How to remove mold from vinyl siding?

[dennis thompson]

The vinyl siding on the front of my house has some green mold on it. It is pretty high and I no longer use ladders more than six feet high. Before I hire someone to pressure wash it I thought I'd try to use one of those siding cleaners that you attach to your hose. Obviously I would just spray it on and rinse it off, the height would not allow me to scrub it. Has anyone ever used one of these cleaners with any success and,if so, which one did you use?
Thanks

[Jim Becker]

Probably algae/moss...I get it on the north-facing sides of my home. I haven't tried any of the cleaners, however.

[Keith Outten]

A friend of mine told me he sprays diluted bleach on the surface and waits ten to twenty minutes before he pressure washes his siding to remove mold and mildew. I'm not sure how effective this would be using a garden hose but it might be worth a try.

[Mel Fulks]

Jomax house cleaner works well, but I've only used it on brick and concrete. Be sure to start at the bottom or you will likely get streaks.

[Jerry Bruette]

Last year I used a product called Wet And Forget. You mix it up, spray it on and walk away. Takes a couple weeks and the green mold is gone.

[Bob Vavricka]

We have a two story house with vinyl siding and have mold/algae grow in areas that don't get much sun. We have good success using a "Hudson Self-Mixing Hose End Sprayer." I take the black piece of the end that spreads the water into a spray and it will shoot a stream that will reach the top of the 2nd story. Fill the bottle with straight bleach and put in a squirt of dish soap to act as a wetting agent. I set the sprayer to the maximum ratio of bleach to water and spray it on the siding until the bleach is all out of the bottle. By then it has been on 5-10 minutes and I start back over siding with the sprayer to rinse it off. Generally this takes care of it and doesn't require any scrubbing. If it is heavy it may take some brushing, but once it's clean, just spray it once a year and it comes off easily.

[Art Mann]

I have used the Jomax and another brand of house wash the name of which I can't remember. Both of these products fit on the end of a hose pipe and both worked fairly well. The label says just spray and rinse off but I found it much more effective to use a brush on the end of a long pole like you would wash a motor home with.

[Sean Hagerty]

Spray bleach on full strength, concentrated bleach (8%) if you can find it. Use a pump up garden sprayer. Let it sit ten min, then rinse it off with a garden hose. Easiest cheapest way to get rid of it.

[Yonak Hawkins]

This works ok. Add a drop or two of dishwashing detergent to counter the surface tension resistance.

[Harry Hagan]

Blasting vinyl siding can cause water to infiltrate behind siding and even damage the siding if the operator doesn’t employ the proper technique.

Siding is designed to shed water that makes contact from a downward impact, not when sprayed from below.

I use a soft bristle brush on an extension handle to scrub after spraying with a bleach solution. Rinse lightly with a garden hose and let the water cascade from above like normal rainfall. Take measures to prevent damage to landscaping when necessary.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Yes, I just finished washing my vinyl-sided house with a garden hose, a soft, fat window washing brush attached to a long handle and a bucket of water, a good amount of bleach and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing detergent. Admittedly, I didn't get high on the south-facing side of the house, but I did spray the cobwebs out of the eaves. It went fairly quick .. 3/4 day job.

[Mike Wilkins]

Before power washing, I have been using a mixture of household bleach in a sprayer designed for use with bleach; mix in some dish detergent to add some clinging action, fill to the line with water and spray away. Cheap bleach from the dollar stores is effective.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

They make some stuff that comes in a bottle which mounts to your hose. It automatically mixes the mystery chemical with the water as it comes out and you just spray it on. I am sorry that I don't have the brand name, but they sell it at Home Depot. It works fairly well on black mildew. I'm not sure what it does for green stuff.

[Lee Schierer]

I just cleaned our vinyl siding to remove algae (green mold you describe). I mixed my own solution of 1 qt of white vinegar to 1 gallon of water with 1/4 cup Dawn Dish washing soap in a 5 gallon bucket. I used an adjustable pole brush for washing an RV.
361988
I dipped the brush in the bucket and scrubbed the siding. For high areas I used my step ladder, never went above 6 feet and extended the brush handle. I let it set about 5 minutes and rinsed it off with a low power pressure washer. It was a bit of work, but the house looks great. I use the same solution for washing my plastic composite decking.

