Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

.... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

TIA,
John

In article ,
Another John writes:
Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

I use warm water with a little washing up liquid, and a sponge.
Don't use anything abrasive.

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

There is a PVC cleaner you can get from your local PVC stockist (probably
on a local industrial estate). Might be useful if you have any stubburn
marks after first washing, and it's used by installers to remove any
dirty finger marks, but probably not suitable for the annual wash.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 16/01/2011 20:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In ,
Another writes:
Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

I use warm water with a little washing up liquid, and a sponge.
Don't use anything abrasive.

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

There is a PVC cleaner you can get from your local PVC stockist (probably
on a local industrial estate). Might be useful if you have any stubburn
marks after first washing, and it's used by installers to remove any
dirty finger marks, but probably not suitable for the annual wash.

And it stinks to high heaven. I was given some when I worked at the
school after a new classroom was built. At first, I kept it in the
cleaners room, but I soon had to put it in an outside store because of
the smell.

Dave

Another John wrote:

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

They are excellent.
Around £5 for a litre. It really does make upvc come up like new.
I tried the 'No-nonsense' one from Screwfix, but found that wasnt as
good as the one I get from my local plastic supplier. Cannot recall the
brand now.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

On Jan 16, 7:49*pm, Another John wrote:
Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, *but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

TIA,
John

cream cleaner and a soft cloth. For greasy finger marks another option
is diesel or paraffin. Never use anything that isnt soft, pvc is far
from a hard material.


NT

"Tabby" wrote in message
...
On Jan 16, 7:49 pm, Another John wrote:
Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

TIA,
John

cream cleaner and a soft cloth. For greasy finger marks another option
is diesel or paraffin. Never use anything that isnt soft, pvc is far
from a hard material.


NT


But not Cif as it has abrasive stuff in it.

On Jan 16, 10:01*pm, "John" wrote:
"Tabby" wrote in message

...
On Jan 16, 7:49 pm, Another John wrote:

Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

TIA,
John

cream cleaner and a soft cloth. For greasy finger marks another option
is diesel or paraffin. Never use anything that isnt soft, pvc is far
from a hard material.

NT

But not Cif as it has abrasive stuff in it.

Cream cleaners have chalk powder as a soft abrasive, its not hard
enough to damage plastics.


NT

On Jan 16, 7:49*pm, Another John wrote:
Hi all

Looking forward to Spring ...

... when I come to clean the white-work(?) of our new porch, built last
year, is there anything that can be recommended to clean it well? Or do
I just use car shampoo or something similar?

Of course I'm aware that various specialist cleaners exist, and indeed
I'm happy to buy one of them, *but I'm wondering if they are simply
expensive "snake oil".

TIA,
John

The inherent problem is that the uPVC is actually pretty porous. They
put a special finish on to seal it. Once the finish weathers off, the
muck gets in and is hard to get out. Takes about five years in my
experience. So you don't want to speed the process with any abrasives
or enthusiastic rubbing. Light touch is the thing. Some of these
industrial cleaners take the finish straight off so it gets mucky
again very quickly. So you only want to use the minimum you can. A
small amount of detegent say. Later you will need the tough stuff when
the finish is gone. They can be waxed with silicone wax to replace it
but it's a tedious job.