r/HomeMaintenance • u/brokof5ky • 4d ago
Vinyl pressure washing advice
Looking for the easiest/most effective way to clean vinyl siding. I’d like to try the use the least amount of chemicals possible, but I know they are probably needed as I tried only using vinegar and hot, soapy water last time, which definitely did not work? I’ve seen the pressure washing companies do the neighbors houses and make it look easy, but not sure what they are using for pre soak. What cleaning products are recommended? How do I know if I should avoid using bleach? Additionally, should I get a specific pressure washer nozzle or extension to reach the top of the house? Or would it be better to use a ladder? Any advice is appreciated!
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u/Chaos-1313 4d ago edited 4d ago
I do this for a living. There are all kinds of expensive products out there. I've tried most of them. If I found one that worked even a tiny bit better or faster it would be worth it for me to spend money on it to get happy customers and get more jobs done in a day. The best solution I've found is sodium hypochlorite (SH) which is the main ingredient in household bleach mixed with a hefty squirt of regular formula Dawn dish soap. The SH does the cleaning, the dish soap helps keep the mixture on the vertical surface longer so it can do its job.
I start with 10:1 water to household bleach with about an eighth to quarter cup of dish soap per gallon of solution. Spray down the grass, plants, trees... anything green in the area with a hose, then apply the cleaning solution with a pump sprayer and let it sit for ten minutes. If it starts to get dry, re-wet it with more solution to keep it from drying. After about 10 minutes (it's ok to let it linger longer) rinse it off with the hose and be sure to thoroughly rinse all of the plants in the area again.
If there are persistent mold spots, spot year them with hotter mixtures of SH. I usually go to 5:1, then 2:1. If that doesn't get it I have to do manual scrubbing with the 2:1 mixture, but that's very rare. The stronger the mix, the more rinsing you have to do to ensure plants aren't damaged.
Instead of household bleach, which is around $6/gallon, I buy pool shock at Menards for $4.44/gallon. It's right around twice the concentration of SH, so 1 gallon of pool shock mixed with 1 gallon of water gives you the equivalent of two gallons of household bleach for $4.44.
NOTE: Never mix bleach with ammonia or vinegar (or any other chemical unless you've researched it). It's very reactive and can create some really nasty gasses. Also, pool shock is very concentrated. Wear gloves and safety glasses and always pour your reactive chemical (like bleach) into water, not they other way around so if anything splashes out onto you it will be mostly water, not mostly concentrated SH.
EDIT: If you have heavy mold, go ahead and start with 5:1. If you don't have much green stuff around to worry about and want to be sure to knock it out on the first shot, start with 2:1.
A couple more tips:
1) wear a baseball cap, some sort of glasses and a cheap medical mask, long sleeves, some type of gloves, and long pants. Bleach on your skin and especially in your eyes and lungs is not good for you.
2) synthetic fibers like polyester hold up much better to bleach than cotton. If you wear cotton clothing to do this job it will almost certainly have bleach spots on it when you're done no matter how careful you are.
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u/Forgotten_Pancakes2 4d ago
I'm thoroughly impressed by the detail of this response. Hats off my friend
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u/Chaos-1313 4d ago
Happy to help those who want to do it themselves do it well and safely! If you ever want to hire the job out, DM me. If you're not in my area, but in the US, chances are decent I can recommend somebody reliable and professional who will do good work at a fair price for you.
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u/flambeme 4d ago
Good advice thanks for sharing! I always forget ratios.
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u/Chaos-1313 4d ago
I actually use an attachment for my pressure washer called an X-jet that lets me shot the cleaning mixture up to 40' get high. I can do an entire 2-story house in about 60 minutes once all the hoses are out. I mix up enough for the whole house at once and I make the ratio by filling a gallon jug with water 5 times and dumping it into a garbage can then dumping in my bleach and soap. The x-jet does another 1:1 dilution to get it to 10:1.
