How to Clean a Fabric Awning (Without Wrecking It)

Published On: July 13, 20223.5 min read
How To Clean A Fabric Awning - washing a fabric awning with soft brush and hose Denver”, “mildew speckling on acrylic awning fabric close-up
Summary

Best Awning Company explains how to clean fabric awnings using simple household tools and mild soap, noting that most homeowners can do this without professional help.

  • Open the awning fully, rinse with a garden hose, then scrub with mild soap like Dawn using a soft bristle brush. Rinse thoroughly and let it air dry completely before closing.
  • Clean the awning well in spring and fall, with monthly hose rinses during summer. Avoid cleaning in winter unless the fabric can dry without freezing.
  • Never use a pressure washer on awning fabric as it can cause damage and shorten the material's lifespan. Regular cleaning prevents mold growth and extends the awning's life.
How to clean a fabric awning?

To clean a fabric awning, start by brushing off loose dirt and debris. Then, mix mild soap with water and use a soft brush to scrub the fabric gently. Rinse thoroughly with clean water and allow it to air dry completely to prevent mold and mildew growth.

A fabric awning collects everything Denver’s air carries – dust, pollen, cottonwood fluff, bird droppings – and the wrong cleaning method does more damage than the dirt. After 45 years of installing and re-covering awnings on the Front Range, we have seen more fabric killed by aggressive cleaning than by weather. Here is the method that works, the mildew fix, and the honest answer on pressure washers.

The short version

Brush off loose debris, rinse, wash with mild soap and a soft brush, rinse until the water runs clear, and let it dry fully extended before retracting. Once a month in season keeps it easy; let it go a year and you are scrubbing instead of rinsing.

What you need

  • Soft-bristle brush on a pole (car-wash style)
  • Garden hose with a spray nozzle – not a pressure washer (more below)
  • Mild soap: dish soap or a dedicated awning cleaner. Skip degreasers, solvent cleaners and anything labeled for concrete
  • A bucket, a ladder you trust, and a dry afternoon

Step by step

  1. Extend the awning fully and pick a mild, overcast day if you can – soap dries too fast on hot fabric and leaves rings.
  2. Brush off dry debris first. Leaves, twigs, cottonwood fluff. Dry brushing first means you wash dirt off instead of mudding it in.
  3. Rinse top and underside with the hose, working from the high side down.
  4. Wash with soap and the soft brush in sections, top first, underside second. Let the soap sit a few minutes on grimy areas – dwell time does the work, not scrubbing force.
  5. Rinse until no suds remain. Soap residue left in fabric attracts dirt and speeds up the next cleaning.
  6. Dry fully extended. Retracting damp fabric is how mildew starts – if you take one rule from this page, take that one.

Removing mildew from awning fabric

Mildew shows up as gray-black speckling, and on the Front Range it usually means the awning was rolled up damp. The fix depends on the fabric:

  • Solution-dyed acrylic (Sunbrella and similar): the color is locked into the fiber, and the maker’s own care instructions allow a diluted bleach mix for mildew – roughly one cup of bleach per gallon of water with a small amount of mild soap. Test a hidden corner first, keep the mix off plants and metal hardware, and rinse hard when done.
  • Vinyl: a vinyl-safe mildew cleaner, soft brush, thorough rinse. No bleach unless the maker’s care sheet allows it.
  • Canvas and cotton-mix fabrics: bleach will spot the dye. Use a fabric-safe mildew cleaner and accept that deep-set mildew on old canvas is usually permanent – at that point read our fabric replacement signs.

The mildew you prevent costs nothing: dry before retracting, every time.

Can you pressure wash a fabric awning?

The popular answer, and the one two thousand people a month search for, is the wrong one. A pressure washer strips the water-repellent coating off awning fabric, drives water into seams, and at close range cuts stitching. If you must use one: widest fan tip, lowest setting, at least two feet of distance, and never aimed at seams – but a soft brush with soap dwell time gets the same result with none of the risk. Our full take is in the pressure-washing post.

Restoring water repellency

When water stops beading and starts soaking in, the coating has done its tour. After a full clean and dry, apply a fabric-appropriate water- and UV-protective treatment in moderate temperatures. Once a season is plenty for most Front Range awnings.

Cleaning schedule for Colorado

When to hand it to us

Tears longer than a few inches, mildew that returns after treatment, fabric past its coating’s life, or an awning too tall to reach with confidence – at that point cleaning money is better spent on repair or re-covering. We assess for free and will tell you which side of the line yours is on: 303-816-2303.

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