Cleaning Steel Siding

Hey guys this is my first post. Thank you all for all of the great info on here. I own a window cleaning business, and I am starting to add pressure and soft washing to my services. A customer wants her steel siding home washed. It’s a dark gray color and doesn’t look very dirty to me. I have read much on Downstreaming and using a 3 gal sh, 2 gal h20 mix for vinyl and aluminum siding on this site. Would this process work for steel siding? Also, if the house isn’t very dirty, would you still use your house wash mix? Or could you use something less aggressive?

Hi Ryan, welcome!

Introduce yourself a bit :wave:
Where are you from?
What’s your business called?
What gear do you have?

What is your company name and location. Post a picture of this gray sided steel home.

If she lives in Minnesota run away

1 Like

My company is Addison Window Cleaning, LLC based out of Kansas City, MO.

1 Like

I guess it’s a little lighter in color than I remember

I have a Pressure Pro 4 GPM, 4,000 psi machine and a 20" hammerhead surface cleaner

Find out the finish that is on the steel as that is what you will be cleaning. Many manufacturers publish the recommended process, follow that.

Thanks a lot for the tip @Tim4. I’ve found a couple of sites and their recommendations are to use laundry Detergent mixed with water and brush the side of the house. I was just wondering if there was a way I could avoid brushing the whole house.

I’m with you, brushing is for the birds.

“Not every caller is a client” works well for me also.

Hey @Tim4. Customer has no idea of the manufacturer. Would you think that I would be OK using sh on steel? I can’t find anything on pwra that talks about cleaning steel siding. I’m wondering if it is really aluminum and she is just saying steel…

Also @Tim4 if you are washing a house that isn’t very dirty, do you ever just use water and a surfactant, or water and a weaker chemical like ZEP to avoid the harshness of the sh? And avoid potentially killing plants and staining decks…

I don’t use bleach when I wash my car. Managing the “harsh” effects of bleach is what I get paid to do.

You are not washing the substrate, you are washing the coating. Your detergent blend is guided by the contaminants you wish to remove.

1 Like

Lmfao