Helpful Tips for Moss Removal, Roof Cleaning, and Pressure Washing

Moss Removal with Bleach

Does Bleach Kill Moss On Your Roof?

Another common myth is that you can easily and safely remove moss on your roof with common household bleach. Many homeowners suggest that bleach will kill moss with no problems whatsoever, and there are dozens of hardware and homeowner websites that will tell you the same thing. Bleach, they say, is the solution to all your problems.

Yes, bleach will kill moss on your roof. So will detergent (another common moss removal myth). What you don’t hear about, though, is the damage that bleach can do and the long-term effects of using bleach to remove moss from your roof.

At Keeping It Clean, we’ve seen just about everything when it comes to roofs and moss removal, and we can tell you upfront that using bleach on your roof is rarely a good idea.

What Bleach Does to Your Roof

The reason you shouldn’t use bleach to remove moss from your roof has to do with the composition of your shingles. Your shingles are made of a fiberglass mat that is covered with protective oils, tar and asphalt. It is this very oil, tar and asphalt which protect your shingles from the elements: wind, sunlight, water, etc.

Moss and algae breakdown these protective layers, shortening the lifespan of your roof. Which is exactly why you want to remove moss in the first place.

Bleach and other detergents, however, do the same thing.

Bleach is particularly bad because it will get underneath your shingles and leave behind a tough, dirty residue as it dries. This creates a false foundation underneath the shingles of your roof. Rainwater and runoff adhere to this residue, eventually escalating the very moss and algae growth that the bleach was supposed to destroy. Instead of getting rid of the problem, bleach actually makes the problem worse.

It’s easy to spot a home that has used bleach to kill moss on the roof. When we’re hired to clean a roof where the homeowner has used bleach in the past, we find plenty of dead, white moss. This is the initial moss that the homeowner wanted to kill. What homeowners don’t realize is that this bleached moss is actually more difficult to remove than if the homeowner had simply called us first.

Bleach and the Environment

Everybody knows bleach is toxic. That’s why it’s the Bleach Myth persists. Obviously, bleach will kill the moss on your roof. It kills everything!

But where does that bleach go once it comes off your roof? That’s right. It goes into the ground and water around your home. It’s true that you can dilute bleach with enough water, but even diluted bleach isn’t healthy for the greenspace and water around your home.

At Keeping It Clean, we use only environmentally friendly cleaning products to remove moss and algae from your roof. It’s not just that we care about the environment. We care about your home. Nobody wants to have their roof cleaned only to find that the products that were used killed all the plants and lawn next to their house.

You don’t want your pets and children playing in dirt and water around your home that is laced with diluted bleach. That’s just not safe.

If you want moss removed from your roof, give us a call anytime (28-964-7395) or fill out the form below, and we’ll set up an inspection. Our expert team uses the most advanced equipment and the safest cleaning products in the industry to clean your roof and remove moss and algae down to the root, all without doing damage to your home.