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Roof Cleaning New Braunfels TX 830-660-9849 wrote:

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I thought that was more for tile roof, I was under the impression that it's a degreaser and should not be used on asphalt shingles? Could you enlighten me Chris, Now you got me wonderin

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 We use it more for tile roofs here in Tampa. However, a little extra Sodium Hydroxide added to your roof cleaning mix can increase the PH, and offer slightly better cleaning.

Outdoor Clorox has added Sodium Hydroxide in it, both for longer shelf life, and better cleaning. Even if you added a gallon of additional hydroxide to 100 gallons roof cleaning mix, the  amount of it compared to the SH is small, and not a danger concern to the shingles. Remember, ALL SH contains some hydroxide anyway, as a by product of the manufacturing process. Just don't get carried away adding too much hydroxide. All it will do is clean well. In fact, for many years, a good all purpose cleaning mix was hydroxide, hypochlorite, and TSP !

www.Prosoco.com has solutions that will address this problem.
They also use a Muriatic/Hydrochloric base, but have detergent and surfactant added to it.

http://www.Prosoco.com also offers masonry cleaning products.

Eric, these are the companies I was talking about in Tampa.. They have some good products that would probably work better than Sodium Hydroxide on that brick. I'd assume you'd need an acid to remove oxidation from Aluminum siding, but let us know what you used and how it turns out.

P.S. I have a similar issue on some brick and as a last resort, I am going to use an acid wash on it to remove the issue. However, the issue I am facing is due to brick that hasn't been cleaned in over 20 years and it just won't come clean with SH, even undiluted straight 12.5% SH!

NEVER use any extra S hydroxide in a shingle mix. Actually, all S H contains a little S hydroxide that is left over from the manufacturing process.

It is left in the H because it stabilizes it, and increases shelf life.

larrykilby wrote:

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I had a customer call me about one of my flyers I left at there home. She said she can buy roof cleaning solution at Home Depo for $15.00 and her roof was only 13 years old and did not need replaced. She left this message after hours and I thought good luck with that and my flyer said nothing about roof replacement.

   I went to Home Depo and looked at what they had available which was a couple options. They had S Hydroxide in them?

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Another homeowner who "thinks" the cheap option is the best. LOL I know how a lot of those DIY products end up working out....don't be surprised if she gives you a call AFTER she tries it.

From what the guys are saying here, it may boost the cleaning effects if added to a roof mix but, I have never tried it.