House Wash?

[quedz]

Looking for a "better mouse trap" regarding  mold and mildew removal? Anybody had any luck with the spray and and rinse products? How do you do it?

Edited July 1, 2019 by hughd

[KahrMan]

We used to make our own spray.  We would mix water, bleach, TSP and dish soap.  I don't remember the exact proportions but I think it was a gallon of water, a gallon of bleach, 2 tablespoons of TSP and a couple of squirts of soap.  The bleach and TSP do all the cleaning work.  The soap allows the solution to "stick" better to the siding or eves or whatever you are cleaning.  

[peejman]

1 hour ago, KahrMan said:

We used to make our own spray.  We would mix water, bleach, TSP and dish soap.  I don't remember the exact proportions but I think it was a gallon of water, a gallon of bleach, 2 tablespoons of TSP and a couple of squirts of soap.  The bleach and TSP do all the cleaning work.  The soap allows the solution to "stick" better to the siding or eves or whatever you are cleaning.  

We used something similar years ago.  You don't want to get it on you.  If it's not caked on, just wetting it down and spraying with simple green works fairly well. A brush on a pole works for stubborn spots. 

[TomInMN]

19 minutes ago, peejman said:

We used something similar years ago.  You don't want to get it on you.  If it's not caked on, just wetting it down and spraying with simple green works fairly well. A brush on a pole works for stubborn spots. 

We've used an RV cleaning brush and soap on vinyl siding with a power washer. Works pretty well. Soak/ soap, brush the bad spots, rinse.

[BrasilNuts]

In the paint section of Home Depot, comes in a green bottle with a spray nozzle built in. Get a brush like they have at the car wash and a long extendable paint pole.  I’ve used it on 4-5 of our rentals with vinyl siding and it works well.  My cousin and I washed one of her rentals, single story 2100 sqft in 2.5 hours.

[krunchnik]

We have used a heavy mixture of bleach and water-spray on with a garden sprayer and hose off.

One nice thing about the bleach is it keeps whitening for awhile-we have white vinyl siding.

[gregintenn]

Brick it and forget it.

[peejman]

7 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Brick it and forget it.

Indeed.  My current house is brick. I don't miss cleaning siding. It completely baffles me why people paint a brick house.  

[Dirtshooter]

23 minutes ago, peejman said:

Indeed.  My current house is brick. I don't miss cleaning siding. It completely baffles me why people paint a brick house.  

Because their wife wants it painted. LOL!!!

[Trekbike]

2 minutes ago, Dirtshooter said:

Because their wife wants it painted. LOL!!!

Yep, it's because they watch too much HGTV...

[peejman]

15 minutes ago, Dirtshooter said:

Because their wife wants it painted. LOL!!!

Then she can clean the durn thing. 

[gregintenn]

I’ve seen a few people recently build a new brick house and paint it. I don’t get it either.

[No_0ne]

For a fast application, mix whatever concoction you want to spray in an orchard sprayer.  This is a plastic siphon-style sprayer found in most big-box stores.  I use pure bleach, when siphoned through your hose it dilutes it accordingly.  Apply wet, let it work for a few minutes, wash with pressure washer.  As noted, an RV brush will take care of any really heavy areas.

[Dirtshooter]

Also from a safety aspect, make sure if you use bleach that you either wear a mask to keep from breathing fumes or work with wind. I was washing our Aunts house years ago and was using bleach and it made me sick. You can get pneumonia and other breathing issues so be careful.

[quedz]

Thanks for the replies.