We are preparing our house to put it up for sale. Our realtor told us to take down the ivy that was growing up the brick and siding. Well we did as told and now we have this gunk left on the siding from where the ivy clings to the wall. We have tried power washing, elbow grease, Simply Green and bleach to no avail.
Try TSP, or tri sodium phosphat. It should work on brick or aluminum or vinyl siding. It comes in a tub and has directions for mixing with water in a bucket. Scrub with a stiff brush.
If that doesn't work, what I think you have are the "feet" from the tendrils of the ivy. The feet must have some type of glue, so you need a solvent. If TSP doesn't work, try acetone (nail polish remover) or rubbing alcohol to get those feet off.
I used Dawn dishwashing detergent and it seemed to loosen the bond to the surface. Works best if the ivy is not dry.
Try steaming it and then lightly brushing it away. It worked for me!
I have painted bleach on ours, and it did work. I tried everything known to man, and this at least hid the color, but not the texture!
Goodluck!
I don't know about ivy gunk but I use a cleaner called grease lightening, you can get it at walmart or most places, I have an out door swing with cloth cushions that was green from being under my pine tree I sprayed everything down with the cleaner slightly rubbed it in with a scrub brush and rinsed it good as new. other cleaners wouldn't touch it. It also works wonders on grills, spray on, rinse off, little elbow-grease on tough jobs. USE RUBBER GLOVES!
Try a product called Barkeepers Friend - it has worked on many a project for me w/no scrubbing - which you probably will need to do in this case. I don't believe it has bleach in it, so it shouldn't be a problem from that standpoint.
I am so frustrated! I am attempting to clean ivy "feet" (the brown stuck on leftovers after the ivy has been pulled free) from brick that is painted white at the front of my house. I have tried many of the suggestions here: TSP did not work, Dawn did not work and I was hoping that bleaching would at least turn it white as per one entry here and all it did was turn it a slightly lighter shade of brown. I have also tried Goo-Gone to no avail and it also started to remove the paint. I have scrubbed and scrubbed with brushes removing only small amounts but really not doing anything.
It is very important to wet the wall first and let sit and then brush with a wire thick brush or a thick nylon brush. I do not think bar keeper's friend is that great but it does get off any black build up from a bird's nest hiding in the ivy. I also used a sharp putty knife and that works and I think a razor blade holder with blade in it would work also.
