Chalking Vinyl Siding

[GymRat 14]

I have a single story rancher to clean that has the worst chalking problem on the vinyl siding I have seen so far. The siding is baby blue and is chalking on all sides. I don't know if this was caused by the previous house cleaning or just by the elements and cheap siding.

I would like to know if anyone has any good methods of cleaning that helps to rid the house of chalk. I normally xjet on my house wash which includes 12% and citracleen and wax. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, John

[PressurePros 248]

That blue siding often has issues. I would try downstreaming. Your X-Jet will leave lines. Use a double lance gun and when you rinse use low pressure and keep your distance from the siding constant. A ranch shouldn't be too bad doing it this way.

[John Orr 206]

If the chalking has been rubbed in places, then the whole side needs to be gone over with either normal house solution and hot water with about 1000 psi or use a brush on a pole. This will even-out the oxidation. Try adding some wax to your mix to make it look as good as possible.

[Russ Johnson 141]

Has anyone tried that "Restora" they advertise on tv? Looks like an easy to apply sealant and color restorer.

[Jeff 232]

What is it with baby blue siding, its always chaulky

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

What is it with baby blue siding, its always chaulky

The pigments in blue, green, brown and white anodized aluminum siding oxidize quite easily. The key ingredient being titanium dioxide. It does not fair well to uv exposure.

Rod~

[Aplus 525]

I've always found the light blue to be the worst too! Care does need to be taken to not leave lines all over from a regular xjet, I'd use the new xjet with the fan pattern spread wide to avoid funky markings. I would also use a normal house washing mix, but most importantly, discuss in ADVANCE with the customer that the siding will come clean, but likely be dull. A wax application helps a tiny bit, but it's just not feasible to restore a noble shine once the color pigments have oxidized and been washed away.

But that's just my .02.

[GymRat 14]

Thanks for the help, and yes Tony I do have the M-5 and hope that does a pretty good job. I have discussed my concerns with the home owner of the results due to the siding condition.

I had considered brushing (bumping the price of the wash way up) the house board by board, but thought it would probably be just a temporary fix and would chalk again in a few months, and may leave a very uneven look.

I will probably take Tonys advice and go at it with my regular house wash with the M-5 and keep it at wide spray and keep my distance.

[PLD 14]

I've always found the light blue to be the worst too!

Speaking of blue siding. My rental has that stuff on two sides. The neighbor decided to go with someone else to PW their rental, and the PW'ers "drew" in the chalk on my light blue siding with an x-jet. I don't know if they thought they were doing me a favor by bleaching the side that faced them, but it looks like crap. Of course, no everyone pleads ignorance so I've gotta go fix it....