Whether anybody would be interested in viewing how the interior of your home appears will to a great extent depend upon how the façade or the frontage looks. House cleaning doesn’t only imply keeping the interiors spic and span but also entails cleaning up the outside part of the abode. Take into consideration that it is the frontage of your residence bears the maximum brunt from the elements throughout the year so that the interiors remain protected.
So, any house cleaning project should occasionally involve the external sections of the residence as well. And that’d require cleaning the sidewalk, outside wall, garage, rooftop, and the front porch. These are external areas of your house that tend to pick up the maximum dust and grime.
Periodically cleaning the driveway or the eaves on the roof will spare you from the heavy expenses you may have to incur if you do the job after a long time, not to speak of the gargantuan effort. The following tips on external house cleaning will help you to get started on the project and finish the same with perfection.
1. Cleaning the siding
If you have a vinyl siding, you can safely follow the tried and tested way of cleaning using a hosepipe. Make use of a good quality brush with a long stick or handle for scouring and washing the surface using a laundry detergent. For getting rid of algae, mildew or mold stains, a garden sprayer works used in combination with oxygen bleach works best.
Steer clear of chlorinated bleaching agents when it comes to scrub cleaning sidings as chlorine being abrasive can affect the texture and discolor the surface. At the same time, the bleaching agents containing chlorine could kill potted plants placed on the siding. Make your own siding cleaner by dissolving oxygenated bleaching agent in a pail of tepid warm water.
Stir the mixture well, dip the brush in the bucket, and broom the siding floor using long strokes. Let the solution stay for at least 10-15 minutes before washing away the siding with the hose. You’ll have to take some precaution if you wish to use an electric-powered washer like putting on eye protection gear. It’d be better to hire the services of a house cleaning agency if you want the siding, driveway or garage to be cleaned by a pressure washer.
2. Cleaning concrete and asphalt driveways or garage floors
Concrete floors in garages are prone to taking oily marks and stains from grease and lubricants used in vehicles because of their porosity. Concrete flooring also tends to attract stains from fungus, mildew, mold, and marks left behind by tires. An effective house cleaning tip for getting rid of oily blots and keeping the garage floor free from such stains in the future is to layer with cat litter, a good drying agent.
Allow the desiccative agent to sit for a full day and then scrub clean the floor using a quality laundry detergent. In order to remove firmly settled blotches, spray TSP via a high-pressure washer. For doing away with obstinate corrosive stains, layer the surface with oxalic acid, and rinse scrub after letting the powder stay for 5-10 minutes.
Take good care when eradicating stains and marks from asphaltic driveways. Never use cleaners or detergents that have petroleum solvents rather clean the floor using mild detergent and after the surface has dried up completely (which might take a couple of days), reseal the floor.
Picture Credit: peter774