Best way to clean a bird bath

It can take up to four stages to clean a bird bath the best way you can, while it mostly involves giving the bird bath bowl several soaks to soften up any stubborn residue.

Best way to clean a bird bath is to empty the dirty water, followed by scooping out any goop, algae or scrapping off poop on the rim. Fill up the bowl in soapy hot water with a 10 minute soak, or a stronger solution to remove up stubborn residue. Scrub with a brush or scour while rinsing off soap residue in water.

I will blame you a little if you've got to a stage where you've allowed algae to grow in your bird bath, as the best way to keep algae out of a bird bath is with a regular clean.

Maintaining a bird bath once or twice a month in cold months, or once a week in the summer can make it much easier on you as a short soak would of been it, or less scrubbing would be required with little mess to clean up.

With that in mind you will need to change the water often as you can, and long before you clean the bird bath.

How you'd attract birds to a bird bath is with the glisten of water, thus dirty water in a bird bath won't be as appealing to birds as one that is now covered in algae

Clean a bird bath by making sure it has a long soak in boiling hot soapy water to soften up anything like algae that insists on staying in the bowl. Long soak can soften the algae which would just about make it scrapable.

By that I mean you can now take a soft or hard bristle bush to scrub off any residue, goop or algae often staining the rim of the bowl.

To put in more elbow grease by scrubbing the bird bath bowl with a scour may be required on your part - as dish soap will be needed to create a really good foam.

Do take care of your bird bath as best as you can - a quick, simple clean out like you normally would is all that's needed - while failing to take care of will become a real task on your hands.

Sanitization would also apply to your bird bath maintenance routine, as a part vinegar or bleach solution can be used to kill off any bacteria, while assisting you in picking up any hard to remove residue.

Birds can be attracted to the sound of running water, and as the solar powered fountain used to operate the mechanism recycles the water, the bird bath water must be kept clean or it will clog up.

Best color for a bird bath would be any vibrant tone which will be used in conjunction with a fountain feature. Dirty bird bath water can spoil a colorful bird bath, thus its vital to keep the bird bath dish clean at all times, to be sure it can always be seen.

Fill up bowl in soapy hot water

Best way to clean any bird bath of course is to remove any leftover water sitting in the bowl, while scooping out any goop or algae left behind.

How to remove the algae or goop built up over time is with a scrapper or any wood or a spoon you can throw out afterwards. More importantly, its vital to tip the bird bath over as to be sure all algae or goop can pour out into a bucket or trash bag.

Good thing about this technique is it doesn't rely entirely on you scooping out the mess, one spoonful at a time - as it would pour out in the process.

Now, could it be a made in plastic resin, stone, metal or glass bird bath you plan to clean out, as you must begin cleaning a bird bath by filling up the bird bath bowl with boiling hot soapy water only.

In the meantime you can allow this water to sit in the bowl for up to 10 minutes to give it a good soak, thus any residue or grime can be easily picked up when you scrub it.

However you may need to get your hands dirty so to speak when you must scrape any bird poop off the rim of the bowl.

Benefit to giving the bowl a long soak is to soften up any goop or bird poop, thus its essential if bird poop is visible on the bird bath, make sure its submerged under water.

Now its time to empty the dirty water into a drain in or off your property, rather than pouring it over your lovely lawn.

Soft brush to scrub clean

I don't often advocate use of bleach in a bird bath but at this point you may have to so to pick up any hard to remove, stubborn residue stuck in the bowl of the bird bath.

Rather than using bleach as is, you'd need to weaken it for use in a bird bath by using 1 part bleach, to 9 part hot plain tap water, with an option of dish soap. You can use bleach in a bird bath at this stage because you must soak it in soapy water again.

Allow the part 1/9 homemade cleaning solution to soak in the bird bath bowl for 3 minutes maximum - then proceed to brush or scour off any bird poop, stains, general water goop or algae with the bleach formula, as you force it into the pool of bleach water.

Now empty this bleach solution out of the bowl, directly into a drain to avoid wetting the area around it - while avoid splashing yourself at the same time.

As previously mentioned, you must now fill up this bird bath bowl for a third time with simple boiling hot soapy water.

