I used Simple Green and a pressure washer, taking care not to blow water from underneath. Didn’t do much. Anyone have any good products they can suggest? The siding is about 15 years old and still looks ok. Faded on the south side.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Fine Homebuilding is excited to be the official media partner of the 2024 Building Science Symposium series! This event offers builders, tradesmen, architects, designers and suppliers to discuss topics ranging…
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Try the exterior grade bleach at the BBs. A freind that had a press wash buisness uses this mostly. Maybe a little vinegar added to help the bleach.
I just started a thread on cleaning spider droppings from vinyl. I had tried about everything. Someone suggested Oxyclean. It worked very well - probably removed 95% of the stains. It does need some time to work so give it a try - spray it on and let it sit for a while then rinse.
I had to use a brush with the spider stains but you may not have to.
Was it the Simple Green siding cleaner you tried, or just their generic cleaner? Have you tried one of the purpose-made siding washes?
One of the problems with vinyl siding is that they are NOT free from aging. The surface is a polymer and it will show aging. In fact, PVC (poly vinyl chloride) by itself is extraordinarily sensitive to decomposition by UV --that is, sunlight-- and even heat. The manufacturers must add additives to slow the aging process.
Note that I said SLOW. The outer surface will slowly chalk. What is happening is that the outer surface of the PVC is actually decomposing to a brittle material. This will cause the vinyl to change color in this area. In more protected areas, the change will be slower so you will see variations. The cheaper the PVC siding, the faster the degradation (those antioxidants cost money!).
This weathered surface will also hold dirt and stains very well thank you. Cleaning them can be quite problemmatic.
Now some siding is coated with a top layer of Tedlar or similar material. This is much more weather resistant, and will DELAY the deterioration. Again, note the word DELAY. You will eventually start to see weathering of your siding.
Yes, this is a problem with virtually all exterior finishes, not just vinyl. House paint does the same thing, but is designed to slowly erode over time so that it always presents a clean face.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Yup! I simply mentioned the vinyl siding because it is advertised as "maintainance free" while everybody seems to know that paint won't last.
When in fact good quality paint will last darn near as long as the original finish on vinyl.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I just used the basic Simple Green, not the siding version. But I think its going to need brushing.
Bleach could help, but its hard on plants and needs to be pretty dilutehttp://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
There are several brands of the siding cleaner out there. They all claim to be great stuff, of course, but hard to say if there's any truth to that. Seems worth it to try one or two, though.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I used a coarse old towel and an aerosol sprayon kitchen disenfectant from the dollar store. Sprayed the green and black spotted areas and gave it a swipe or two. After the towel got charged/staturated with the cleaner I only had to occasionally spray. I would do an eight foot area and the wife would rinse it with the hose. It took us about three hours to do our '50's ranch. That was last fall and the black and green stuff has not returned yet. Good luck.
http://www.vinylrenu.com/
Also look for Flood Restora cleaner and Food vinyl restorer. Separate products.
Edited 8/17/2007 1:43 pm ET by MarkH