Cleaning Pollen: A Necessary Evil in Spring

Cleaning pollen is not a spring activity many homeowners look forward to performing. However, as temperatures are heating up in Gwinnett, that means pollen counts are on the upswing, too. If you want to enjoy your outdoor spaces, you’ll need to take a few steps to enjoy the outdoors.

Here’s how to clean pollen off of outdoor furniture, decks, sidewalks and roofs.

• Decks and porches. As pollen floats around in the air, it eventually comes to rest on surfaces, like the ground, plants and bushes, and your front, side or back porch or deck. It’s impossible to enjoy a nap on your back porch if there’s a layer of pollen on the floor. Every so often, take a broom and sweep pollen off of the porch, or use a garden hose and spray the deck to get rid of pollen.
• Furniture. It will also gravitate toward furniture, enough to write your signature in the thin layer of pollen. Tables, chairs, cushions and knick knacks become laden with pollen, making it nearly impossible to sit down at will or eat lunch outside. Before you clean the deck or porch, if you can, use a garden hose to spray down outdoor furniture. Then, dip the rag into a solution of warm water and dish detergent to encourage pollen to slide right off of it. You’ll remove dirt and pollen at the same time! To remove pollen from cushions, for a quick fix, squirt the pillow with a mixture of water and detergent, and use a rag to shake down offending particles. For a deep cleaning, spray pillows and cushions with a garden hose. Follow with a wet rag doused in detergent and give the items a good scrub. Let dry before returning cushions to the furniture. Once the furniture is clean, you can move onto the floors, and wash away all of the pollen you just removed from the items.
• Sidewalks. Pollen may not seem like an offending presence on sidewalks. However, if you allow it to gather here, you’ll track pollen onto decks, porches and inside the home. To clean it up, use a broom to sweep pollen away or a garden hose to clean the surfaces.
• Roofs. Pollen isn’t necessarily inherently bad for your roof; however, if lots of pollen rests on the roof, when the wind blows, it will naturally float down and rest on the just-cleaned surfaces. Hire a roof cleaner to remove the pollen, and at the same time, the contractor can attack other debris and dirt that may damage the roof over time. If your roof is metal, however, you’ll want to hire a roof cleaner every year to get rid of it, as it can encourage rusting.

Cleaning pollen is essential to enjoying your outdoor spaces. For information about roof care or roof replacements, contact Findlay Roofing today!

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