How to Clean Gutters From the Ground – 5 Tools to Choose From

Cleaning gutters is one of those tasks many homeowners hate doing, mainly because they either have to climb on the roof or use a ladder to do it. This process can be pretty dangerous if you aren’t experienced enough, but fortunately there are many ways to clean your gutters without climbing on the roof.

The tools most commonly used to clean gutters from the ground include vacuums with a gutter cleaner extension, gutter cleaning applicators, gutter flusher hose attachments, gutter cleaner attachments for pressure washers, and leaf blower gutter cleaner attachments. 

As you can see, many of them are attachments for tools you may already have at home. This makes the whole process a lot cheaper, because you don’t necessarily have to buy some expensive tool just to clean some gutters.

That being said, they all have their respective advantages and drawbacks. Let me show you what these are, so you can select the one that best fits your needs.

Tools for cleaning gutters from the ground

The tools listed here are in no particular order, as all of them can be better or worse than the others depending on your unique situation.

Gutter cleaning extension for vacuums

One of the most common solutions out there is this set of plastic tubes that you can attach to your vacuum cleaner, Shop-Vac or maybe a leaf blower with vacuum functionality.

The end of the tube is bent at an angle allowing it to reach into the gutter while you are standing below it. This is a very comfortable and easy solution if you only have to deal with things like pine needles, smaller leaves and twigs or dust.

On the other hand, I doubt it could get rid of overly large twigs and pine cones so if your gutter regularly gets clogged with those, then this may not be your best option.

As for acquiring such an extension, there are many do-it-yourself guides on the internet, it isn’t complicated after all. But if you aren’t feeling creative you can just buy one on Amazon. Just make sure to check your vacuum’s dimensions before you buy – you don’t want to get an extension that doesn’t fit.

Leaf blower gutter cleaner attachment

These are basically identical to the vacuum extension I have talked about earlier, only in this case they are specifically designed to be attached to a leaf blower.

Blowing the leaves and twigs out of the gutter instead of sucking them in with a vacuum has its own ups and downs. First of all, since in this case they don’t need to fit into a relatively small tube, this method can be used to get rid of those pesky pine cones.

Then there is the fact that you don’t have to stop halfway to empty your vacuum bag. But this is also the downfall of this method, because whatever you blow out of the gutter will inevitably end up on the ground, forcing you to do another round of cleanup later.

Also, since you’ll have lots of debris falling from above, please wear some kind of eye protection while doing this!

Just like the vacuum extension, this one also has plenty of do-it-yourself videos online explaining how to make one yourself. Of course, you can always just buy one. But pay attention, because most manufacturers only make attachments that fit their own leaf blowers.

After doing some research online I came across this “universal fit” gutter cleaning kit from WORX (you can buy it on amazon).

I can actually see it fitting all kinds of leaf blowers since the adapter can be adjusted as long as the diameter of the blower’s tube is smaller than 5″.

I actually found a video review of this kit, you can check it out below:

Gutter flusher hose attachment

This is perhaps one of the simplest solutions out there, since everyone has a garden hose somewhere in their yard. It’s based on the same principle as the blower attachment I talked about earlier (a long tube, allowing you to reach the gutter from the ground).

Only this time, you will use a ray of water to get rid of the leaves and other debris.

Just connect the tool to your hose and you are good to go.

There are a number of products like this on the market but the one that caught my eye was the Orbit 58543 Telescoping Gutter Cleaner (link to Amazon.com).

First of all, this isn’t just a set of tubes you can put together and attach to your hose. It has an actual telescopic pole with a non-slip grip, making it very comfortable to use. Also, it can deliver water pressure similar to that of a pressure washer so you can be sure there won’t be any leftover leaves stuck in your gutters.

The spray head can be rotated in different angles, making it easy to clean up those hard to reach corners. On top of that, even the water pressure can be adjusted.

Downside

As good as it sounds, there is a case where this may not work. Check out this image:

 

 

See that little “cage” thing in the gutter? It’s there to ensure that the water can always find a way into the downspout, even if the rest of the gutter is heavily clogged up.

If your gutter has one of these, then using water to get the leaves out of it is probably not viable. However, it may still work if you are only dealing with some small pine needles and dust.

Pressure washer gutter cleaner attachment

Again, this solution is very similar to the previous one. But in this case, we are using an actual pressure washer with a special attachment to clean our gutters.

The main advantage here is that the water ray’s pressure will be higher, making your job all that much easier. But I wouldn’t recommend this method unless you already own a pressure washer. Buying one just so you can clean your gutters can hardly be justified, as they can be rather pricey.

But if you do own one already, then getting an attachment isn’t that much of an expense. I personally don’t have any experience with these, so all I will say is make sure you buy one that works with your specific device.

I don’t know of any company that makes “universal fit” pressure washer kits, so please do your research before you purchase anything.

Gutter cleaning applicator

Many people don’t think about this, but the inside of your gutter isn’t the only thing that needs cleaning. Of course, dust and various other forms of dirt settling on the outside of your gutter won’t clog it up, but it can really ruin the overall look of your home if left unchecked.

If you want to clean the outside of your gutter from the ground, then this Gutter Cleaner Applicator by MarxOff (link to Amazon.com) might just be what you need.

Its pads are made out of synthetic lamb’s wool, which can clean most surfaces easily. It’s designed to fit all common gutters, so you probably won’t have any problems using it.

Downside

The image they provide is a bit misleading, as the product doesn’t contain the extension pole. But it can fit any standard extension poles, so you don’t need to buy another one if you happen to have one already.

Prevent leaves from getting into your gutters with LeafFilter

The methods I listed above work fine, but wouldn’t it be great if you could stop leaves from getting into your gutters in the first place?

Well, there is a company called LeafFilter who does just that. I’ve only learned about them recently, but I’ve been impressed by their innovative technology and the reviews they received.

In short, they offer a service to install a filter on your existing gutters, which is built with micromesh technology using stainless steel. They guarantee that your gutters won’t get clogged ever again. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, they offer a lifetime warranty.

You can ask them for a free quote here.

Also, check out their promo video below. I think it explains their product better than I could.