Cleaning Minerals and Dirt off of Aluminum Siding and Window Frames

I have a large picture window on the front of my home. When I purchased the home, the people that owned it had the sprinklers hitting the garage, brick and windows of the home and there was white mineral build up on all those areas. 

Since then, I have fixed or replaced the sprinklers so they don't hit the house anymore. With that, the home still had 20 years or so of mineral build up of lime and calcium deposits on it. Our area has red dirt that blows in the wind and then gets stuck to the mineral deposits causing a muddy reddish look to anything with those deposits on it. 

For years I wanted to clean the minerals off and three years back, we cleaned the garage door which took three of us at least a week or so as we had to spray, scrub, and rinse several times to get it clean. I was grateful for their help and glad to be getting that project done. 

Here is a link to our post about cleaning the garage door. I also used these cleaners to clean the sides of my trailer when I cleaned it prior to "waxing" and both are still clean but I think mostly that is due to the "teak oil" and I will post about that in another post but wanted to focus on cleaning today.

I actually have pictures of this dirty window in one of the videos about waxing it and it is so sad to me that it took me three years to get to cleaning it but am so happy I have gotten to it and hope to finish for tomorrows post. 

I used two products to get the grime and minerals off the window. I have always had the best luck using a product called "Tub and Tile Cleaner" by a company out of Idaho called "Melaleuka" and the product has "tea tree" oil in it and for some reason, it eats through the minerals like nothing else. It was sunny and the product kept drying on me so I suggest that you spray it and use a damp squeegee to spread it and then let it sit for about ten minutes and then use the squeegee to wet it lightly again and then five minutes later, use the wet squeegee to scrub at it. Then, use DRY paper towels to scrub the area.

Each time I have used scrubbers, it takes off the thin coat of paint so I suggest doing it this way as the oil eventually works through the minerals taking them off as you scrub. It does take some elbow grease and time. It is well worth the effort though as you look at the comparison video and pictures, you will see how much better it looks. Regular scrubbing and soap just can't get those minerals off. 


What worked well on the dirt and smudges was "Totally Awesome Cleaner" from the local dollar store. I worked great on the dirty area where there wasn't minerals near the top but you have to really scrub and rinse it off well or it will leave yellow detergent marks on the white siding.

I am a bit saddened by the fact that the new gutters are white but they didn't clean or replace the metal flashing coming out from the roofing so against the new white gutters, that area above looks super dirty. Also, the flashing and edge just under the new gutters is yellow with age as

well. I cleaned this area above the window but it is a KILLER on the arms and neck to scrub those areas and I realized with all I have to get done in the yard before snow, there is NO way that I can take the time to get to that this year. But, knowing me, it is going on the list as I don't like to leave things "undone" and am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like that so hopefully, I can get to that next spring.

You can see in the bottom picture that there is tons of minerals and rust and dirt on the other window bases as well and I am nearly done getting that off the other front windows so pray that tomorrow I can finish those early and teak oil the big window and get them all coated with Teak oil!!! 

Have a Blessed Day!