cleaning vinyl siding

Last week, I was mowing the grass and got to looking at the siding on our house. On the sides and back, it was pretty clean, but for some reason, the front was filthy and had mildew on it. It's been like this for a long time, actually, I just wasn't really sure how to go about cleaning it. I tend to over-complicate things and was convinced only a pressure washer would do the trick, but I don't own one and never took the time or money to rent one. 

Gross, right?

As I get older, I have been appreciating my stuff more and taking extra care of it. Not because it's important, but I want to be a good steward of what God gives us the ability to have. I have a lot more than many people, so I need to treat it well and not be careless. This can be applied to any area of life, am I right?

Anyways, we bought a pressure washer last year so I decided to put it to good use. It only took a couple of hours to do the whole house and both porches, but the result was amazing! 

Maybe you've seen the pins on Pinterest about using Dawn dish soap (the plain blue) mixed with vinegar to clean pretty much anything? A lot of people use it for their showers. It's awesome for hard water stains. I use it all the time, so I knew I had a bottle on hand. I grabbed that and sprayed a small section down. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I set my hose sprayer on "jet" and sprayed it off. It removed a lot, but not all of it. I knew I needed a sponge or brush if I was really going to get it clean. 

I found a big sponge in the trunk of my car and went to town on the siding. It came right off without much effort! I was pumped. I kept up the soap & vinegar/rinse/wipe/rinse again routine up until I had the whole front of the house looking like new. It made such a huge difference! 

 I didn't take a picture of the porch area because it really needs some sprucing up before it makes a blog debut. So the siding isn't perfect, but it is an old house. But at least now, it's not an eyesore to look at like it was before. I'm thrilled with not only how it turned out, but also how easy it was! Definitely one of those projects that I'm kicking myself for not doing sooner.

Here's a side by side for comparison: