How to Clean Vinyl Siding

When it comes to home maintenance, it can be easy to forget about our home’s siding; however, the lifespan of your siding can be increased with a few quick and easy maintenance steps. If you are looking for an excuse to get outside when the weather breaks, doing a bit of siding maintenance might be the perfect project for you! Here are some quick tips to get your siding up to snuff:

Break up the job. Seeing your home as one big project can make the job of cleaning your siding seem overwhelming, so break it up into manageable 10-foot sections.

Pick the right cleaning materials. A bucket of warm water with soap and trisodium phosphate (1/2 cup) is a great one-size-fits-all solution to cleaning a home’s siding. It is gentle but effective, and will clean a variety of surfaces well.

Test your cleaning solution. While warm soapy water and TSP are gentle, it is always a good idea to select a small area as a test strip. Make sure you are using the right soap and the right portions by finding a small and inconspicuous area and applying the solution as you would when cleaning. Allow it to remain for a minute or so before rinsing, to make sure your solution is the right one for your siding.

Go from bottom to top. Starting at the top of your home can cause dirty water to run down and creates tough-to-remove streaks. A bottom up approach, however, gives you the chance to thoroughly clean the area without worry of grime running down your soon to be cleaned walls.

Consider pressure washing. If your home has a large external area, the idea of going over the entire thing with a bucket and brush may not sound very appealing. Pressure washers can cut your work time down significantly. Remember to aim the pressure washer down toward the ground to prevent damaging the siding with an upward stream.