Lulu asked: How do I clean egg off of aluminum siding? My house was egged by some sweet, loving children. I thought I had cleaned up all the eggs, but several weeks later, we noticed a few spots that were not cleaned. The sun has baked it into the aluminum siding and of course the spots are near the top of the two story house. What can I use to clean the baked-on egg stains?
Fall brings the return to school, apples and the night time pranksters wreaking havoc on the outsides of our homes. Whether its toilet paper streaming from the trees, or eggs sliming the side of your house, there is work involved in cleaning up the mess. Eggs are tricky because they can cause stains that are difficult to remove. Here are two options that will help get rid of the egg stains for good.
Soaking and Scrubbing Method
You Will Need:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Vinegar
- Dish soap
- Towels
- Ladder
- Stiff brush
- Bucket
- Hose
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- In a bucket, mix equal parts of water and vinegar. Add a few drops of dish soap. Agitate the mixture until suds begin to form.
- Saturate a towel with the mixture.
- Lay the towel on the egg stained area.
- Hold the towel in place with a ladder or broomstick.
- Allow the towel to set on the stain for several hours. Remoisten the cloth as needed.
- Remove the cloth and scrub the area with a stiff brush.
- Once the stain is removed, rinse the area completely with a hose.
- The same method can be used with hydrogen peroxide. While hydrogen peroxide will break down the proteins in the stain, it also acts as a bleaching agent and will likely affect the color of the paint.
Power Washer Method
You Will Need:
- Power washer
- Water supply
- Paint
- Paint brush
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- Power washers are the preferred method of removing stains from siding.
- Washers can be rented or bought, depending on how often they will be used.
- Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for proper use.
- Once the stains are removed, it will be necessary to repaint the siding as the power washer will wash away the paint along with the stains.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Many cleaning methods can affect the paint on aluminum siding. Test a small area to see what effects there are to the paint. Often, the area will need to be repainted.
- If the stain cannot be removed, try painting over it.
- Fresh stains are easiest to remove as they can be washed away with soap and water. Removing the stains as soon as possible will result in a much easier cleaning process.
My egg stain was quite large. The egg stain was about 18 feet up the side of the house, about 24” wide at the top and had dripped down the siding about 60”. It was about 2 months old and it had turned black on the white vinyl siding.
I had read several articles online about removal of egg stains, but they all seemed to take what seemed like an excessively long time to dissolve the stain (especially 18 feet in the air on a latter)! So decided to try an old spray bottle of Westley’s whitewall cleaner I still had on the garage. And it worked extremely well!
I sprayed the cleaner on, waited about a minute (just like on whitewalls) and then used a small scrub brush to loosen the stain. It took only a minor effort to get down to the siding even in the thickest areas. Where the egg stain was not as thick it just dissolved it when I sprayed it on.
Finally, I got out the water hose and washed the area off… and all the stain was gone!
I just tried Turtle wax rim cleaner on aluminum siding that was egged a few months ago. It worked great. Sprayed it on, scrubbed with a stiff brush, and hosed it off.