Is it time to clean your Richmond garage door?

You’ve got a nice garage door out there on your Richmond garage but even nice garage doors get dirty. From time to time, you may want to give that garage door a bath. For that matter, if the door is dirty, the garage is probably dirty, too. You can wash the entire garage door.

One way to clean a dirty garage door on your Richmond garage is to hire a company with a power washer to come out and clean your garage and garage door. Or you can rent a power washer yourself. The other option requires additional elbow grease and/or effective cleaning solution.

Even with a power washer, it’s a good idea to use an effective cleaner and a brush. By brush, this refers to the kind that attaches to a handle, such as a broom handle. Gives you the leverage and reach to get up high without necessarily dripping all over yourself.

Clorox, the bleach maker, recommends using a mix of ½-cup of bleach to a gallon of water. But bleach is harsh and you may want to opt for something else. As with any cleaning solution, you probably want to try it out somewhere as inconspicuous as possible to make sure it doesn’t have a negative effect on the base material or the paint or other surface coating.

There are a number of other cleaning products you may want to use. The key is that, while you want something that doesn’t damage the material or surface, you also want a cleaner that washes off easily.

Another consideration is the rubber weatherstripping around your garage door. You’ll want to clean this, too. But you don’t want to use anything that will dry out the rubber. It might make sense to wipe it down with a damp cloth.

You also want to be careful not to hit the inside mechanism that operates your garage door. Most of these parts are metal and can rust. Many of the parts that operate opening and closing your garage door require lubrications. You don’t want to wash away the lubricants.

In fact, when you’re done cleaning your garage door, it’s not a bad idea to have some maintenance done on your garage door. This will ensure that all adjustments are proper and everything that should be lubricated is properly lubricated.

Of course, when washing your garage door, you should prepare for the experience. Choose a warm day when you won’t mind getting wet. Wear clothes that are appropriate for the occasion. 

• Fill a bucket with water and your gentle cleaning solution
• Wet down the surface you’re cleaning
• Scrub the surface with a soapy brush being careful not to do any damage but scrubbing hard enough to loosen the dirt
• Rinse down the surface 
• Wipe down the weather stripping
• Adjust and lubricate the inside garage door opening mechanism

Some folks even wax their garage doors. That’s certainly an option, assuming you won’t get too much wax into texture of the surface where you can’t get it out.

Hiring someone to power wash your Richmond garage door is a nice way to get the job done while you make other use of the time. But, you want to make sure they do a good job and they don’t damage anything.

On the other hand, if you do it yourself, you can save some money, as long as you do it right.