[SOLVED] How to clean outside of white aluminum gutters Solved

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.

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:

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.

Red Green wrote in news:Xns9CC5CF1C698E5RedGreen@216.168.3.70:

What's the Borg, please?

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

Paint

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

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.

It sounds like the stains are oxidized aluminum. Repaint.

Might also be mildew, which Jomax will remove easily.

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.

-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

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

I painted mine with semigloss white exterior latex paint. They don't get as dirty as before and just clean up with soap and water. It'll probably takes less time to paint than the time it takes for you to clean them.

Well, it could also be contamination from roof runoff. The OP's description of hasty and shoddy attempts doesn't convince me at all that he has done anything that would remove mildew. Even straight bleach needs time to work.

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's and other large home improvement franchise stores.

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.

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.

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'm looking for.

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.

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.