Rust stains from Irrigation
 

Away this summer for 6 weeks, have now noticed lots of rust stains from irrigation on both concrete and vinyl sided homes. These stainswere not there in July. What has changed in the reclaimed irrigation water?:bigbow:

No idea about changes in the water, but Sno-Cap (ACE hardware) does a great job at removing these. I mix up a batch, use a garden sprayer to apply, and a pressure washer to clean off, but I believe you can use a garden hose also.

I suspect the "rust" stains are from a fertilizer applied to bushes. Sometimes dear husband gets it on the back stoop and front walk and it leaves a rust stain. As previously said, they sell stuff to get it out.

fertilizer with iron causes rust stains on home and driveway - Bing

Re: Power washer
 

We have great water pressure far more than we used to have.

We have a divice that fits on to a garden hose called WATER JET POWER WASHER. It is a wand kind of thing with a valve to turn it on and off and a changeable tip one is a fan the other a stream. There are several brands of these. I think ACE has them and they are under $20. iT HAS ENOUGH POWER TO REMOVE PAINT. uNLIKE A PRESSURE WASHER IT DOES NOT SPRAY SOAP However it is far less costly, no repairs and takes little room to store.

I’ve had success using Dawn dish detergent. Apply a small amount directly to the stain, then work it in with a stiff scrub brush, rinse with water. I should add that my concrete has been color stained, good luck.

Iron out. It comes in a powder form and works perfectly for removing rust stains from irrigation water as well as fertilizer stains on concrete, stucco and vinyl siding.

When Egners power washed our house, we had them remove the rust stains. For an extra $60, all the stains were gone with no effort on our part.

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

Advocate for Sno-Cap

Using it for years

We had the exact same problem - not sure of the cause, either irrigation water or fert. Went up to Florida Paints, they sell a product called "Magic" for $20 (probably similar to Ace Hardware product). Picked up a small $5 pump sprayer at Home Depot. Mixed up a batch and sprayed both stucco and vinyl. everything disappeared in less than 2 minutes. It was pretty amazing. Did entire perimeter of the house in under 15 minutes.