Cleaner for vinyl siding

buck91

buck91

Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
3,552
Location
West Michigan
So I recently picked up this "30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner" from Lowes since it was half the price of Wet&Forget. Tried it out figuring you get what you pay for but lo and behold it seems to actually work pretty well! Our vinyl siding is a very light color and despite a very open plot with lots of sun needs washed every couple of years or else the mold/mildew/etc gets looking pretty rough. Power washing works very well but is labor and time intensive. Scrubbing with a brush and Simple Green works but requires, well, a lot of scrubbing. I was able to do about 1/2-2/3 of the house using one bottle of this Outdoor Cleaner and refills are only $10/gal but... Looking at the ingredients its 8% Sodium Hypochlorite, 6% Proprietary and 86% inert so I'm thinking about maybe making my own?

It looks to me like regular, plain bleach cut with 6% of some type of soap would work, unless I'm missing something? If thats making sense I figure I have three reasonable options on hand. Simple Green, dish soap or liquid laundry soap. I am using it with the integral garden hose mixer sprayer. Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
I'm not a fan of bleach on vinyl siding, no evidence but it seems to make the surface chalky over time. Last year I reluctantly tried Wet & Forget because it was just about the only "miracle in a bottle" without bleach. I did wash the siding with auto wash and a soft brush before the W&F. To my surprise the siding kept getting visibly cleaner over the next week. Now 5-6 months later it's still clean. The W&F was on sale at Costco (2 for$20) which was a pretty good deal per oz but it is a different amount than found at other stores. I tried a couple home brews including dishwasher soap, dawn, purple power, etc and was never really impressed.
 
My wife mixes me a 5 gallon bucket with her particular squeeze/glug of automatic dishwasher detergent. This cleans the vinyl siding nicely w/o fading and cleans the streaks nicely off of the gutters. I use a long extending handle car wash brush and a garden hose rinse.
 
Part of my house is white James Hardie siding and the north side could use a cleaning. I'm going to try the Wet N Forget based on the review here. From my understanding it doesn't need to be pressure washed off. Just wet....and forget? Any concerns with contact with landscaping?
 
I used Mold Armor EZ House Wash on my old house which worked really well. Got it at Walmart which was like .50 cheaper than anyone else. I ruined one of my favorite T-shirts in the process so wear old clothes if you use it.
Pay attention to the north side of homes in any old neighborhood and you'll see algae if your in a seasonal climate and the exterior is neglected.

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by RhondaHonda
Part of my house is white James Hardie siding and the north side could use a cleaning. I'm going to try the Wet N Forget based on the review here. From my understanding it doesn't need to be pressure washed off. Just wet....and forget? Any concerns with contact with landscaping?


I used Wet and Forget on the siding on my house and I have to say I was surprised at the results. Took the mess off of the siding and it seems to have worked to keep the siding clean afterwards.

And, yes, it literally is spray it on and walk away. As for landscaping, as I recall there was a warning on the bottle that it may affect landscaping but I don't remember the details. From my experience, it didn't seem to harm anything, but in all fairness, the section of the house I used it on has about a 3' wide patch of mulch directly under the siding with nothing growing, and then the lawn starts. If there was any overspray or drifting, it doesn't appear to have hurt the grass.
 
I didn't have any grass or plants die from the W&F but the grass did seem to yellow a bit but came back within a couple weeks. I did hose off the wife's rose bushes after the application hoping to keep peace in the house.
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Originally Posted by skyactiv
I used Mold Armor EZ House Wash on my old house which worked really well. Got it at Walmart which was like .50 cheaper than anyone else. I ruined one of my favorite T-shirts in the process so wear old clothes if you use it.
Pay attention to the north side of homes in any old neighborhood and you'll see algae if your in a seasonal climate and the exterior is neglected.

[Linked Image]





I save that bottle and refill will Clorox mixed with TSP.
 
Originally Posted by RhondaHonda
Part of my house is white James Hardie siding and the north side could use a cleaning. I'm going to try the Wet N Forget based on the review here. From my understanding it doesn't need to be pressure washed off. Just wet....and forget? Any concerns with contact with landscaping?

I use wet and forget, and as far as I can tell, it does not damage anything but moss and mildew and lichen. I prefer it because the effects last, and it's not aggressive like bleach on various materials.
 
Originally Posted by Propflux01
Originally Posted by spasm3


I save that bottle and refill will Clorox mixed with TSP.


Does your concoction work just as well?


Yes, better.
I leave I'm on a while before rinsing. The ez house wash is bleach, read the sds. The tsp(2 tablespoons) seems to keep the alge from coming back as fast
 
Last edited:
Simply Green works pretty well in the DeWalt power washer for me on vinyl.
 
I like to read the SDS's and compare them to the commercial pesticide products that I use at work.

As spasm3 noted, the EZ House Wash and the OP's 30 Second Outdoor cleaner are bleach based products. The Wet & Forget and 30 Second Spray & Walk Away (not mentioned) are Quaternary Ammonium Compounds similar (but different) to a commercial greenhouse cleaner algaecide I use called Greenshield.

Take a peek at the SDS's and be mindful about them, especially in their concentrate form. Like bleach, they can be very damaging to the eyes, skin, etc. if not careful: https://www.wetandforget.com/downloads/SDS_USA_Wet_Forget_9.9_12282019.pdf

Potential Health Effects(Acute and Chronic):Causes eye burns.Causes skin burns. Ingestion can cause burning pain in mouth, throat and abdomen -May be fatal if ingested.Harmful if swallowed. May cause severe and permanent damage to the digestive tract.May be fatal if swallowed.May cause severe irritation of the respiratory tract with possible burns.

Keep things in perspective. We use bleach and gasoline daily without being paranoid.


I use Simple Green Pro HD from Home Depot. It is the homeowners version of Simple Green Aviation cleaner which claims to be safe of metals (aluminum) and plastics, rubbers, etc..
 
Thank you doitmyself for the safety reminder, we do get complacent with items we use regularly. I did some research before I decided on the w&f and as long as you use common sense it's no more dangerous than bleach or gas. Wear gloves and glasses especially for spraying overhead and wash up when finished. I was pretty skeptical but was pleasantly surprised with the results.

P10crew, I can't imagine it would damage the FRP. We have a lot of FRP at work as wall covering and have used some harsh chemicals on it without issue. You could try a small area first to be sure. I would be more worried around the canvas awning material and maybe the rubber seals more than the FRP.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
Originally Posted by RhondaHonda
Part of my house is white James Hardie siding and the north side could use a cleaning. I'm going to try the Wet N Forget based on the review here. From my understanding it doesn't need to be pressure washed off. Just wet....and forget? Any concerns with contact with landscaping?


I used Wet and Forget on the siding on my house and I have to say I was surprised at the results. Took the mess off of the siding and it seems to have worked to keep the siding clean afterwards.

And, yes, it literally is spray it on and walk away. As for landscaping, as I recall there was a warning on the bottle that it may affect landscaping but I don't remember the details. From my experience, it didn't seem to harm anything, but in all fairness, the section of the house I used it on has about a 3' wide patch of mulch directly under the siding with nothing growing, and then the lawn starts. If there was any overspray or drifting, it doesn't appear to have hurt the grass.

I made sure to use the Wet And Forget AFTER the leaves fell and plant life went dormant. So whatever hit the ground at the end of October got diluted by April, when plant life began waking up again.
The product worked well over time..... just like the instructions said. So wear some patience with it.
 
Last edited:
I also use the empty mold armour device but I had always just used a higher concentrate TSP solution alone. I'll have to try a bleach mix.
 
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