Need help cleaning soffit and gutters.

RayH · Jun 12, 2006

My white aluminum soffit and gutters are stained. They are dark stains shaped like cob webs and water droplets. Nothing seems to take them off. Ive tried two different house and siding washes, simple green, and other household cleaners. Ive scrubbed them with brushes, which helps to lighten the stains but doesnt remove them. Its almost like the paint has been etched of something. Anyone have a miracle stain remover that I could try?

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ronjhall · Jun 12, 2006

Here is what one TBN'er used. Click Here I have never used it though.

thatguy · Jun 12, 2006

The linked post was mine and i still cant say enough good things about Jomax.. Mix it up, spray it on, watch the dirt roll off, and then rinse it off.

Walmart/Lowes carry it in gallon ($18) and quart size... I bought a gallon which will make many, many gallons ( you use about 3/4 cup to a gallon), but I got the only jug they had.

You may want to wear some sort of mask, I now have a sinus drainage and sore throaat which could be from breathing in the overspray or from being outside all day yesterday.. I was spraying directly over my head trying to reach my second story gutters so i was in the direct path of run off for quite a while..

good luck.. I hope it works as well for you.

Brian

MrJimi · Jun 12, 2006

I might be off base here but it looks allot like mildew to me? what about a mildew killer instead of a cleaner for dirt? Looks like mildew to me, treat it as such.
Jim /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

RayH · Jun 12, 2006

You may be right. Truth is, I dont know what it is. It doesnt come off with cleaners and scrubbing. I used a house, siding and deck cleaner that advertised that it removes mildew. I dont know if you can tell from the picture but it appears in spiderweb shapes as well as water droplet shapes. The one thing that occured to me to use is bleach. Ive been avoiding that because Im not sure what it will do to my vinyl siding when it runs down on it and Im not sure how to protect myself from it. Its impossible to work over your head while standing on a ladder and avoid all the dripping.

MrJimi · Jun 12, 2006

Try a small spot like it would say on the bottle, Try some chlorine ( Chlorox ) in a spray bottle and protect yourself and wear eye protection and a rain poncho.
What does your neighbors homes look like? they should have this also?
Jim /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

KentT · Jun 13, 2006

( I might be off base here but it looks allot like mildew to me? what about a mildew killer instead of a cleaner for dirt? Looks like mildew to me, treat it as such.
Jim /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Jomax, the product in the link, is a mildew killer.... that's what it's designed for...

( ...kills mold and mildew instantly while removing tough dirt and stains - without damage to the existing finish, or nearby plants or shrubs. And it's economical! One gallon of JOMAX makes enough solution to clean a two story house.)

Product page

RayH · Jun 13, 2006

Well I mixed up a gal. of Jomax today and tried it. Stains are still there. It didnt really do anymore than the other house cleaners I tried. It did have the effect of softening the paint on the aluminum soffit. I actually shrubbed some of the paint off with a brush trying to get rid of the stains. The stains didnt go anywhere until the paint was gone I can take my fingernail and scrape soft paint off the soffit. I havent been to see the neighbors yet but I know that most of the homes around me are older and have wood under the eaves and not aluminum. I dont want to but it looks like Im going to have to repaint the soffit if I want to get rid of this stuff. Its obviously not going anywhere.

Jay4200 · Jun 13, 2006

( The one thing that occured to me to use is bleach. Ive been avoiding that because Im not sure what it will do to my vinyl siding when it runs down on it and Im not sure how to protect myself from it. Its impossible to work over your head while standing on a ladder and avoid all the dripping.)

Jeeze, so what? I spray my house with bleach down all the time. I have white vinyl siding and the north-facing sides get speckled with mildew after a while. I use a garden spot sprayer and fill with ~25% laundry bleach and the rest water. You can easily spray a soffit from a ladder without drenching yourself too bad. Wear old clothes since you are likely going to ruin them - better yet, wear something white /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Pump and spray to your heart's content. If you get overspray on your head, you'll look like Lindsay Lohan (just kidding - laundry bleach doesn't lighten hair). If it is mildew - it will disappear within a minute or two after being sprayed with a bleach solution. After you are all done, spray the area off with a hose and you'll be all set until next year.

Jay

Iowachild · Jun 13, 2006

I might be off base here but it looks allot like mildew to me? what about a mildew killer instead of a cleaner for dirt? Looks like mildew to me, treat it as such. 

Looks like mildew to me also. But Jomax is a house cleaner and mildew killer. Here is a link: Jomax House Cleaner & Mildew Killer /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

MrJimi · Jun 13, 2006

Looks like ya will have to paint it, make sure you kill all the mildew before you paint or it will come right back through the paint, I live in Florida and we have lots of mildew here. And get a quality mildew resistant paint, it will be worth it in the long run.
Jim /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

buckeyefarmer · Jun 13, 2006

I'm going to try some jomax myself on my roof that is starting to mildew. They make one especially for shingles, however i could not find it so I bought the siding one. Hope it's not to different.

