It’s almost the one year anniversary of my wonderful greenhouse.  It was constructed last year the day before Thanksgiving and completed on Black Friday, after Thanksgiving.  So almost one year.

Having a greenhouse has been a dream for a long time and now having had it for nearly a year has been that dream come true.

I have always had houseplants, ever since I ventured out on my own at 18.  Early on,  I dabbled in succulents and cactus, definitely an attraction there.  Since installing my own greenhouse, that early predilection has blossomed into a passionate obsession.

Since I am just a newbie greenhouse owner I am learning as I go along,  how to maintain it, keep the bugs out, cool it and heat it.  So far so good.

Today was my first cleaning of the exterior.  I know I should have done it sooner, but honestly the exterior wasn’t that bad, but it was definitely time to tackle this project.  I knew from all my greenhouse research that the polycarbonate panels would last longer, and yellow less sooner if I kept them clean.  So today was the day.

Here is the dirty greenhouse.

I can honestly say it doesn’t look bad in the picture, I guess I should have gotten a close up of a panel.  They were definitely dirty but I guess not so bad so now I feel better and won’t beat myself up for waiting almost a year to clean it.

I found some good advice on cleaning polycarbonate panels HERE.  I used Dawn dish detergent and warm water and I had recently picked up a soft cleaning wand at Lowes.  Using a soft towel or brush is a must since the polycarbonte has a UV coating and you don’t want anything to scratch that.

First I sprayed down the entire greenhouse with the hose.  Then I went all around using the window wand and the soapy water and scrubbed it top to bottom.

As I finished each section then I would hose the soapy water off, per the internet instructions.  I started with that vented roof section as seen above.

When I finished and came back around to look at the dry roof section if was very obvious that it was not completely clean so back up the ladder again.

I got a new bucket of soapy water and scrubbed with more pressure and in both directions, using the squeegee on the window wand to clean off each section as I went so I could see if I missed anything.  I didn’t do that the first time around and that helped tremendously.

It was a much easier project than I anticipated taking only about 1.5 hours from gathering supplies, executing the clean to putting away supplies, so really an easy project overall.

Cleaned greenhouse.  ( looks a bit better, right?)

My lessons learned are that I need to hose down the greenhouse once and awhile.  That will go a long way to keeping it cleaner.  I just need a hose that is a smidge longer so it is easier to reach the back corner.  Also, I will clean it with soapy water twice a year, spring and fall.  I want my awesome greenhouse to last and be as beautiful as the day it was born,  for a long, long time.