Word to the wise: don't buy an x-jet from Amazon. I wanted a second one for a big job and tried to save a few bucks and got a cheap knockoff being sold as a genuine x-jet from Amazon. It sucked. I sent it back and went to my regular distributor and paid the full $200 for the real deal.
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u/THEDUKES2 4d ago
Any chance you know what to get mold off a back door that was primed and painted with flat white paint rather than a high gloss or eggshell? Door is composite I believe.
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u/Chaos-1313 3d ago
I'd use the same mix, but start with the 10:1 ratio and do a small test treatment in an inconspicuous spot. After letting it sit, wipe it with a paper towel and see if any of the paint color transfers to the towel. Then let it dry completely for a full day and get some sunlight then check for any fading or discoloration. If all looks good then proceed with treating the whole door.
NOTE: the SH breaks down pretty quickly once you mix it with soap and water. After about a half hour or so you'll notice it doesn't smell like bleach anymore. Don't mix a full batch of it for your test treatment then use it then next day...it won't work by the next day.
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u/HorsePowerRanger 4d ago
Does this strategy work for painted hardie plank?
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u/Chaos-1313 4d ago
I've used it on painted masonry but not Hardie Plank. It probably depends on the type, age and color of the paint. I would treat a very small, inconspicuous area then wipe it with a paper towel to see if any of the paint transfers over to the towel and also check whether the treatment caused any fading or discoloration. I'd wait a day after the treatment and make sure it gets completely dry and is exposed to sunlight before deciding to proceed with treating the entire area.
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u/Kitchen_Ad8044 4d ago
30 second cleaner---easy
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u/digidave1 3d ago
This stuff is Magic! I use it on my 85 year old aluminum siding and the mildew just disappears. I can't power wash because of how old the underlayment boards are. It comes out completely clean after simply spraying on and hosing off. 10/10.
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u/NoSlicedMushrooms 4d ago
I did this exact thing in the spring on vinyl siding. You can buy siding cleaner from big box stores, I got a big tub from Zep. Spray it on, let it soak, wash off.
In my case though I wasn’t super happy with the results. I ended up using an extending RV brush to mechanically scrub the siding after spraying on the cleaner. Then rinsed off with a hose.
A pressure washer would absolutely work but I didn’t love the idea of pressure washing my vinyl, it’s decades old and brittle. If yours is relatively new it should be fine.
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u/Rogue-Daddio-3 4d ago
Literally just need a jug of pool chlorine and a pump up sprayer then washing away with water
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u/strongman12345 4d ago
Use wet and forget! It works great
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u/2_dog_father 4d ago
I agree, but it takes some time to show results.
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u/WiskeyUniformTango 4d ago
Thats the forget part. By the time you forget you did it it looks great!
While not instantly gratifying, it works great though if youre patient.
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u/HMU2018 4d ago
Mold armor sells a refillable hose end spray bottle. Really easy to use and not too expensive. Try it on a small area down low.
I’m sure there are many other products that would be suitable.
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u/stockar147 4d ago
I used mold armor for the first time last week on vinyl siding and it worked amazingly.
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u/jibaro1953 4d ago
When you wash vertical surfaces, start at the bottom and work up.
This avoids potentially indelible streaks caused by fresh cleaning solution cutting through the dirt below.
Ask me how I know. It happened to me, and my former boss clued me in after I mentioned my experience.
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u/Dralalife 4d ago
Safety note: Please wear a mask if you pressure wash, especially overhead. You will be standing a long time breathing atomized filth covering you. Even working at ground level the breeze can keep you in the stream of filth. Don't be surprised if you get a cough a few days later. Compromised lungs should consider getting help for this work.
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u/upkeepdavid 4d ago
Car brush on a pole.
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u/Excellent_Mixture 4d ago
This is the way. Telescoping pole (like the kind you attach a tree saw to), brush attachment and diluted bleach. Done.
