How to Clean Removable Fly Screens

It is very important to know how to clean removable fly screens and maintain them in good working order. Your screen door allows air to flow freely through therefore airborne contaminants and particles can attach themselves onto the mesh. The most common are dirt and dust particles and salt from living by the ocean. By cleaning fly screens frequently they will continue to remain like new.

Living just a couple of hundred metres from the beach can be harsh on your screens as the salt crystallises and can become corrosive. Living by the ocean maybe a luxury but cleaning can be a bind even inside the property.

Australia has little rain especially in the tropical areas therefore your screens don't get a natural wash, so with no regular natural rainfall your screens will deteriorate without a regular clean.

I suppose it is down to what area you live in as Australia’s regions are quite diverse with a variety of environments and climates. If you live in a rural area and are free of dirty red dust then I suggest maintaining and cleaning fly screens between 3 and 6 months. If you are close to an industrial area then you will have an increase of pollutants flowing through the air so every 2 to 3 months is my recommendation.

For those of you who are urban dwellers your air will be polluted with more smog so every 2 to 3 months should be enough. Harsher environments such as being with in 20k from the ocean, tropical areas and those close to industrial parks must clean them ideally every 2 to 4 weeks.

An important note is that if you see bird droppings on your screens then clean immediately as the type of acidity in droppings can severely damage the mesh.

• Prop them up against an outdoor surface such as a fence or wall. Another alternative is to lay them on a clean, dry surface. 

• Use a special fly screen brush to remove debris.
  
  

• Hose down the screens with normal tap water to remove the dirt, dust and salt. (have the hose on a normal setting and not jet) Make sure you stand about 2 metres away so you don´t affect the paintwork.

• Wash the screen with a soft cloth and normal car wash or wax.

• The final step is to hose down again to rinse off the wax or car wash.

Important Donts:

• Use lemon or any acidic, or alkaline harsh chemicals (such as vinegar) to clean your screens as it will damage them.
• Use a harsh garden brush, vacuum cleaner brush or any other hard bristle brush.
• Use tank water, or recycled water as it will just leave more particles on the screen. The problem with bore water is that it has high levels of iron and will leave stains.