After another ten or so minutes you can begin scrubbing the bird bath bowl, rim and occasionally the rest of the outer bird bath with a soft brush or scour if its a plastic, metal or a glass bird bath - while scrubbing a cement or stone bird bath with a hard brush.

Scrub for up to three minutes until you have fully cleaned the bowl. For the final time you can now pour out what would be clean water this time, into a public drain.

How to clean a bird bath safely is with gloves and goggles, and as you are using bleach I recommend you don't attempt to clean a bird bath without this safety gear.

Rinse off in clean water

Best way to clean a bird bath is scrubbing it only, while use of a powerful setting on a hose or even a pressure washer can cause too much splashing.

Never use a pressure washer or hose when using a bleach solution but do use caution at all times as you don't want any toxic goop or algae on your face or bare skin.

At this point the bird bath may of received up to three baths, including a soak in a bleach solution.

What you must focus on now of course is to be sure this bleach solution is fully removed out of the bird bath bowl. Remember bleach residue can be left behind, thus can seen bleed into clean bird bath water which can result in wild birds ingesting later.

No more soap must be used while only boiling hot plain water can be used.

You'd need to fill up the bird bath bowl with buckets of hot water so go carefully, while repeating the process over and over again until no bleach or dish soap is present.

I have lied as I said it was your last time to empty water out of the bird bath bowl, which isn't the case after all; to empty water many more times is essential when cleaning the bowl of any bleach or soap residue.

Sanitize in vinegar solution

When I instructed you to use an homemade part 1 to 9 bleach solution, I done so to help you lift up any stubborn residue out of the bird bath bowl that was otherwise impossible to remove without something stronger.

However at no point up until now have you sanitized the bird bath, to be sure all bacteria and germs have been killed off.

Bacteria does form on the outside of a bird bath bowl while other toxins can be present in the water, which can make birds ill.

Soap or bleach used can help to remove some of it but a now dryish bird bath can be sanitized with a strong yet safer vinegar solution.

How to make up a quick vinegar solution to clean bird baths in is with a part 1 to 4 vinegar to hot plain water solution. Make a bucket load as you'll need to once again fill up the bird bath bowl, to give it a soak of up to 5 minutes to kill of bacteria.

When time is up you can scrub the whole bird bath with this vinegar solution, and then proceed to pour out the child-safe vinegar solution down the drain.

To remove any odor leftover by the scented bleach, soap or vinegar - it can be washed off with plain hot water - or use a hose or pressure washer to get a powerful force, though it is optional.

Clean a cement bird bath without bleach if you can help to prevent any staining, while using this vinegar solution instead as the best way to sanitize and clean concrete bird baths - whereas plastic or metal bird baths are more forgiving.

Conclusion

Best way you can clean bird baths is to of course remove any dirty, smelly bird bath water remaining in the bowl.

Empty it into a public drain out of your property for safety reasons while scraping out any algae, water goop or bird poop into a trash bag.

Clean it all up as best as you can before filling up the bird bath bowl with boiling hot soapy water. At this stage you can soften up any remaining goop, algae or poop stains to wash off after a 10 minute soak or more.

Empty the bird bath water bowl in a drain again to reveal what mess you have to deal with.

Well kept bird baths will see a clean bird bath which means you can continue on to the next step, which is scrubbing the bird bath bowl especially - including the rim where bird poop usually sits on.

If the bird bath remains in poor condition you can use a part 1 to 9 bleach solution, or a weaker part 1 to 4 vinegar solution to lift up any stubborn residue - all while killing off any bacteria guaranteed to be present, so go carefully.

Whatever material your bird bath happens to be made in, you can play it safe by first using a vinegar solution, while avoid using bleach on concrete bird baths as it can stain.

With a bird bath bowl full of now clean soapy water, you can scrub it clean with a soft brush or scour on plastic or metal, while a cement bird bath would benefit with use of a hard bristle brush - as it can take the extra elbow grease.

Pour out the clean water with perhaps a few nasty bits in it at this stage, while then proceeding on to rinse off the bird bath for the final time in clean hot water - to remove any odor or any leftover bleach, vinegar or soap residue.

Share this article: