black streaks on gutters! what do you use to clean them with?

[all star pressure washing 20]

I wonder what everyone has been using to clean there gutters, just the black streaks on them not the insides.

Ive been using la awesome for years and it works great on a car wash brush and a little scrub its gone. only bad thing about it is when its colder than 60 it wont work unless the gutter or the brush has hot water on it.

If you dont know what la awesome is they sell it at most 1.00 stores and dollargeneral, family dollar and i think walmart sells it to, its 1.00 for spray bottle or 3.00 for half gallon!

works wonders with carpet cleaners and just as a general cleaner, been adding it to all my house washes for years.

back to the question

what is everyone using for cleaning those streaks on gutters?

[The Chemical Doctor 15]

Butyl based degreasers work well on cleaning most gutter stains from asphalt.

Some however, do not come off due to the paint being damaged and one or two things are the issue.

1. aluminum oxidation. Looks like asphalt issue but appears at the drip edge on the bottom of the gutter.

2. asphalt material has become 'locked' into the paint and doesn't come off without taking paint as well.

Rod!~

I have to agree with Rod. This is what I said many years ago.

[Pat Norman 18]

Actually I started using LA's Simply Awesome this year and have had fantastic results. I put 1/2 gallon in 2 or 2-1/2 gallons of water and apply with a soft brush. I always first spray my downstream wash mix and then my tech falls in behind me brushing the gutters. So far this year it has not let me down. It had been very effective. I finally got around to taking some b/a pics today. I've got to start doing more of these pictures.

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[John.Harper 14]

anybody know the active ingredient? seems to work pretty well from Pat's before and afters.. Ive used f13 a few times it worked great I have some laying around use it here and there but I charge a premium to do the gutters it can take as long as the housewash and when I run out im usually lazy about getting more that stuff is nasty be careful handling it

[Pat Norman 18]

I can't seem to figure out the active ingredient. ..msds doesn't show anything. Do be sure to dilute it 4 or 5 to 1. I did read where someone stripped paint with a stiff brush and I think they said a 1 to 1 dilution. I use a soft brush.

[Pat Norman 18]

Well I went back and did find ingredients in the msds

Weight % Ingredient & Exposure Limit 0.01 to 2.5 0.5 to 4.0 Orange Oil Blend(CAS# 8008-57-9) & (CAS#111-76-2)) Ethoxylated Alcohol (CAS# 9036 19 5) 0.5 to 1.5 Disodium Salt (CAS# 6834-92-0) Tetra Sodium EDTA (CAS# 64-02-8) 0.5 to 1.5 0.5 to 0.8 Hydroxy Sodium (CAS

[RalphQ 5]

Actually I started using LA's Simply Awesome this year and have had fantastic results. I put 1/2 gallon in 2 or 2-1/2 gallons of water and apply with a soft brush. I always first spray my downstream wash mix and then my tech falls in behind me brushing the gutters. So far this year it has not let me down. It had been very effective. I finally got around to taking some b/a pics today. I've got to start doing more of these pictures.

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Yeah. If it works, that's all that counts. I don't see the argument that if it isn't expensive and doesn't come from a pressure washing supply company, then it isn't professional. That doesn't make any sense to me. 

 

 

Look at  Chris from Apple Roof Cleaning. He is using Gain dish detergent as his surfactant in his roof cleaning mix. Is he not a professional because he won't use freshwash or something that cost twenty times more? He did his homework, and found something that works just as good as the "expensive" stuff and is available anywhere, cutting costs all around. Now that's professional. IMHO  

Edited September 2, 2013 by RalphQ

[tigerwash 14]

Try Gutter Grenade from Pressure Tek. Will have to try your dollar store solution, though!

[Rapid HotClean 26]

Actually I started using LA's Simply Awesome this year and have had fantastic results. I put 1/2 gallon in 2 or 2-1/2 gallons of water and apply with a soft brush. I always first spray my downstream wash mix and then my tech falls in behind me brushing the gutters. So far this year it has not let me down. It had been very effective. I finally got around to taking some b/a pics today. I've got to start doing more of these pictures.

