Long story short, my landscaping friend listened to me give my speech on soft washing. He was interested in trying it himself on his own home (out of my area). He said this:
He mixed 50/50 bleach and water, added a little dish soap, and down-streamed it through an x-jet (no reducer). For the record I did not give him mixing ratios, he said he googled it.
He said he noticed the 2 sections were “bleached” looking. Upon seeing pictures (which I will post later when I have access to them) it appears that the entire side of the home is evenly brighter, not just splashing and run-downs. Now I would assume of the bleach were mixed too strong or left on to dwell too long, it could possibly damage the siding. He said he let it dwell for 2 minutes max.
I don’t personally think that 50/50 clorox and water would be strong enough to bleach out siding, as I would normally use 12.5% SH, which obviously is much stronger.
What are your thoughts? Did he cook his siding?
Thx
I just finished a whole apartment building with cream color vinyl siding using 2-3% SH, water and a bit of laundry detergent for stick. The vinyl (as well as the window frames, metal flashing, exterior gutters…) looks good as new. This has been the case with every siding cleaning job I have done with the exception of one, where the white vinyl siding turned a bit yellowish in one section. This yellowing has been mentioned on forums as occurring when the siding is not rinsed well enough after applying the solution.
So yellowing would result if not rinsed properly. Like I said, I use 12.5% on a regular basis and have done dozens of homes, both light and dark siding, and never had an issue… I think it’s bleached by the sun.
