power washing house

[Fanatical Meat]

Question is use a cleaner or not. I've washed our house with just water in the past but my new washer accepts cleaning fluid's. Opinions guys?

House is vinyl siding, it cracks kind of easily but I'll be careful
Mostly dirt and the side that doesn't get much sun has a minor mold mildew problem. Been 2 years since last wash.

 

[DrPizza]

A few people I know swear by one of those products that you hook up to the garden hose and spray on - spray and forget, or something like that.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Huhm... I'd be worried about what cleaning fluid might to do the landscaping/plants around the house.

There are some household soaps and stuff that are ok on plants (even to use as an insecticide) so it's not like EVERYTHING WILL KILL EVERYTHING. I would just want to read an MSDS or something for the cleaning fluid first, is all.

 

[DrPizza]

Agreed. Whatever it was that was recommended to me is supposed to be okay for the plants. I'm looking at going that route this year; algae is building up on the siding, and we're under a drought, so I'm reluctant to waste hundreds of gallons of water pressure washing the house.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I was talking about the premixed stuff I've seen at Home Depot. I'd bet its safe for plants. Our house only has one side with plants that aren't either rocks then grass or pretty established bushes.

 

[boomerang]

A few people I know swear by one of those products that you hook up to the garden hose and spray on - spray and forget, or something like that.

Wet and Forget. Good stuff but it must be kept off plants. We used it in Florida to clean the spindles on our second floor lanai. The lanai is screened and the spindles are on the other side of the screening so there was no way to scrub on them. We put it on before we left in the spring and when we came back in the winter the grunge was still there. Not enough rainfall in the right area to wash them clean. We took the hose to them and they cleaned up in a blink of an eye.

Edit: No hooking up to the garden hose although you do mix it with water and spray it on using a sprayer.