Vinyl fence cleaning

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

what a job!! We use the pressure washer to clean the debris and bird 'stuff' off but the lattice at the top, what a mess. If I do it right it should be cleaned by hand with a scrub brush, which I will probably do but does anyone use a special cleaner that really takes the dirf off?

tobe · ‎07-09-2012

We, just yesterday, finished cleaning our vinyl fence. It has 65- 8 ft. sections, so is quite long. I was scrubbing by hand, and could only do 3 sections at a time before my arm wore out. Last year, I was cleaning it by hand and started out using soap and/or a household cleaner, only to realize then that I had to come back and rinse it. So, I thought of my Supercloth, made in Italy, cloths. I use only water, rinse the cloth out almost dry, and wipe. It does great, but is still a real job! This year, we got smart. We gathered up enough hoses and had enough to reach almost to the end with using our power washer. It did a great job! But, with smaller jobs, I love my Supercloths. I got them on QVC years ago and they are imported by Zina International, LLC. Non woven fiber composition. They are gray and last forever.

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

Oxiclean would probably work. Ir does a good job with vinyl siding.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@ValuSkr, hmmm that might work! The vinyl is dirty with a slight green tint...does oxy clean come in a liquid?

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

@Mom2Dogs The Oxiclean I use is a powder that you mix with warm water. The container includes instructions on the ratio to use. I don't know if it comes in a liquid; if it does, I think powder would still be more economical.

shaggygirl · ‎11-24-2011

OMG this thread made me so happy! Oh no not because I'm happy you all have to do that but because I thought I was the only one. Geebers Cripes what a major pain. The past couple of months every time I'm out and driving anywhere if I spot a white vinyl fence my antenna goes up to see if "their's" is dirty like mine. This year was the worst! When mine was first put in several years back there was about 2 feet of mulch in front of it. Well that's all worn down now so every time it rains hard the dirt spashes up about the first foot and it was so caked on, OMG. Then the bird droppings, and then I have no clue what the flying dickens it was but fuzzy stuff where the pointed thingies sit on the top of the picket parts. The picket thingies are just on the top, the bottom of mine is solid panels. I don't know if if it's a mold or fungus or what the heck but it was disgusting and that took time getting that crud off. And just plain old dirt to add to the mix. Anyhow, my son and I spent HOURS with buckets and brushes and cloths and the hose. I have 44 panels and 1 single gate and 1 double gate. When I ran out of Mr. Clean I switched to Simple Green. The bad news for me is that when it rains the bottom is probably going to get dirty again from dirt splashing up. The guy who cuts my grass said one thing he could do for me is put in that black rubbery edging stuff about a foot and a half out from the fence then fill from that up to the fence with stone. Not big stones but not little tiny ones either. But it wouldn't be cheap for sure. I'm hoping that over the summer where all the now non-existant mulch was that grass will grow because as I looked at other people's fences it appeared to me that if grass was growing right up to the fence they don't get all splashed with muddy dirt when it rains. Sorry to be rambling but OMG my hands and arms are still sore from doing this several days ago cause I'm no spring chicken. I just could not stand looking out my window and seeing that fithy looking fence. I spent so much time checking other peoples white vinyl fences out as I was out and about it's a wonder I didn't drive right into someones yard. And oh yeh, my neighbor on the other side of my fence, I went over and checked out his side and his grass grows right up to it and although his side is dirty he doesn't have that foot high on the bottom of caked on dirt. Again, sorry for the long rant but it just felt so good to know other people had to do that same PITA job, not that I wish it on anyone but it snapped me out of my pity party. Oh one other gripe, I only have 2 large trees in the back of my yard, have had most cut down over the years, but my neighbor has 14 big ones in the back and 2 in the front which doesn't help, just like it doesn't help with my leaf cleanups, I pay to get mine cleaned up then 80% of his blow over here and I end up paying again. But that's a whole separate rant I could go on.

danedylan · ‎02-20-2011

LADIES!--here's what I do--I have white vinyl fencing around my whole backyard--I buy LYSOL MOLD & MILDEW BLASTER BLEACH & SHINE--it comes in a 28 oz spray that I buy @ grocery store--I usually go outside & spray spray spray when it's either going 2 rain or most of the time while it's raining--mother nature rinses it off and WOW does that do a great job--even w/the green stuff on the fence--that's the only way I clean my fence and my 2 gates--it comes in a purple container--give it a try even if u only use it on the green stuff--let me know if u do try this......................mary in nj

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@shaggygirl...we could probably both due a rant on neighbors and their inability to rake leaves.....makes me so angry, let alone the fact that they might trim 2x a season, no lie!

But the fence issue, it is such a pain to clean...DH and I are pooped to night. The lattice at the top of the fence is going to wait until it cools off and I can purchase some mr. clean sponges or oxy clean....I will get it done this summer! We also have little dark 'dots' of something that does not come off with the power washer, I have no idea what it is but it's a pain to get off and I will have to use something with scrubbing power to get those spots off.

I would love to 'polish' the fence, yes I know sounds stupid but if I could polish it like a car then maybe it would be easier to keep clean.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@danedylan, thanks so much, I will try that first!!!

shaggygirl · ‎11-24-2011

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@shaggygirl...we could probably both due a rant on neighbors and their inability to rake leaves.....makes me so angry, let alone the fact that they might trim 2x a season, no lie!

But the fence issue, it is such a pain to clean...DH and I are pooped to night. The lattice at the top of the fence is going to wait until it cools off and I can purchase some mr. clean sponges or oxy clean....I will get it done this summer! We also have little dark 'dots' of something that does not come off with the power washer, I have no idea what it is but it's a pain to get off and I will have to use something with scrubbing power to get those spots off.

I would love to 'polish' the fence, yes I know sounds stupid but if I could polish it like a car then maybe it would be easier to keep clean.

Do you mean tiny little black dots like the size of the flat end head of a straight pin that if you scrape one off it leaves a reddish stain? OMG that's another thing!! Do you have mulch in the area? If so you might have what is called artillery spores in the mulch. They explode like artillery when it rains and the spores shoot all over. I had a serious issue with that last summer. OMG I can't even tell you how many are on my fence and the vinyl siding of my house. Seems like millions. Power washing removed an eensy weensy number of them. It makes me sick. Google 'tiny black dots all over fence' or 'all over house' for info on that. I have hours poring over info about it. There is no proven method of getting rid of the dots completely, it you get the black off you will be left with a stain. I had them even on my windows and my screens. I spent litteraly hours with a needle poking them off my screens. They even shot up to the eaves. I had to have all

the mulch removed from all around my house and my flower beds. Got all fresh put in this year. I have copied and pasted various articles I found re this problem and sent them in e-mails to myself. The weirdest thing I read and tried in a few spots was a combination of a particular flavor of mouthwash and a particular toothpaste.That was an experiment tried by college kids who claim to have had some success. NO that didn't work. If you google Artillery Spores or Artillery Fungus you'll find some photos so you can see if that looks like what you have on your fence.