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Pat, first time I've seen this post. Great before and after pics (as usual). Thanks for the share, am going to try it out.

[dave mac 26]

Hydroxy Sodium (CAS          I think thats the active ingredient in the f13 that makes it work

[mike movila 78]

Does the LA Simple Awesome work when temperature outside is below 70 degrees I have difficulty with f-13 removing the black stripes when temperature outside is colder

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Do you have a machine that will heat the water?

 

Rod

[OrlandoPressureWashing 0]

Gutter grenade (F13) is good stuff.  

[steven 37]

Take some LA awesome and add some blue food coloring and you have a new gutter cleaning product. Only 1.25 a gallon

Edited October 1, 2015 by steven

[mike movila 78]

Yes Rod I use My wonderful Hydroteck

[mike movila 78]

Steven will have to give this product a try

[mike movila 78]

In addition to F13 I have used Gutter Shock seemed to do a pretty decent job cleaning stained gutters

[577-Jersey 8]

Awesome thread,no pun intended!!

 

Has anybody tried adding some Awesome to their house mix to help boost the bleach?

 

I know it has great foaming action and could possibly be a great alternative or boost for the tough jobs.

[Peters Pressure Washing 3]

Two areas that you need to be careful around with F-13 is painted aluminum garage doors and especially factory coated hardyboard siding. I'm not sure why, but these areas are highly sensitive to the chemical and will oxidize quickly leaving a lighter colored chalky stain!

[577-Jersey 8]

Two areas that you need to be careful around with F-13 is painted aluminum garage doors and especially factory coated hardyboard siding. I'm not sure why, but these areas are highly sensitive to the chemical and will oxidize quickly leaving a lighter colored chalky stain!

I believe Awesome is the same way,Ive seen it remove white oxidation,also have seen it discolor paint too a lighter shade if used straight on some surfaces.

 

Proceed with caution,or you better better be ready to paint if necessary.

[gman201 20]

F13 is the bomb for black streaks on gutters but remember mix & dwell time is key when using this product! I have seen a few that it would not clean but not many!!Becareful with any run off for it will spot about any thing it comes in contact with if not rinsed quicky!

  Bob at   www.Pressuretek.com   will hook you up!

Edited November 22, 2015 by gman201

[dave mac 26]

anyone try the new power bolt that has hit market ??

[Larry Adams_8364 7]

For the first time, I cleaned a house, ( Mine) I honestly don't know how you guys do it and I take my hat off to you but, watch out for the glare LoL! ( I'm bald as a babies rump) I had the same problem... We had black streaks from the gutters. After washing down the roof, The gutters just killed everything, The roof looked new again and I was happy about that but my gutters looked horrible. I went out to my service vehicle and grabbed my bottle of Super Clean and mixed it with water. ( about 1/2 gallon to 4 1/2 gallons of water). I foamed it with my foamer because I'm to lazy to use a squirt bottle. I treated the entire gutter and started from the other end. ( the side I foamed 1st.) Worked like a charm for me. Now my mix is a little different than I said above. When I buy say 5 gallons. I put 2 1/2 gallons into another container and top it with water. Now I have 10 gallons. Then from that bottle I pour 1/2 gallon to the 4 1/2 gallons of water. I was able to go around the house and still had enough to go around again. 

Cleaning homes is not what I think I'd want to do. From now on, I'll hire someone else. I'll stick to those Yummy Hoods! 

[dave mac 26]

Gutter whitening really does make nice difference !! after trying power bolt I must say I have been extremely impressed with the reults

[Greco Pressure Washing 22]

Our House Mix when made properly cleans most gutters. When we have gutters that are resistant we can X-jet a stronger application on just the gutters and we have great success with that. If we have gutters that are still resistant we then move on to F-13 or gutter Zap. You need to be careful with these products because they can damage other surfaces around the property but they work great. We keep awesome on our trucks for small touch up but we in no way want to manually clean all gutters by hand because the time it would take would make us lose money.