How do you clean your Richmond garage door the right way?

Your standing in the kitchen looking into the backyard of your Richmond home when you notice, ‘Boy, that garage door is really dirty!’

When it was new, your garage door was the pride of the neighborhood. Well, maybe that’s going too far. At the very least, it wasn’t an embarrassment. Now, the white panels are dingy and there are streaks where water dripped through the dirt to create humiliating rivulets that seem to accentuate the cruddy lack of cleanliness.

This weekend, you’ll have to get out there and clean that baby

Have you ever cleaned your Richmond garage door before? Admittedly, it’s not on the level of rocket science. Still, it doesn’t hurt to prepare yourself so you can do the job right and, most importantly, not cause any damage.

The first point is that most garage doors are relatively solid. You don’t have to be afraid to use a little elbow grease, within reason. In other words, if you’ve been pumping iron for a few years, you may have the muscles that would be too much for the garage door.

Another thing to remember is that there are two sides to every story and there are two sides to your garage door. You many not worry about the inner side of the garage door. After all, your neighbors aren’t as likely to see that side. But, if you are a little more persnickety about things, you may also want to clean the inside of your garage door, too.

If you are going to clean the inside of the garage door, remember that some garage doors are insulated. In some cases, the inside of an insulated garage door is covered by a thin-plastic sheeting. This is where you really want to be careful not to apply too much pressure. Rip that cover, compress that insulation, and you’ll reduce the effectiveness of the insulation.

So, what should you use to clean the garage door? 

A garage door is best cleaned with a mild soap and a soft cloth. However, there are often some nooks and crannies that are hard to get at. In those cases, you may want to use a soft toothbrush. It’s recommended that, once you’ve used the toothbrush to clean the garage door that you don’t use it for brushing your teeth anymore (that’s just yucky).

Make sure you don’t scrub too hard. Even if you have some difficult to erase outlines of rivulets, too much pressure could take the paint off the garage door. If you do that, you’ll want to read our next blog about painting your Richmond garage door.