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Recipe 78 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Clean Black Streaks Off Gutters

Tiger Stripe Remover

Those black vertical tiger stripes on white gutters are a carbon film bonded to the paint, which is why a regular house wash bounces off. Stir 1/2 cup car wash soap into 2 gallons warm water, then add 2 tablespoons all purpose degreaser. Soak the plants below, lay it on a 10 foot run with a soft brush on a pole, let it dwell 5 minutes, scrub lightly and rinse before it dries. Never lean a ladder on the gutter.

Gutter Face Tiger Stripe Remover recipe card: 2 gallons warm water, 1/2 cup car wash soap, 2 tbsp all purpose degreaser, Soft brush on a pole
What it fixesThe black vertical tiger stripes down the front face of white gutters, the streaks still there after the whole house has been washed.

You need

Mix it

  1. Warm water into the bucket first, so you can dunk a loaded brush without slopping it over.
  2. Stir in the car wash soap until it is blended. Stir slow. You want lubrication, not foam.
  3. Add the degreaser last and stir once. Two tablespoons is the whole dose. More does not cut the stripe faster, it just doubles the rinse.

Use it

  1. Soak the plants and grass under the run you are working on, then rinse the gutter face with the hose.
  2. Load the brush heavy and lay the solution onto a 10 foot run of gutter face in long horizontal strokes. Keep it wet.
  3. Let it dwell 5 minutes. That is where the work happens, so do not skip it and start scrubbing.
  4. Scrub in short overlapping strokes with light pressure. If a stripe survives, reload and dwell again instead of leaning on it.
  5. Rinse that run top to bottom before it dries, then move down the line. Rinse the plants and ground below for a full minute at the end.
Dale's noteTiger stripes are not loose dirt on the paint. They are a carbon and grime film that rainwater sheeting off the roof edge bonds electrostatically to the gutter face, which is why a regular siding wash bounces right off them. Plain soap cannot break that static grip. The degreaser surfactant releases the film and the car wash soap carries it away without touching the baked enamel.
Don'tNever work off a wet ladder and never lean a ladder against the gutter itself. Use the pole from the ground where you can, and if you must climb, set the ladder on level dry ground away from the section you are rinsing. Do not put an alkaline oxygen bleach mix like the Outdoor Mold and Algae Wash in the Mix Book on painted or chalking aluminum gutters, it lifts and blotches that finish permanently. And wet the plants below first, then rinse them after, every time.
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