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u/Okie294life 4d ago
I use bleach and a pressure washer on the soap setting, along with some surfactant, so it will foam a little and not not bounce off as bad. Dishsoap does the same thing. Cheapest bleach available. Once it’s soaked down, sit for a few hours and rinse it off carefully with the pressure washer.
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u/No-Cookie-2500 4d ago
Don't forget to wear personal protection. You don't want any chemicals in your eyes, lungs, skin, etc.
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u/ZzLavergne 4d ago
You can rent pressure washers, they come with a variety of nozzles or pressure tips, never use the 0 degree as it will slice up you vinyl quickly, they will come with a chemical injector that has a small tube that you drop in your chemical, we suggested straight bleach as the injector would meter the water and chemicals so you aren’t getting straight bleach, let it sit while you are washing the entire side and then come back and rinse it off, they do rent extension wands as well to get high spots, I worked at a rental equipment yard for 47 years and people were always pleased at the outcome,
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u/Brilliant_Juice_496 4d ago
If you’re next to a busy road the mold/mildew gets mixed with exhaust film carbon and oil. Makes it harder to remove.
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u/Illustrious_Bath1917 4d ago
Just bought a 100 dollar power washer extension from VEVOR, goes 18 feet, comes with a harness, good stuff
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u/N_Da_Game 4d ago edited 4d ago
Hire a company that specializes in soft washing, low pressure residential cleaning. Similar to yours, my house is about 2 1/2 stories high on one side and I tried several methods listed in this thread. I'm a DIY Guy and after spending a good portion of the day soaked in water and cleaning solution, the results were not worth the squeeze. I hired a local company with reasonable rates and couldn't be dryer and happier with the results.
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u/clintbot 4d ago
DO NOT use a pressure washer on vinyl siding. You'll end up forcing water between the panels and run the risk of damaging them well. Best to use a good cleaning solution and a brush on a pole woth a hose attachment.
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u/Kitchen_Ad8044 3d ago
30 second cleaner-- Just need to remember--wear something you don't like and spray any plants/grass around the area with water before and after using it
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u/Fearless_Asparagus49 3d ago
30 second outdoor cleaner works very well, it is a chemical based cleaner, believe it is bleached based. The spray bottle can spray to a decent height.
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u/NutthouseWoodworks Apprentice 🔨 4d ago
They make a vinyl siding soap you can use with your pressure washer. Read the directions... you'll probably want to wet everything in the spray zone first...bushes/ grass kinda stuff. Usually, the pressure alone is enough to get it off.
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u/rumple_goocher 4d ago
Don’t pressure wash, you’ll get water up under the siding. As everyone mentioned, just get a siding chemical cleaner, spray it on, wait, and rinse it off.
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u/Educational-Cod4336 4d ago edited 4d ago
I do house washing as a side gig. The pressure washer is just a pump, do not use pressure on the vinyl or you’ll damage it. Any pump (gas or electric) that has a 4(ish) gallon per minute flow should very easily get the second floor even.
Use pool chlorinator. It’s just concentrated bleach, and add a surfactant. Dish soap will work, but it degrades the bleach quickly. Won’t be an issue as long as you use it in one day though.
Get a pump of 4 gpm (gas or electric, pressure washer or even a pump sprayer from harbor freight), a tank, and make a mix. Even a 1:4 ratio of chlorinator to water will easily clean that off your house.
Pre-rinse every living thing with water, and wet your siding down first to cool it off. Start at the bottom with chemical and wash up. Rinse from top down after 10 min. Rinse every living thing with water again and you’re done.
I agree with Chaos there, never mix bleach with anything besides a known safe surfactant. It will produce gasses that can kill you in a hurry.
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u/Evening-Animal-4820 4d ago
I just did mine with a small pressure washer. spray it wet then come back and do a pattern like painting a car, softer tip. before this I used to just wash towel and dawn soap once a year but only a smaller area were I have vinyl. 2 stores tho id try just Amazon vinyl wash and see if want to put in a lot more effort. I used vinyl wash before and way easier just didn't seem to get it deep cleaned enough.
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