Solar Panel Advertorial v1

Aussie Clean Living

Before You Clean Your Solar Panels Again, Read This

Sponsored Content | Updated 03/11/2026 | 5-min read

My Neighbour's Solar Panels Always Looked Spotless. Mine Were Getting Worse by the Week.

I Couldn't Figure Out What He Was Doing Differently. So I Finally Asked Him.

⭣ Keep Reading ⭣

We put solar on the roof four years ago. The maths made sense. The panels would pay for themselves and everything after that would be savings.

What nobody tells you is how quickly solar panels can collect dust, pollen and bird droppings.

On our street, there are plenty of lorikeets. And the dirtier the glass gets, the less sunlight can reach the panels. It felt like the build-up was working against the whole reason we’d installed them in the first place.

From the back deck, you could see it. A grey film across the glass and next door, over the fence, Gary’s panels were gleaming.

For the first year, it became a bit of a Sunday morning routine.

I’d get the hose out, grab a bucket, mix up some suds and reach for the soft brush on a long pole. Up the ladder, scrub, hose off, down the ladder, move the ladder, back up.

My wife stood at the bottom holding it and reminding me to be careful.

It took me about two hours. By the end, my shoulders were aching and my back was worse and here’s the bit that drove me mad.

I’d hop down, step back and admire it. Then the sun would come around and dry the leftover water on the glass.

By mid-afternoon, the panels were covered in little white spots, the hard water and minerals stay behind when the water evaporates.

I’d spent two hours cleaning my panels, only to find spots all over them.

Then I tried the chemicals

I figured the obvious next step was to find something stronger. I started looking around for products that promised to tackle stubborn dirt, marks and grime.

First, I picked up a solar-panel cleaning spray from the hardware store. Then I tried dishwashing liquid after
reading about it in a Facebook group. Someone else recommended a vinegar mix, so I gave that a go too.

I tried different sponges and went back to the bucket, thinking a bit more scrubbing might do the trick. I wasn't sure whether repeated use of the wrong cleaners could affect the panel's protective surface.

The last thing I wanted was to spend money trying to clean my panels, only to risk damaging them in the process.

By then, I was spending more time researching cleaning methods than actually getting the job done and I decided
to stop experimenting.

So I paid the professionals

I was paying a professional solar cleaning company about $250 each time, usually twice a year.

They did a good job, no complaints. The panels looked great for a few weeks. Then the lorikeets were back and so was the dust.

One Sunday, I added it all up. The professional cleans, the sprays, the brush kit, the pole and the replacement hose fittings and honestly, I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

More than a thousand dollars spent trying to keep my solar panels clean, the very things I'd installed to save money!

The afternoon I finally asked Gary

A few months back, I was over at Gary’s place for a beer. We were sitting out on his back deck, having a bit of a yarn, when I noticed his solar panels across the fence.

They looked almost brand new. Same street. Same trees. Same lorikeets doing their business. So how on earth were his panels looking so much better than mine?

I finally asked him, “Mate, who do you get in to clean your panels? They look bloody good.”

Gary just laughed.

“Nobody, I do them myself.”

I looked at him, waiting for the rest of the explanation. Surely he had some fancy cleaning gear, a special solution or one of those expensive brush systems?

He disappeared into the shed and came back holding something up.

A thick, grey cloth.

I stared at it.

“Wait… that's it? Just a cloth?”

He laughed again. Apparently, his missus had originally bought it for the shower screens. One day, he decided to give it a go on the solar panels. It worked well enough that he never went back to his old cleaning routine.

He called it KoalaCloth.

And I'll be honest, I wasn't convinced just yet. But I was curious enough to look it up that night.

The reviews caught my attention and with a 60-day money-back guarantee, I thought, what have I got to lose? I ordered one to see if it could really live up to Gary's claims.

A few days later, my KoalaCloth arrived. I'll admit, I was excited but still a little sceptical. After all the sprays, sponges and cleaning tricks I'd tried, I wasn't about to get my hopes up just yet.

I decided to start with the worst panel

The one that seemed to attract every bit of dust, pollen and lorikeet business in the neighbourhood. I dampened the grey cloth, squeezed out the excess and made the first pass.

And then came the bit I genuinely wasn't expecting.

Months of built-up dust and grime had lifted onto the cloth. One pass had already cleared away what looked like most of the surface dirt.

I made a second pass, this time over the stubborn marks that were still hanging on. The difference was hard to miss. The glass looked noticeably darker, clearer and much cleaner than it had before.

After months of trying different sprays, sponges and brushes, here I was getting a result with just a damp cloth and plain water.

But here’s the bit that actually sold me.

The cloth was absorbing the water as it went, rather than leaving it sitting on the glass. I came back at lunch time, when the sun was shining on the roof, fully expecting to see the white spots again.

There were no water marks where I’d wiped. Just clean-looking glass.

The whole job took me around twenty minutes. The old routine took two hours and most of my Sunday. Fewer trips up and down, no hose and a lot less scrubbing.

I still couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. I stood there looking at the panels, then called my wife outside. “Come and have a look at this. You've got to see it!”

She looked up at the roof, then back at me. “Hang on… when did you get the cleaning company in?” I couldn't help but grin. “No cleaning company, It's this KoalaCloth doing all the magic!”

Then she took the cloth inside to try on the shower screen and I haven’t got it back.

I went straight back to the website and ordered the bundle that same week. No way was I going through the trouble of getting it back from her!

So why did this simple cloth make such a difference?

After all those years of buying sprays, brushes, sponges and cleaning equipment, I kept coming back to one question.

How could a simple cloth do what all that gear couldn't? I did a bit of reading and discovered it came down to the cloth itself.

The KoalaCloth is made from dense microfibre, around 600 GSM- considerably thicker than many everyday cleaning cloths. Its tightly packed fibres are designed to lift dust and dirt while absorbing water, rather than simply pushing it around.

And it isn't some tiny little cleaning rag either. At 60 × 40 cm, the XXL size gives you plenty of surface to work with. It can absorb up to 600 ml of water, which means fewer trips back to the bucket to wring it out.

That also explained why I wasn't left dealing with as much water sitting on the glass and when it gets dirty, you can simply pop it in the washing machine and use it again.

The same cloth could be used on shower screens, windows, glass and plenty of other surfaces around the house.

⚠️ When I ordered, they were running a Bundle & Save offer – so I grabbed a few extras straight away. A few can be used for the bathroom, one for the kitchen and a spare for the car.

CHECK TODAY'S BUNDLE OFFER ➤

⚠️ If your panels are getting dusty again you need to try KoalaCloth XXL

Still dragging the hose and bucket out, trying different cleaning products or watching water spots appear as the panels dry, you might be in the same loop I was.

The panels aren't the problem. Neither is how hard you scrub.

Ditch the chemicals. Use water and a KoalaCloth. That's the whole answer.

The one I use is the KoalaCloth XXL. They do a 60-day trial. If your panels don't come up clean with just water, you send it back.

SEE THE CLOTH I USE FOR SOLAR PANELS ➤

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