BTW, a friend of mine is moving to falling waters soon. THere goes the neighborhood..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

curt1 · Jun 13, 2006

I have washed many house's. Jomax, in my opinion is a total waste of time for mildew. I have tried it, won't use it again. Waste of money.
All you need to do is rent a pressure washer with an injector or use a pump up sprayer. Use a 50/50 mix of bleach and water with some liquid Joy soap(about two table spoons per gallon of bleach) in the sprayer, or a bucket with pure bleach and Joy soap with the injector hose from the pressure washer in it. The Joy soap causes the solution to adhere to the surface better. Do not use any other type of liquid soap as a few can produce chemical reaction's when mixed with bleach.
Soak any plants near the working area with plain water before you wash and rinse them very good after washing the house. It is good to wash when the Sun isn't directly on the working surface, as it causes the solution to dry faster and you will need to rinse it off faster if the Sun is shining on it.
Use the low pressure black soap tip to soak the house. Leave the solution on for at least 4 to 6 minute's or until you notice the mildew/stain fading away. Then gently rinse from a distance with a sweeping motion and the white 40 degree tip, making sure to keep away from window seals. NEVER use the pressure to clean your house, only use it to reach the high area's of your house. OR, if you use a tank sprayer, a water hose will do.
You may have to soak the house with solution/rinse more than once, depending on how old and how heavy the stain's are. It is also a good idea to have someone in your house with a few old rags to catch any solution that might run inside any window's or door's as you soak/rinse.
Also, after you are finished with the pressure washer or sprayer, it is good to run a gallon or so of plain water with 2 tablespoon's of liquid Joy soap mixed in to clean the bleach out of the injector/sprayer. Just put the water/soap in a bucket and run it through the injector with the black tip soap nozzle on the pressure wand. The bleach will ruin anything it is left in after a few day's.
Remember: to rinse all your plant's with plain water before/during and after soaking with the solution. Sometime's it will wilt or kill flower's. Should not hurt any shrub's provided you rinse before/during/after. DO NOT use pressure to clean/rinse the siding, door's and window's. Only use a light, gentle 40 degree fan from a distance to rinse. If you are very careful and your gutter's are not painted, you can use high pressure to clean the outside of them after soaking/rinsing them. Sometime's gutter's are very hard to get clean. You can also spray gutter's with Fantastic spray cleaner and use a rag to clean them by hand. Hope this work's as good for you as it has for me. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Curt

RalphVa · Jun 14, 2006

Jomax is designed to be mixed with bleach. Its claim to fame is that it can be applied to paint and not dull the paint like bleach alone will do.

On rooftops or on siding that isn't painted, you don't need to buy Jomax to get rid of midew and algae. Just use a bleach solution, about 10% or so.

I used Jomax solution in Baton Rouge all the time because mildew and algae were a perennial problem there.

Sounds like on your aluminum that you'll have to repaint. There are some paints that are supposed to be more resistant to mildew.

EddieWalker · Jun 14, 2006

I don't know about Jomax, but I've found houshold bleach too watered down for serious mildew removal.

Go to the swimming pool section of Walmart and get some liquid Shock, or pool chlorine. It's of a much, much stronger concentrate!!! I forget the numbers, but would think it's about ten times stronger.

Give this a try in a hidden spot. It's very strong and it will cause some serious damage if your not careful. Especially to clothing.

If the paint is coming off with the stain, you're in trouble. If it's surface mildew or discoloring, it can be cleaned, but if it's really stained the paint finish, then all you can do is either remove the paint, or nurtralize it and paint over it.

If you paint over it, I prefer Zinser primer over Kilz. Hope I'm spelling those right??? Kilz has never impressed me, but the Zinser has worked wonders.

Good luck,
Eddie

RayH · Jun 14, 2006

All good ideas, thanks.
Yesterday I mixed up a solution of Jomax and bleach, strong on the bleach. I did the whole house and it did well with everything except the stains on the soffit and a couple really dirty places on the gutter. The siding itself looks great. I did do an experiment on a small area of soffit to see exactly what it would take to remove the stains. I had to use the pinpoint tip on the pressure washer at very close range to cut through all of the stain but the stain didnt go away until the paint went away and I was looking a bare aluminum. I think Ive let these soffit stains go too long and they are permanently part of the paint now.

farmerterryy · Apr 20, 2025

try traffic film remover, a window cleaning pole and brush. my brother is a window cleaner here in the UK and he uses the wfp window cleaning poles and cleaning equipment. They are made out of carbon fibre so are pretty expensive but, you only need to buy it once and then you can clean your property for life and not have to pay thousands of dollars over your life paying someone else to do it.

Runner · Apr 21, 2025

I will refer back to my own post here:

Cleaning Mildew From Vinyl Siding?

I've neglected my vinyl siding above the house (I have a brick ranch with vinyl up to the roof). I have mildew on there pretty good. I've trimmed back and removed some trees last fall to hopefully reduce that going forward. What do you recommend to remove the mildew? My brother has a power...

www.tractorbynet.com

If it's mold/mildew, 30 seconds cleaner works great. Going on two years now and the mold still hasn't come back. Also, you don't even have to get out a ladder to use it.

buckeyefarmer · Apr 21, 2025

farmerterryy said:
try traffic film remover, a window cleaning pole and brush

It has been 19 years.......

JeepHead · Apr 22, 2025

Runner said:
I will refer back to my own post here:

Cleaning Mildew From Vinyl Siding?

I've neglected my vinyl siding above the house (I have a brick ranch with vinyl up to the roof). I have mildew on there pretty good. I've trimmed back and removed some trees last fall to hopefully reduce that going forward. What do you recommend to remove the mildew? My brother has a power...

www.tractorbynet.com

If it's mold/mildew, 30 seconds cleaner works great. Going on two years now and the mold still hasn't come back. Also, you don't even have to get out a ladder to use it.

It wasn't mold/mildew they were having an issue with, it was oxidation and best cleaned with potassium hydroxide.

For mold/mildew, your cheapest most effect cleaner is pool shock mixed with water and a little dish soap. It's what pros use to clean algae off of homes.