Rough day cleaning gutters! I feel you, sometime they are tough to get clean.

Danny, we use telescopic poles and brushes attached to the customers water to scrub. We prespray with a degreaser and almost all gutters, cladding etc come up good. It may not be as fast as the pressure washer but it is a better clean i.m.o.

Dan do your self a favor and do not offer gutter whitening until the temps are 70 plus degree consistently. It will save you a lot of headaches.

I agree with Mike D. I tried gutter whitening yesterday and the results were not what expect. I had to go over them three times before they came out alright.

As for the three story gutters Dan, extension poles are difficult three stories up. We use a smaller handled brush and do them from the ladder, but my pricing for gutter whitening is higher than most so I can justify the time it takes to move the ladder around.

One of the other posts I was reading someone said that Gutter "Zap" seemed to work better at lower temps than Gutter "Grenade". I checked the MSDS sheets on both and Zap is Potassium Hydrochloride while Grenade is Sodium Hydrochloride. I think they both contain Butyl which apparently is key. But I'm going to order some Zap to see if it truly is more effective in the 40-60 degree temp range.

Anyone else find this to be true?

I had spoke with Eric later in the day, and he had confirmed everything you guys are saying. I currently scrub with a pole and brush. I had cleaned gutters two days ago and they came out perfectly, so I was thinking Purple Power was working great. I tried them yesterday, and the front gutters came out well. I was breaking my back trying to clean the other gutters. I am putting the gutters on hold until 70 that sounds great. Also I charged these gutters high, just like you mention Barry. But they still wanted them done.
I just order some Gutter Zap, but I don't think thats the answer.

As I was saying to Eric on the phone today. The whole neighborhood, has this problem.

Roof Center stores and other distributors of roof materials usually sell the exact white color in a spry can for gutters. Useful information should you scrub down to the metal like we have....I always temper customer expectations, and generally stay away from "gutter whitening". 3 stories.....keep it! :)

Just wanted to update this, I went back when it was 70 degrees. The gutters look brand new!

Butyl based cleaners like purple power are actually damaging the enamel, making it less sustainable and much harder to clean the next time around. When you use purple power you are actually damaging those gutters and making the problem worse in the future and the finish degrade faster. Gutter streaks are caused by the sediment that sits on the lip of the gutter running over from moisture such as dew. This sediment(stain) burns into the oxidized part of the anodized finish. You need a product that will attack the oxidation but leave the good enamel in tact. Unfortunately sometimes all the enamel is already bad and you may strip the gutter regardless of cleaner used. White anodized aluminum surfaces are the worst. Something about that white powder coat not holding up the same as the brown sand tans. Most brown and tan gutters will not hold the stain as badly or even need scrubbing at all to remove it. I have heard reports that the hydroxide based cleaners will get it out without scrubbing but have not tried it. We use an organic fatty acid compound to scrub the gutters 100% natural and different than anything else we have seen used out there. But it can strip the gutter as well. I have some soda ash $.66 a lb from Univar, maybe I will mix some up and try it out. Yes S hydroxide is just soda ash and one of the cheapest/effective chemicals in the world. You will find it in your carpet cleaners, degreasers etc. Also to those of you using Univar already they are the largest caustic provider on the planet. Liquid and dry hydroxide all day long. They have 30 trucks out of Harrisburg PA moving caustic daily, but only 9 Hypochlorite trucks.

The potassium Hydroxide can leave strange white marks on surfaces that are not prewetted. Probably true for the S hydroxide as well. Always prewet driveways concrete etc, keep wet and rinse away. Do not let gutter cleaners dry on surfaces, they will potentially etch the removed contaminants back onto the surface making them harder to remove again.

Yes we still just scrub them. We replace gutter brushes all the time from the abuse they take in the field.

Also we use Salt and pepper brushes they last a lot longer than the green ones.

One of the Water Fed Poles we will be offering is a REAL STIFF but unbelieveably light one that can also dual serve as a gutter cleaning pole or a roof raking pole, or a roof brushing pole, or a window cleaning pole, or a mud dawber scraping pole, or a ................

Lots of new SoftWash Systems products coming out this year! Watch for those signifigant Revolutionary War dates.

AC

I have a big proyect 10 buildings apartment complex...my client wants me to pressure wash the gutters..am not sure how much to charge can anybody help me...THank you

OK...Thank you AC

Thanks AC! I have a customer that will probably need this and that's exactly the price I had in mind for the service. It probably stuck there from your classes. :0)