Cleaning siding

[MatBirch]

Just bought a new old house and the siding needs cleaned. Dry climate, so it’s not mold, or algae, or mildew. Mostly just plain old dirt. Siding is a mix of older metal, and some type of Hardi board. I have a small 1750 psi electric pressure washer. Should I just get after it with that, or is there one of the hose end wash solutions like Scott’s that worth trying? I know my pressure washer will take forever as the pattern and volume are pretty small.

Thanks

 

[MushCreek]

I recently washed our deck with a kit that screws on to the garden hose. It was surprisingly effective. TSC sells the same chemical in the same concentration for a lot less money, so I saved the sprayer, and use the refill from TSC. The stuff smells like bleach. A pressure washer can damage paint, so be careful if you go that route.

 

[LB-1911]

Just bought a new old house and the siding needs cleaned. Dry climate, so it’s not mold, or algae, or mildew. Mostly just plain old dirt. Siding is a mix of older metal, and some type of Hardi board. I have a small 1750 psi electric pressure washer. Should I just get after it with that, or is there one of the hose end wash solutions like Scott’s that worth trying? I know my pressure washer will take forever as the pattern and volume are pretty small.

Thanks

Give WET & FORGET a look, scroll down the page to Benefits / Application Tips

 

[3rdgen]

I have a white siding house and am not to far away from a sewage plant and farm fields so it’s always dirty. The easiest way I found is to buy a foam gun that goes on the hose and use 1 cup sunlight dish soap and the rest bleach. I spray it on let it sit and then use a siding brush or car wash brush and give it a little scrub and rinse it off. You really arnt supposed to use a pressure washer on siding as it will blow the water behind it but if you do just don’t stand 6 inches from it and you should be ok . I also use a 16 ft painters in pole so I don’t need a ladder for the 2nd floor

 

[mike93lx]

Give WET & FORGET a look, scroll down the page to Benefits / Application Tips

Wet and forget is for killing moss on roofs, for the most part. I would not use it to simply wash dirt off siding

 

[topcok88]

I have had excellent results using Jomax House Wash on a garden hose with a soft bristled brush on extension pole. I’m not a proponent of using a pressure washer on siding for reasons others have mentioned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[yeldogt]

be careful with PW ... you can blow water inside and cause lots of damage

 

[wayne55]

That may be Jomax. It's what I use.

 

[nyy845]

I just did this with vinyl siding.

I used my foam gun (which I had for car washes) filled with dawn and 10% bleach and my pressure washer.

I then attached a car wash brush to my roof rake and used that to agitate the foam.

I purchased an extension kit for the pressure washer because I hate working off ladders:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7Pcs-Press...967468?hash=item2897880c2c:g:Gu8AAOSw2BxfBFEL

I then rinsed, it came out great. It was a little awkward scrubbing and power washing the tallest parts of the house, but worth the trade-off not having to be on a ladder.

 

[MarlynOC]

Older metal(aluminum) siding can turn zebra with a power washer or any cleaning equipment. If we see either asbestos or aluminum we walk away. Been PW for 35 yrs now.

 

[nadogail]

I remember the Gas Stations that were made of bolted together enameled steel panels, they looked like new after a hot soapy water wash.

 

[Jackfre]

We installed Hardi Artisan Plank on our house in '13, in Sailcloth color, a light yellowish. It got sufficiently dirty that I couldn't stand it any longer. I have a pw, but was reluctant to do the siding. I have been looking for a good telescoping brush with the hose attachment. I found an Ettore Car/Truck aluminum wand with a toggle water flow control and I went at it. I could control the flow on the wash and scrub portion and then spray it down with higher flow. It took a few minutes to figure out the orientation of the flow control and brush head. It was great and worked really well. The siding looks like new. I will likely do an annual PW in the future, but it was so bad in spots that it took a good scrubbing first. The hose sprung a leak just above the toggle control but the brush and wand are still good and I will adapt a valve to it with minimum fuss. For the $25 or 30 bucks, good buy! Oh, and I made sure not to extend the telescoping want to the limits. Maybe it will be okay, but I didn't want to chance it. I could get up to 8-9' off the ground.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I use an electric PW, with a Ryobi foam gun, with Dawn for just dirt, and 50-50 Dawn-Clorox for stuff that needs a little killing. Sometimes a very soft bristle brush to move recalcitrant crud. I use the same foam gun switched to rinse, to get it all off.
The Ryobi gun offers settings from, sort of needle, to wide fan splatter. I use the splatter, as it's very gentle.