[Ken Platt]

I've cleaned our painted cedar clapboard siding with a mixture of TSP and bleach. I get a small box of the TSP (tri-sodium phosphate, generic name) at my local hardware place, and the exact recipe is on the box. I have a cheap 1 gallon garden sprayer that I keep for this stuff alone. It lasts a few years, then gets tossed. Spray, let sit a few minutes, hose off. ALways amazes me how the dirt and mold just runs off. I suppose some scrubbing might do a bit better, but couldn't be much, and I'm content with the results without the extra work.

Ken

[Justin Ludwig]

We use vinegar/mr clean mix and a sponge mop then rinse with a hose. We can't use bleach because of the flower beds. We have to do this every two years to the north face of our home.

[Matt Meiser]

I've not had any luck with any of the big box products unless some mechanical agitation was used. Doesn't take much. A brush like Lee posted on a painters pole will get you pretty far off the ground but might not work on a 2 story house if you've got it higher up. Luckily around here it seems to mostly form in the bottom 6-10'. I assume the air is less humid and there's more circulation higher up.

I pretty much can't be around bleach (I start coughing badly) so I've never tried that but I'd be real careful where any overspray goes.

[Randy Henry]

Google "soft wash power-washing." If you dig deep enough, you will find several recipes. The one I use, go to Home Depot, and in the swimming pool section, you will see the pool bleach. It is 11% concentrate, vs the 4% Clorox. Mix it 50-50 with water, and add a cup of Dawn to help it stick to the siding. Spray it on, let it sit for app. 5 minutes. On my vinyl siding, it made the siding look new. It also cleaned the facia and soffit very well. I spray it on with my power-washer with a low pressure nozzle, but using a pump sprayer would be just as efficient. I agree with the above comment about not using high pressure on vinyl siding.

[Harry Hagan]

I’d never satisfactorily cleaned painted aluminum gutters until someone recommended Simple Green®. Give it a try if you’re not happy with results using bleach or other detergents.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Look on Amazon for a product called "X14". Don't even bother with the bleach/vinegar/baking soda/whatever - X14 is what you want, and will solve your problem instantly.

[Al Launier]

I also use the Hudson Self-Mixing Hose End Sprayer as Bob Vavricka mentioned above. It's really does work well, providing the cleaning media isn't too thick to begin with. It's very convenient not having to pre-mix the solution.

I also use this sprayer to spray along the foundation of my home each year to protect against, or kill off, carpenter ants, termites, or other insects as well. It's a handy tool to have.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have had good luck with this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N7RZC0

Mold Armor for your house.

My experience is that it also depends on how long it has been there. If this has been there for a few years, you need to scrub it. If it is relatively new, give this stuff a go. Well, it helps regardless. What I like is that you can spray, wait, then rinse off.

It is not expensive and it is easy to use. i would for sure try this before paying someone to come out. Keep the container in case you want to try mixing up your own solutions with vinegar (or whatever.... and I am not recommending for or against vinegar, but someone did mention using it).

[Art Mann]

I believe EZ House Wash was the other product I mentioned in #7 the name of which I couldn't remember.

[dennis thompson]

I looked over the house more carefully and noticed that the soffits were pretty dirty (it's a 3 story house so the soffits are very high) so I decided to get the whole house power washed.
Thanks for all your suggestions

[Jim Becker]

I looked over the house more carefully and noticed that the soffits were pretty dirty (it's a 3 story house so the soffits are very high) so I decided to get the whole house power washed.
Thanks for all your suggestions
Our neighbor, who is selling their home to downsize, just had that done. Wow...what a difference!

[Sean Troy]

The vinyl siding on the front of my house has some green mold on it. It is pretty high and I no longer use ladders more than six feet high. Before I hire someone to pressure wash it I thought I'd try to use one of those siding cleaners that you attach to your hose. Obviously I would just spray it on and rinse it off, the height would not allow me to scrub it. Has anyone ever used one of these cleaners with any success and,if so, which one did you use?
Thanks
I just did my whole house. I use liquid Spic and Span mixed in a five gallon bucket. A soft bristle brush on an extension pole works great. I pre wet with hose and do an area with the solution and brush then rinse. Move on to the next section.