07 November

Stuck with Stubborn Lichen? Wipe it out with Wet & Forget Outdoor!

If you’ve got lichen growing on your deck, patio or driveway, you know just how much of a pain it can be. This scaly growth can form on just about any outdoor surface and, once it’s got a foothold, lichen can seem nearly impossible to get rid of. And once you’ve pried it loose, hardy lichen is likely to grow right back again. Not anymore! Wet & Forget Outdoor wipes out lichen with no scrubbing, bleaching or pressure washing needed, and keeps it from coming back for a year or more in most cases. Read on to find out how!

Lichen: A Complex Pest

Lichen is a complex growth that is hardy enough to have been found growing on all of the planet’s continents, including Antarctica. It is made up of a combination of algae and fungus that, rather than just growing side-by-side, have actually started working together as a sort of unique, multi-layered organism. The algae and fungus each take on different roles, and this is what makes lichen such a survivor.

Lichen comes in almost every color of the rainbow, from white, to golden yellow, to deep red. Lichens tend to have a scaly appearance, which is their most recognizable feature. They can grow on almost any outdoor surface, even glass, and can cause pitting on many materials, such as decking, roof shingles, and some types of driveways. Also, lichen adheres to surfaces with a strong grip, which is one of the reasons it’s difficult to get rid of.

Why Bleach and Pressure Washing aren’t the Answer

Many homeowners have tried bleach or pressure washing to get rid of lichen, with limited success. That’s because bleach doesn’t break lichen’s grip on the surface where it’s growing, so you still have to do a lot of back-breaking scrubbing that can potentially scratch the surface you’re trying to clean. Bleach is also caustic, and may harm some surfaces, kill your lawn, or corrode your downspouts if you’re cleaning your roof. A pressure washer may remove lichen with some work, but the extreme force of the water can also increase wear and tear on some surfaces or tear loose shingles or siding with one wrong move. Pressure washing also leaves behind a wet, muddy mess. And neither one of these methods does anything to keep lichen from growing right back again, trapping you in a constant cycle of cleaning and re-cleaning.

Break free of the cycle with Wet & Forget Outdoor! Wet & Forget Outdoor’s gentle, non-caustic formula works with the wind and rain over time to kill lichen and make it release its grip. Then you can gently brush the dead lichen away, or let nature wash it away. Just spray and leave–it’s that easy! Plus, Wet & Forget Outdoor keeps working even after the lichen’s gone, to keep it from coming back for a year or more in most cases. Now, instead of battling lichen, you can spend more time by the pool!

How to Remove Lichen with Wet & Forget Outdoor

Remiving lichen with Wet & Forget Outdoor couldn’t be easier. Simply:

Mix 1 part Wet & Forget Outdoor Concentrate with 5 parts water in a pump-up style garden sprayer or attach the Wet & Forget Hose End sprayer to your garden hose and connect the hose end tip of your liking to the bottle.
Saturate the lichen thoroughly with the diluted Wet & Forget Outdoor at a time when it’s not excessively sunny, to prevent the solution from evaporating too rapidly.
Wait 15 minutes, and saturate the lichen again with the diluted Wet & Forget. This second application allows Wet & Forget to penetrate the lichen’s multiple layers.
Walk away, and let Wet & Forget Outdoor wipe out the lichen for you!
Over time, the lichen will die and curl up. After this happens, you can gently brush the dead lichen away, or just let the wind and rain wash it away.
Re-treat once a year, or at the first sign of re-growth.