How On Earth Should I Clean Chain Link Fence?
Cleaning your chain link fence in Melbourne can seem like a hustle you don’t want to have. True? You are slightly luckier, if luck is the word we should use here, but let’s go with, if you have a chain link fence in your back or front garden that is not so long and therefore does not require that much time to clean. It’s a different story if you have a kilometres long industrial chain link fence. But regardless of the length of the fence, it really needs a good cleaning once in a while.
Diamond Fence will share some tips how to get your chain link fence clean regardless if it’s a domestic fence, industrial fence or commercial fence.
Let’s get started with a simple question.
Why should I clean my chain link fence at all? Even if it’s galvanized and is protected against corrosion? Answer is as simple as the question itself.
Cleaning your chain link fence can prolong its lifecycle. Easy. Even if you think that your fence is strong and carries no damages, take a better look. Be aware of things like:
1. posts that are not at 90-angle degree. Get them fixed. Diamond Fence offers also fence & gate repairs.
2. Bent or broken mesh. Sometimes you do find pieces of broken mesh. Also get it fixed as soon as you can as fixing or replacing a small piece of chain link is better than replacing the whole fence all together.
3. Rust! This is the enemy of your fence. Sometimes small rusty spots cannot be noticed from far off, so take a better look and maybe you’ll notice something you hadn’t before. Just take a walk along your fence next time you’re there as getting rid of rust can save you a lot of time and money as you can prevent replacing the whole chain link fence.
What is stopping your chin link fence to shine as it used to?
Most likely nature does its own. Weed and vegetation growth from the summer time has died and dried. If you were too lazy (not judging) or just didn’t have time to remove green and still alive weeds, then now it’s actually even easier. It’s dead and dried and that makes it so much better to remove. Why should you remove it? Cannot you just leave it there? Please don’t. Dead and dried weed can get wet, leaving so much more space for corrosion to take place. Your fence really does not need it. And it looks some much nicer when it’s cleaned.
Once you have picked off the old weeds, just give it a good rice with your garden hose, or use a power washer to flush off any other dirt that’s there. And there you go – much cleaner and better looking chain link fence.
Even if your chain link has been galvanized, do remember that the layer of the zinc protection does ware off in time and that leaves the fence opened to corrosion. Soon enough you will find rusty spots you would like to get rid off. What’s next then? Do these little spots matter? They definitely do! Rust can deepen and eventually your chain link can break from the rust damage. So it’s better to prevent that from happening if you don’t want to replace your chain link fencing in total.
Just take your garden hose or power washer and give your chain link fence a wash to remove loose rust pieces. We wish it was as easy as that, but need to hustle a bit more to get the fence clean from the rust. To remove rusty spots, especially out of the crevices and other quite hard to reach spots, use a wire brush, steel wool or a rough sandpaper.
Gel solutions are another way to remove dust. Gel solutions, huh? A specific product to remove the rust. You should be able to find it in hardware stores. Below are some that can be used, but your best chance is just to walk into your local hardware store and ask the customer service to see what kind of rust removing products they offer and recommend.
If you do not support products that are not natural, then you can also clean your chain link fence with a white vinegar. Cleaning the rust and mold on your fence while not harming your skin if you get in contact with it seems like a pretty good deal. And most likely more cheaper one was well. All you need to do is to take the paper towel, soak it in vinegar, wrap it around the rusty part of your chain link fence, leave it on for 30 minutes or so, and then use a hand scrub or even an old tooth brush if you feel like recycling, dipped in vinegar once again and scrub off the rusty part. The best part about the white vinegar is that it does not kill the plants underneath it when you’re applying it and it happens to drip on the ground.
Sometimes water is all your fence needs. So next time when you are watering your plants, direct the garden hose to your fence, turn on the high-pressure regime and give it a good rinse. That should get rid of all the dirt that has gathered there over time.
As one of the leading fencing contractors in Melbourne, Diamond Fence recommends to clean your chain link fences once in a while. There’s not an exact time frame you should do it as it depends from the circumstances like the weather, location and so on. But you be the judge of that and just once in a while keep an eye on your fence.
If you do need some fence & gate repairs, or installing a new fence, Diamond Fence can help you out.
Call us on (03) 9753 4566, shoot us an email on info@diamondfence.com.au , or just get a FREE online quote.
