[SOLVED] How to clean outside of white aluminum gutters

They are discolored with vertical gray streaks on the sides, and gray spots on the bottom where water flowing down the sides accumulate in "puddles" along the bottom outside corner.

I've tried the following, applied with a saturated paper towel to small test areas:

-- full-strength bleach

-- full-strength Simple Green

-- full-strength white vinegar

-- full-strength TSP substitute

-- 91% rubbing alcohol. Some improvement, but labor intensive to do all

158 feet.

-- paint thinner

I've also tried the following:

-- spray gas log cleaner

-- spray Fantastic

-- a mix of bleach with Oxydol laundry detergent, applied with brush. Makes some improvement.

-- a mix of 1 part Simple Green, 1 part bleach, 2 parts water, applied with a sponge. Makes some improvement.

I haven't tried ammonia, since I don't have any in the house.

I admit that I haven't had the patience to wait 5 to 10 minutes for any of the above to work. I was hoping to find something that I could apply with a dust-pan brush and have the streaks magically disappear immediately. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ray

Reply to
Ray K
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I know it sounds crazy but just use some Dawn classic dish washing detergent and a broom. Works great that's what I use on my white gutters.

Reply to
Mike

Ray K wrote in news:4b01bef6$0$31271 $ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

I recently did some with the same problem with some house wash from the Borg. Applied with fairly flexible brush on a handle. Let it sit maybe 5 minutes. Rebrusheded. Rinsed.

Happen to have pics of the difference:

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If, as you say, you don't have the patience to wait 5 to 10 minutes, where did you get the patience to repeatedly not try it once and continually fail?

If your time is that valuable to you, hire soemone. If they fail it's on them.

Reply to
Red Green

Red Green wrote in news:Xns9CC5CF1C698E5RedGreen@216.168.3.70:

What's the Borg, please?

Reply to
Lisa BB.

Slang. Any of the big box stores such as Home Depot or Lowes

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Paint

Reply to
clare

I used to use "Scrubbing Bubbles" and an old sport sock to remove the "black streaks" from my RV

Reply to
Rudy

Try JOMAX .. available at ACE & both Borgs .. .. 1 part JOMAX + 4 parts bleach + 20 parts water ..

Spray it on .. watch the stains go from black to gray to orange to yellow to GONE.

Rinsing is optional, but I usually do it just to keep any nasty chemical reactions to a minimum.

This stuf is GREAT and has to be the best kept secret around.

Reply to
"<<<

It sounds like the stains are oxidized aluminum. Repaint.

Reply to
norminn

Might also be mildew, which Jomax will remove easily.

Reply to
salty

If mildew, bleach would have removed it right away. Bare aluminum, either cut edges or where paint has worn away, will oxidize and cause the stains as water runs....looking at the location/pattern of stains should answer that question.

Reply to
norminn

-snip-

Not my mildew. I soak some white outside chairs in a strong solution of Clorox every couple of years. just wiping it on full strength does nothing.

Never tried Jomax- but it is now on my shopping list.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

on 11/16/2009 4:07 PM (ET) Ray K wrote the following:

I painted mine with semigloss white exterior latex paint. They don&#39;t get as dirty as before and just clean up with soap and water. It&#39;ll probably takes less time to paint than the time it takes for you to clean them.

Reply to
willshak

Well, it could also be contamination from roof runoff. The OP&#39;s description of hasty and shoddy attempts doesn&#39;t convince me at all that he has done anything that would remove mildew. Even straight bleach needs time to work.

Reply to
salty

on 11/16/2009 10:21 PM (ET) Lisa BB. wrote the following:

Big-Orange-Retail-Giant. Originally just Home Depot, because it is their color, but now includes Lowe&#39;s and other large home improvement franchise stores.

Reply to
willshak

The house is a ranch, so most of the time I stand on the ground and use a saturated broom to reach the gutters and most of the siding. When I was trying to spot-apply the various solutions above, I only had to go up two steps on a ladder.

Reply to
Ray K

on 11/17/2009 1:15 AM (ET) wrote the following:

You have to be careful with some cleaning solutions on aluminum gutters. The gutters have a very thin coat of baked on paint. I used a product that was meant for cleaning plastic garden furniture, because it also cleaned almost everything else that regular cleaners could not, and after spraying it on the gutters and wiping it off, it started to dissolve the baked on paint and I had to stop. I then repainted the gutters instead.

Reply to
willshak

Definitely not oxidation. When I tried rubbing alcohol applied with a paper towel, it made a noticeable improvement, but took a lot of pressure. Also, that would be expensive to treat 158 feet.

Overall, the first thing I tried (bleach with laundry detergent) made a noticeable improvement, but not as much as I&#39;m looking for.

Reply to
Ray K

Alcohol would probably have softened the paint and might behave as you describe. There is a difference between dirt and stains...oxidation, polution, roof runoff, etc., can cause stains that become part of the paint film.

Reply to
norminn

willshak wrote in news:-7ednf9fUsGgKJ_WnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@supernews.com:

The stuff I had used was even labeled something like eco-green. I was surprised how well it worked. Lucky I guess. When I initially but it on and brushed, very little came off. Letting it sit for 5 min (without drying!) then rebrushing was like magic. Like I said, just lucky.

Reply to
Red Green

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