said...
A power washer will spray water onto the other side where it will be trapped. Then mold and wood rot will form.
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10-30-2007 @ 11:39PM
Francesca Clarke said...
Thanks for all the tips!
The article I cite does give a warning about not leaving plants covered for too long (creating a mini greenhouse). I should have included that warning in my post.
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10-31-2007 @ 12:00AM
Doug Olive Jr. said...
Be careful when covering bushes/plants with plastic in hot weather. They can die in two hours or less. I found this out the hard way when pressure washing stucco at a local high school and had to pay for some bushes.
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10-31-2007 @ 12:30AM
jasman said...
I think this should be call DIY for idiots. How else would you clean your siding? Either power washer, or hose and buckets. Flip a coin. I came here because it said "easier" way to clean vinyl siding. I just wasted 10 mins of reading useless information, that 99% of ppl already know. I could have had 1/4 of my siding cleaned!
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10-31-2007 @ 1:34AM
Tim said...
Another warning about pressure washing...be sure to use a wide angle tip. Using a concentrated tip can and WILL blow a hole right through the siding if too much pressure is applied.
I've probably cleaned over 1000 decks, patios, siding, etc. I always use strong pressure with a wide tip and from a distance guaranteed not to damage the siding but with enough force to do the job.
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1-13-2008 @ 9:39AM
Dan said...
have been a vinyl siding installer for over 20 years and can tell you one thing that if you use bleach when you clean your vinyl siding. You will take years off your product,because of the oxidizing,the bleach gets in the pores of the vinyl and starts to break down the material. Just use striaght up water and mean green in your pressure washer.
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