How do I clean vinyl siding without a pressure washer?

Question

My vinyl siding is turning green from mildew and I have to clean it up this weekend.

I let a friend borrow my pressure washer at the beginning of the summer, and he's out of the country for awhile. I'm working that angle to try and get it back.

I called for a rental and found that it's pretty expensive to rent one, even for a few hours.

Are there any products out there that can you can spray on and rinse with a hose? These stains are 20+ feet up, so I'll bite the bullet on the tool rental before I get up there to scrub.

My dad recommended giving Jomax a try. Any experience with this?

Answer 1

Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. I wish I took before/after pics.

Bought:

Jomax

Clorox Outdoor

Put in a garden sprayer designed for bleach according to instructions on Jomax:

• 3/4 cups Jomax
• 2 1/4 cups bleach
• 13 cups water

For 75% of the siding, I applied the mixture, then rinsed after 5 minutes. A number of sections needed a second application, and the worst section took three.

I rinsed using one of the "fireman" nozzles on my hose, just so I could get it up to the eaves:

I did try just spraying the mildew with the nozzle...worthless. "Firemen" should sue for defamation.

Anyway, I'm thrilled. Probably took 25% longer than last year, but I wasn't dripping wet either :) I'll get a power sprayer for next year, but I'll definitely stick with this; it looks much better than what I get from pressure washing alone.

Answer 2

Jomax is good. Make sure the area is dry before using it, or you wasted your money. Use a pump sprayer, start at the bottom and work your way up. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse off with a hose or a pressure washer. If you need to reapply, make sure the surface is dry first.

Answer 3

Jomax and bleach worked for me too. The north side of my taupe siding house was nearly solid green. I sprayed the mix on, let it sit for about 8 minutes, then worked it horizontally with a long handled car-washing brush and let it sit a few more minutes and rinsed it off with the hose. It's nearly perfect. I'm going to go over a few sections that were very thick with growth again but from 20 ft you couldn't tell that it wasn't perfect.

One gallon of the mix covered about 10' X 20'

The brush work required a good bit of sweat equity but I think its only required because I let this get so bad. I'll follow up with a post after I clean the sides that are only dirty (no green stuff growing). I think that spray and rinse will do it.

Answer 4

Go to a website call Sidingswab.com. They have a tool that mounts on an extension pole and you order the cleaning pad to fit the profile of your specific siding. Works great.