Improve the Appearance of Your Yard by Cleaning Your Fencing
Get the Results You're After
Regular fence cleaning keeps your home and yard looking their best, and it also helps to extend the life of your fencing and get rid of any pests which may have infested the material. Proper fence cleaning techniques depend upon what type of material your fencing is made from, and it's very important that you use material-specific strategies in order to avoid damaging your fence and ensuring you get the kind of results you're after.
Techniques for Cleaning Various Fences
The four most common materials fences are made from are wrought iron, wood, vinyl and composites. Here is an overview of what's involved in the proper cleaning of each type of fence:
- Cleaning a wrought iron fence: This is the most intensive type of fence cleaning, as wrought iron is subject to rust and corrosion as well as dirt and grime. If the dirt doesn't wash off easily, or if you're dealing with rust, you may need to lightly sand down the wrought iron and touch it up with paint once you're finished.
- Cleaning a vinyl fence: Vinyl is a fairly easy material to clean; simply combine liquid dish or laundry detergent with water and scrub the vinyl surface clean with a soft sponge or chamois.
- Cleaning a wood fence: Pressure washing, either with water alone or with a water-detergent solution, is the easiest and fastest wood fence cleaning method.
- Cleaning a composite fence: To clean a composite fence, combine detergent with warm water, apply it with a sponge and rinse it clean with a garden hose. Be careful when using pressure washers on composites, because if you apply too much pressure, you may blast away the fragile finish.
Professional Fence Cleaning Services
Investing in the services of a professional guarantees results, so if your fence is heavily soiled, or if you'd prefer to entrust the job to someone with more experience, hiring a fence cleaning service is a good idea. Most fence cleanings are very affordable and can be performed in the matter of a few hours, though iron fence cleaning can be more intensive and expensive because of the extra care required. As with any type of contracted service, always gather quotes from multiple companies and choose the professional offering the optimal combination of price, convenience, experience and trustworthiness.
