Vinyl Oxidation Chronicles

Biggest day ever, but started with 5 year old vinyl that I didn’t test for oxidation. Finishing upI noticed rinsing abnormalities


5 year old vinyl I didn’t suspect, so after I discovered my problem, rushed home to get my wfp

Brushed off siding took less than an hour and came out beautiful.

I hypothesize that the oxidation holds the solution that is used to kills biological, resulting in siding that looks worse than before treatment. Comments?

Ps.looks like I forgot to take after pictures. Had calls, did 2 more jobs total $625 for day and won $1375 job from EDDM campaign. Kick ■■■ day overall!

BTW, EDDM campaign epic fail so far. More on that to come

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What was your mix originally? was it Ds or direct applied? 99% of all vinyl homes I do have oxidation. Is the first pic prior to cleaning?

I think before. Working fro iPhone and unable to discern properly. That color just shows stuff badly it seems. Used my xjet with beige proportioned. Worked great on lighter siding. May need you tomorrow if you’re available. Have first roof job Monday or Tuesday.

That’s the $1375 job

Will spend tomorrow practicing

I am finding this to be true in my area, too. EVERY vinyl house that I have washed has had oxidation…just tread lightly…keep that pressure away and they clean up pretty nicely.

Hmmmm, so I’m thinking that surfactant and thickener might be coconspirators.

I just follow advice from Racer…I use Elemonator, SH and water. I stay as far back from the wall as I can and still put a decent amount on it. I do this soaping and rinsing…stand back a good ways…it has worked VERY well for me. I, also, try to hit the wall at an angle rather than straight on. Of course, I will get on one that it does not work so well on…but so far, so good.

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You don’t really need thickener (as you call it) on vinyl walls. Just put your soap and SH on it and move on. Really bad spots I may let dwell a few min while I do another side and then hit again. Good rule of thumb is the mildew should be gone in about 7 min. Any longer you need little stronger mix or just hit again if mostly gone, less than 5 min mix is probably too strong.

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The only other time I needed to brush out the siding was with that darker color. I suspect THAT has something to do with it. So Racer, how much Elemonator are YOU adding to the SH? I’ve been adding about a cup per 5 gallons.

OK, so my mix is sorta screwed up because I mixed Klingon and Elemonator in a 5 gallon bucket, put it to the side and mix with fresh batch of SH a little at a time until gone. Only have about a quart left. XJetting still, may get around to incorporating DSI eventually, I just love the changing of stream from straight to fan with the twist of my wrist that I get with XJet.

So here’s a pic of what siding looked like after I washed and while I was brushing with my water fed pole. File was too large last night when I was working from iPhone. Click on the pic to see the rest of it and the WFP.

I use 3oz’s per 5 gallons of mix.

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3oz < 70 degrees per 4.5 gallons of mix
4oz > 70 degrees pre 4.5 gallons of mix

You can use the M5 X-Jet nozzle downstreaming…just put on the gun without the injector.

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you need to take pic after it dries. That’s when it’ll show if any problems. Dark colored siding can be a pain. Just have to be careful, not even think about letting it dry and rinse rinse rinse lightly

I’ll try to get by there tomorrow for pics. It looked really good when I left.

Cleaning the next door neighbor’s home next week, and while out for the estimate, walked next door for those pics I promised 5 months ago:

This just goes to prove that no good deed goes unpunished: I spent almost 4 hours cleaning and then brushing out her oxidized siding, and she gave me 4 stars for value. Go figure!

OTOH, it’s important to reiterate that had I rinsed more quickly (we must NEVER allow our solution to dry on oxidized siding (and as @Racer so aptly put it, almost all of it oxidizes after a few years) and use very little surfactant when the oxidation is advanced. I now use less than 2 oz per 5 gal…

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