Do you want to learn how to remove moss from roof with detergent? Then, you’re in the right place. Roof maintenance is a crucial aspect to consider, and learning how to keep your roof in good condition can help you have a convenient house to live in – and even raise the resale value of your home.
When it comes to cleaning your roof, there are plenty of ways you can do that. However, some are not always some. This is why getting the right roof maintenance tips is crucial. Luckily, we will show you the right ways you can clean your roof and remove tough stains without resulting in damages. Read on.
Can You Remove Moss from Your Roof with Household Laundry Detergent?
Yes, you can remove moss from your roof with household laundry. However, this is not always recommended because it’s dangerous for your roof. Although removing moss from your roof can seem like a money-saving method, the long-term effects are severe.
Detergent can destroy the shingles on your roof since they are mostly made of fiberglass mats. On both sides are tar, asphalt, and oil, which protect the fiberglass from outside elements such as the sun, wind, and water.
The lifespan of your roof highly depends on the proper maintenance of the tar, asphalt, and oil. Since detergent is a degreaser, it will break down and strip away the tar, asphalt, and oil to protect the fiberglass mat.
Will Detergent Kill Moss on My Roof?
Without a doubt, detergent can help to kill moss on your roof. One of the best of using detergent is that it’s cheap and easy to use. All you need to do is just head on to your local store and buy your favorite detergent. Mix the detergent with water, climb your roof, and scrub off the moss growing on the roof.
This may take less than an hour, and it’s efficient, but the long-term negative effects are quite severe. As mentioned above, the detergent will strip the protective features of your roof’s shingles, thereby causing it to deteriorate over time and result in the need to buy a new roof. Can you now see why cheap is expensive?
When you dump detergent on your roof, it can effectively shorten the lifespan of your roof by half. What’s more, using detergent to remove moss on your roof is not only dangerous for your roof but also dangerous for you.
How Laundry Detergent Destroys Your Roof
We talked about how the shingles on your roof are made of fiberglass mats. This mat can be easily destroyed by detergent because it eats away at the protective features, which are tar, asphalt, and oil.
When these protective features on your roof shingles are destroyed, the roof begins to deteriorate, and its lifespan is decreased by half. This may result in having to install a new roof sooner than you had anticipated. Therefore, using detergent to clean your roof can result in more problems than benefits.
However, this doesn’t mean that all detergents are bad. Some detergents are designed to be environmentally friendly and not harm any parts that you clean with them. But, you need to be sure about that before any detergent from your local store.
Since detergent causes even greater erosion on your roof shingles, you don’t want to risk the potential of buying a laundry detergent that will end up messing up your roof by reducing its lifespan by half.
How to Remove Moss from Roof with Detergent
Removing moss from your roof with detergent is pretty simple. Since moss gets slippery when it comes into contact with water, mixing water and detergent is a good solution you can use to eradicate moss from your roof. Below are the simple steps you need to follow.
- Take two cups of laundry detergent and mix with two gallons of water in a large bucket. You can mix more depending on how much the moss has grown on your roof.
- Pour the mixed solution into a garden sprayer.
- Wear gloves and take a ladder to climb your roof with the solution.
- Inspect the moss growth areas on your roof.
- Shower or spray the solution on the growing moss as you scrub gently.
- Wait for approximately 20 minutes for the solution to take effect and wash downward with plain water.
- Observe to see if the moss is entirely removed. If there is still moss, repeat the process until you ensure all the moss is eradicated.
- Find better ways to maintain your roof to prevent the future growth of moss.
Although detergent to clean your roof is cheap and easy, I wouldn’t recommend doing it often.
Tide Laundry Detergent with Added Bleach
One recommended detergent is the Tide laundry detergent with added bleach. This is effective if you want to remove moss from your roof, although it also has its negative effects.
In this section, we’ll go through the step-by-step process of how you can use Tide laundry detergent with added bleach to remove moss from your roof.
Procedure:
- Take a ladder and climb the roof with the Tide laundry detergent. Ensure you’re using a stable ladder and exercise caution.
