I'm a big fan of the conservatory. Nothing beats a bright Sunday morning with a good cup of coffee, the Sunday papers and a few hours in my new rattan armchair. However, they are like a magnet for dirt and in order to keep your conservatory looking good, you need to give it a regular clean.
Regular cleaning reduces the need for maintenance as dirt and grime builds up (especially during the Autumn/Winter months) that can cause it to discolour and corrode, making your conservatory a shadow of it’s former self.
Most conservatories are quite large and cleaning can be quite time consuming. So why not break the cleaning process down into smaller more manageable tasks, clean the glass one weekend, guttering the next, and then finally give the frame a clean.
You could even break the list of jobs down further by splitting them into inside and outside tasks too. But there's no getting away from it, cleaning the outside of your conservatory is the most difficult and time consuming, but don't leave it too long as you're only making the task harder.
Think about tackling the following cleaning procedures say every two months and this will help to keep your conservatory not only looking good, but also all those jobs will be easier to do in the future. Prevent the dirt building up too much and causing any staining etc.
Start by regularly removing leaves and debris etc from the gutters. It can severely limit surface drainage, providing a moisture rich environment for moss and algae to grow, and in severe cases if left unattended, it could lead to glass panels moving and seals getting damaged.
The roof of your conservatory takes a good old battering from the elements. Rain, wind and snow will all carry small particles of dirt, which over time, will build up and reduce the light into your conservatory.
And if you leave it to build up, you're creating the perfect breeding ground for algae to form. Nobody wants a conservatory roof with a nice green velvet finish. But jokes aside, if you allow algae to form, it will reduce the natural light coming in, and over time it could damage the actual structure itself.
The windows of your conservatory will become dirty just like the windows on the rest of your home, and as such they need to be cleaned regularly too. You might have to pay the window cleaner a little bit more, but its worth the extra cost just to get him to give them a good clean on a regular basis.
Just like the windows, over time the framework of your conservatory will pick up dirt and grime too. And just like the windows it will need to be cleaned to keep it looking as good as the day it was installed.
If you specified self cleaning glass (specially coated to keep itself free of dirt and grime) it will stay cleaner for longer than the untreated glass. However it will still need cleaning from time to time, just not as often.
Depending on the direction your conservatory is facing and where you live, generally depends on how dirty the roof of your conservatory will get. There'll always be varying amounts of moss etc appearing and inevitably algae and bird droppings that will need to be cleaned off. I live on the coast and the seagulls are an absolute nightmare.
Most conservatory roof cleaning can be carried out from ground level with telescopic poles etc. A powerful spray using warm soapy water should shift most of the dirt, but any stubborn stains may need to be gently scrubbed before rinsing.
However, if you do use a step ladder, please be very careful. Make sure somebody is holding the ladder steady for you while you work. But as with the windows in the rest of your home, if your window cleaner can do it for you, then our advice is always to leave it to the professionals!