Fall is finally here, and the leaves are falling off the trees quicker then ever! The different colors of the leaves may look pretty but not when they are clogging up your gutters. It’s important to keep your gutters clean in order to effectively keep rainwater away from your home. Below are some tips for cleaning out your gutter system.

Before beginning to clean your gutter system, you should start with cleaning off your roof. By using a power washer or some sort of rake to clean debris off the roof. Avoiding this step will cause all the debris on your roof to be wasted into your gutter the next time it rains, hence clogging it up again.

With or without using gutter scoop, you will want to protect your hands because there could be rotting debris or animal droppings present. Using a thick, suede glove when cleaning out your gutters will ensure the best protection.  These gloves will protect you from any possible metal shards that can come from an old gutter system.  Using gloves made from cotton and rubber can soak up water and expose skin to bacteria as well as not protect you from metal shards.

A good idea is to invest in a gutter scoop so that you aren’t using your hands to get all the debris and dirt out of your gutter system. You can find plastic gutter scoops in almost any hardware store. Gutter scoops are a great tool to help you clean out your gutters, they are designed to form to the bottom of the gutter. This makes it easier to remove even the tough debris that gets stuck at the bottom. You should avoid using metal gutter scoops as it can cause damage to your gutter system and cause rusting.