How to Clean Cedar Siding

Cedar siding can be a beautiful addition to your home. In order to keep it looking it's best you need to keep a regular maintenance schedule including yearly cleaning of the cedar siding. The most effective way to clean the bugs, dirt, and grime off of cedar siding is by scrubbing down the siding and then renting a power washer to complete the cleaning process.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• Detergent
• Bleach
• Bucket
• Rubber gloves
• Scrub brush
• Power washer

Instructions

1. Mix about a gallon of warm water with detergent and a quarter cup of bleach. Put on your rubber gloves and begin scrubbing.

2. Scrub one section of cedar siding at a time working from top to bottom.

3. Once you have scrubbed a section of cedar siding it is time to break out the power washer. If you do not own a power washer you can rent one at any hardware store. You will notice that most power washers allow you to ad a cleaner. For cedar siding, it's generally more effective to do your scrubbing with a soft brush first and then power wash with water.

4. Set up the power washer according to the manufacturers instructions. Use the power washer on the lowest possible pressure for cedar siding. The cedar wood can be damaged if you use a high pressure. It's tempting because you may think the higher the pressure, the cleaner your wood will be, but this is just not the case.

5. Start pressure washing with back and forth strokes working from the top of the cedar siding down to the bottom of the siding. Continue until all of the cedar siding is clean.

Tips & Warnings

• Clean cedar siding once a year.

• Stain cedar siding at least once every three years.

• Do not use too much pressure when power washing.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish