One of the most frustrating aspects of the Eco/Green business is the use of the word "biodegradable" as a synonym for "safe for the environment". One of the most obvious miscreants is a company out of West Vancouver (how ironic, as West Vancouver is situated in one of the most geographically beautiful environments in the world) that boldly advertise that their products are "biodegradable". The two primary components in their moss and algae cleaner are TSP and Bleach! As a friend once said.."a dead rat in my well is biodegradable, but that doesn't mean I am going to drink the water". Hopefully the consumer will become knowledgeable enough to realize that everything is biodegradable given a long enough time frame, and that the use of that term is absolutely misleading and useless when judging the effects of a product on the surrounding environment.
Good rant Doug!
Oxygen Bleach
- Oxygen bleach works by releasing oxygen when added to water to clean and bleach out stains. It is non-toxic and color-safe. Some popular brands of oxygen bleach are OxiClean and Oxi-Boost. You can buy these products at many home improvement stores, supermarkets or on the Internet.To clean your roof, mix a solution of oxygen bleach and water into a pump-style garden sprayer. The ratio of bleach to water will vary depending on the concentration of oxygen bleach you are using. You will generally need four to six ounces of oxygen bleach per gallon of water.Use a ladder to reach the roof and spray the cleaning solution on dark-stained areas of the roof first. Then, apply a coat of the oxygen bleach mixture to the entire roof surface. Go back to the stained area and apply a second coating of the oxygen bleach. Allow the cleaning solution to sit on the roof for about 20 minutes.Use a garden hose with a spray nozzle to rinse the cleaner from the roof. Set the water pressure on the nozzle to the strongest setting and hold the hose about three feet from the roof to effectively remove the stains. Work from the top of the roof, spraying downstream when rinsing to avoid re-staining the cleaned parts of the roof.
Other Commercial Products
- A variety of other eco-friendly commercial roof cleaners are also available, including Wash-Safe Roof Wash and Roof-A-Cide. Check the label of the product to be sure the ingredients contain no toxic or hazardous chemicals. Most eco-friendly roof cleaners will display information on their packaging regarding product safety for the environment.
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roofbeeJan 03, 2011Before cleaning a roof, you shound read the article "How to safely clean debris off a roof." or "Roofbee".
