Many homes and businesses have vinyl siding which looks lovely and appears to be easy to care for. However, strange black spots can pop up on your siding, making your property look unattractive as one gets closer.

These are annoying spots, some as tiny as a ballpoint pen tip. You’ve tried special vinyl stain removers and even pressure washing and yet, those blasted black spots remain. According to the experts, these spots are called artillery fungus.

If you have mulched beds, believe it or not, the fungus is developing from bark and hardwood mulches.Don’t worry, there are some amazing, simple do-it-yourself solutions.

We can’t promise that every method will work, and always test the solution in a corner of the siding, in case the formula discolors. Bleach is one of the most popular remedies to zap those black spots, but it requires lots of scrubbing and a little muscle.

There’s also hydrogen peroxide at a strong strength.

Allow it to bubble on the siding, and then, sponge it off.Mouthwash is another bizarre solution to remove artillery fungus, but don’t laugh. Lots of folks swear by it. Let the mouthwash seep into the vinyl and then scrub it off.

Mint varieties supposedly work best. Melamine foam is another black spots eliminator. That stuff is actually like those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers pads.

Select one of the three methods we suggest here, sprayed onto the black spots. Then, after several hours, take the melamine foam pad and scrub fungus away.