Alright friends, grabbed my coffee and settled in to write up yesterday's adventure. Figured I’d share the whole mobile home pressure washing saga start to finish. Buckle up, it gets messy.

The Wake-Up Call

Honestly? My rig was lookin' straight-up embarrassing. Years of road grime, tree sap, and god-knows-what bird droppings baked onto the siding. The white looked sickly gray, with nasty green streaks underneath where rainwater pooled. Time to stop putting it off.

Diving into Prep:

• First thing: Walked the whole perimeter. Looked for any loose vinyl, cracked windows, exposed wires near outlets or the AC unit – don’t wanna blast water where it shouldn’t go. Marked a few iffy spots with painter's tape as a reminder to be gentle.
• Dug out the pressure washer – my trusty electric 1800 PSI one. Not the monster gas kind, but enough for this job. Checked all connections, hoses for cracks. Grabbed the wide-angle (40-degree) tip. The skinny white tip? That's for concrete, not siding! Using that on a mobile home is begging for holes.
• Round up safety gear: Big ol' safety glasses (water shoots everywhere!), rubber boots, heavy-duty gloves, and long pants. Water + grit at high pressure hurts. Period.

Waterworks & Wash Time

Got everything plugged in near the outdoor faucet. Connected the garden hose to the washer inlet. Important step: Turned ON the garden hose fully BEFORE firing up the pressure washer. Let the water flow through the system smoothly to avoid airlocks or pump damage. Learned that lesson the expensive way once.

Started Low & Slow:

• Started spraying from the bottom corner of a less visible side section, holding the wand tip about a solid 3 feet away. Just testing the force.
• Used a gentle, sweeping motion side-to-side, slightly overlapping each pass. Key is to let the water do the work. No scrubbing needed if the pressure's right! Kept the wand moving constantly – stopping in one spot? That’s how you get lines etched into your siding.
• Worked my way up section by section, always angling the spray downward. Worked one whole side bottom-to-top before moving to the next. Trying to go top-down first? Disaster. It just pushes dirty water down onto clean areas.

Windows & Corners:

• Around windows? Extra careful. Used my hand as a shield behind the wand, spraying AWAY from the frame inward. Bad move: Blasting directly at the window seals. That’s a leak waiting to happen.
• For the real gunky spots (underneath vents, corners)? Inched a tiny bit closer and held for maybe half a second longer, but never went full throttle. If it didn’t come off, I’d rather do two lighter passes than one destructive one.

The Aftermath & Lessons Learned

Took me a solid 3 hours for a single-wide, working methodically. Holy cow, the difference! It’s like my old rig got a facelift. Water running clear off the siding felt like pure victory.

Key Takeaways I Wish I Knew Sooner:

• Distance is Safety AND Effectiveness: Starting too close is tempting for tough spots. Resist. You ruin surfaces and it actually blows the dirt into the material sometimes. Back off!
• No Bleach Bombs: Saw folks online recommending bleach mixes for the green gunk. Hard pass. Bleach eats vinyl and metal fittings over time. Straight water pressure worked surprisingly well with patience.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Found a small soft spot near the skirting? Marked it with tape and just lightly rinsed over it. No heroics. Inspect before you start.
• Eyes On Your Hose: Tripping over the pressure washer hose mid-spray? Yeah, not fun. Took a minute to reroute it clear of my walking path. Smarter.

Biggest Win? Did it myself without blowing out a window, flooding underneath, or needing the ER. Saved a ton compared to pros. Rig looks 10 years younger. Feels good, feels real good.