- Wear gloves and sprinkle the Tide laundry detergent over the growing moss on your roof where you see moss growth. Ensure you cover the entire moss growth with as much Tide laundry detergent as possible. I recommend covering the moss with Tide laundry detergent of either 3/8 or ½ inch thick.
- Take a garden hose and use it to saturate the Tide lightly over the moss. However, avoid applying too much water as it can wash away the Tide. Although it’s important to make the Tide moist as it covers the growing moss.
- Once you’re done, wait for approximately 15 minutes for the Tide to work on the moss. A good indication that the Tide is working on the moss is if it turns yellow or green.
- After the 15 minutes elapse, rinse the Tide off the moss through a garden hose. Ensure you wash it off completely. You should be able to see the moss dying after rinsing the Tide. If your garden hose has enough water pressure, you can also use it to wash off the loose moss from the roof.
- Finally, remove the dead moss from the patio or paving areas and discard it completely. Avoid pulling the dead moss from your rooftop because you might slip and fall. Therefore, you first have to wash it off with your garden hose and climb down to remove it from where it has fallen and discard it.
Removing Moss with Wet & Forget Detergent
To remove moss with Wet & Forget detergent, you must first purchase this detergent and have a spray in hand to do the work. The good thing about the Wet & Forget detergent is that it doesn’t have any bleach, phosphate, or non-acidic. This makes it safe to use for cleaning your roof.
Therefore, you can even spray it and leave the rain to wash away the roof and remove the moss.
Procedure:
- Mix 5 parts of water to one part of Wet & Forget in a pump or garden sprayer.
- Wear gloves to protect your hands and non-slippery shoes to climb a ladder.
- Take your ladder and climb the roof with the solution.
- Spray the solution on the moss growth area.
- Wait for 15 minutes for the moss to soak in the solution.
- Gently clean the surface.
- Once you’re done, climb down the roof and leave the rain to wash away the remaining dead moss.
Laundry Detergent Mixed with Chlorine and Trisodium Phosphate
This is one of the best methods you can consider when you want to clean asphalt roof tiles. You need to get water, a cup of chlorine bleach, one cup of laundry detergent, and 25 cups of trisodium phosphate. Take a large basin or bucket and mix them to form a solution. Below is the right procedure to follow.
Procedure:
- Take 1 cup of laundry detergent and mix it with one cup of chlorine bleach and 25 cups of trisodium phosphate in a basin or bucket.
- Pour in hot water to the solution.
- Pour the solution into a spray pump.
- Ensure you wear gloves to protect your hands and non-slippery shoes.
- Use a ladder to climb the roof with the solution.
- Spray the solution on the moss growth area on your roof.
- Wait for about 10 to 15 minutes for the solution to fade.
- Scrub the most affected area lightly on your roof with a sponge.
- Use a pressure washer with less pressure to wash the roof entirely. Alternatively, you can wait for the rain to wash the remaining dead moss off your roof.
- Once you’re done, scrape off any fallen dead moss around your compound.
Removing Moss with Krud Kutter Detergent
Krud Kutter detergent is mainly recommended to clean any roof, such as asphalt shingles, tiles, cedar, fiberglass shingles, etc. However, you shouldn’t mix the Krud Kutter detergent with any chemical or scrub the roof. All you need to do is apply and leave for about 5 minutes, and then wash off with plain water. Below are the simple steps you need to follow.
Procedure:
- Mix the Krud Kutter detergent with water in a 1:10 ratio in a horse pump sprayer.
- Ensure you wear gloves to protect your hands. Also, wear non-slippery shoes for climbing the roof.
- Use your ladder to climb the roof with the mixed solution.
- Spray or shower the solution on the entire moss growth area on your roof.
- Allow the moss to soak in the solution for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Once the time elapses, wash off your roof with plain water.
Conclusion
I hope the methods highlighted in this post have helped you learn how to remove moss from roof with detergent. Remember, cleaning your roof appropriately is an essential factor to increase its lifespan and help you live in good condition. A clean roof is a safe and comfortable home. Therefore, always ensure you implement the best roof maintenance practices.
If you have any questions, please reach out via email, and I’ll be happy to help out however I can.