Spring is in the air, and so is lots of pollen. If the sight of your porch, screened lanai or pool enclosure developing an ugly yellowish-green tinge is prompting you to type “how to clean screen enclosure” into your go-to search engine, then you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading for handy tips for screen enclosure cleaning.
Cleaning Screen Enclosures
While screen enclosures do an excellent job of keeping bugs, wildlife and yard debris out of your outdoor living spaces, their exteriors don’t repel pollen. Over time, pollen can accumulate on the structure’s surfaces, forming a film of yuck that makes your enclosure look old or dirty. Thankfully, there’s an easy fix. A little cleaning is all that’s needed to restore your patio or pool enclosure. For a general cleaning, there are basically two approaches that you can take. When cleaning a screened lanai or pool enclosures, you can:
Do it by hand. To clean a screen enclosure and frame by hand, you’ll just need a bucket, some dish soap, a brush with soft bristles, your garden hose, and a little elbow grease. Use the brush to gently scrub the screens and frame with warm, sudsy water. Then, rinse them with your garden hose and allow them to air dry. If the patio enclosure is really grimy, you might need to repeat the process.- Use a power washer. If you are cleaning a pool enclosure, especially those hard to reach areas, use a power washer. Or, if you prefer to put a little more power in your porch, lanai or pool enclosure cleaning, you can bring in a power washer. The hot, pressurized water used in power washing is a great way to blast away grime, but you have to be careful about just how much power you use. Too much can damage the screens. Always start out on the lowest possible setting and proceed with caution.
Removing Stains, Mold and Algae
Various substances can stain your screen enclosure, and moisture, pollen and spores will sometimes team up to form areas of mold or algae. If these stubborn spots resist your initial screen enclosure cleaning efforts, don’t give up. Add some vinegar to your arsenal. Use a 50-50 mix of hot water and vinegar and your brush or a sponge to scrub the problem spots. Then, follow it up with a thorough rinsing with your garden hose. Be sure to give any plants in the area a deep soaking to counteract any contact from the vinegar. Does the smell of vinegar make your nose wrinkle? Don’t worry. It will fade away as the area that you cleaned dries.
If you find that the cleaning solution with vinegar doesn’t quite work or you prefer to go straight to the hard stuff, bring out the bleach. Bleach can sometimes discolor aluminum, and it’s also hard on skin, so take a cautious approach here. Mix 3 parts water with 1 part bleach and wear gloves to protect your hands as you gently scrub the stained areas with the mixture. If problems persist, then you may want to seek out a professional company that offers screen cleaning services.
We’ve built thousands of patio and pool enclosures in central Florida in the last 50 years. If you interested in enriching your outdoor living spaces with a Florida room, patio screen enclosure, pool screen enclosure, aluminum awning or pergola? With more than 50 years of experience in providing residents of central Florida with quality products and excellent customer service, Dulando Screen & Awning is ready to get the job done right. Contact us today at 407-862-6060 to discuss your next home improvement project.
