Musings of a Loquacious Mind

The Good Side to Cleaning Mildew

Yesterday I decided I couldn't take my deck chairs being slightly green in the seat any longer - the mildew would have to go.

I got out my hose, a brush, and some really amazing orange stuff (that I was supposed to dilude but didn't I think I will, just to make it last longer; that stuff is tough!). I attacked the chairs, and then some bits of the deck where water spills over from the gutters and has left a slight green tint.

I sprayed some, scrubbed a little, and rinsed off. The mildew was gone. I used the water jet on the hose to clean the crack between the porch and the house. I cleaned the storm door - it's now gleaming.

If only life were so easy. When you neglect things in life, mildew can creep in. And it's not always as easy as picking the best cleaner, giving it a few minutes, and being totally gleaming again.

Or maybe it is.

Maybe I'm making life harder than it has to be. Maybe the key is finding the "right cleaner". The spots where I didn't use the orange stuff didn't respond easily to scrubbing. The spots without scrubbing
but with orange stuff didn't get fully clean, but only because I didn't let the orange stuff get all over by spreading with the
scrubber. I think the mildew actually liked the bath with just the water spray.

You can spray at mildew. You can scrub at mildew, and never quite kill it. It's still there. You need the cleaner.

Now, if the mildew had totally rotted through my deck (yikes!), the cleaner could get the mildew, but the rot damage consequences would remain. There are still consequences for mildew, even when the mildew is gone. And the mildew can come back, if I don't clean. I could try cleaning on my own, but if I use the cleaner I will actually be sucessful, and it won't be near as tough as the ineffective form of cleaning without it.

You just have to get theCleaner.

Who knew cleaning a deck could be a spiritual experience? If only I could find something positive about the bug bite that has my arm swollen!

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