If you don’t already have gutter guards to help prevent clogs from fallen leaves, cleaning your gutters is a necessary but messy job. Leaves and debris that pile up in your gutters will block the flow of rainwater and melted snow to your downspout. This water can back up and spill over the brim of the gutter, causing foundation and drainage issues for your home. In the winter, the melted snow can freeze and create an ice dam, forcing water under your roofing shingles and causing significant damage.

To avoid these issues, you should annually use one of the best gutter cleaners to ensure your gutters are clear from debris. Whether you climb a ladder and clear the debris with a scooper, or you prefer to stay grounded with the use of a hose extension, this important step in home maintenance can save you from some severe homeowner headaches.

Gutter cleaning is a potentially dangerous project. Anytime you climb a ladder, you’re increasing your risk of injury. In response to these risks, manufacturers create new gutter cleaning methods often. Below are the most common and reliable types of products for cleaning your gutters.

Telescopic Hose Wand

If you’d prefer to keep both feet planted firmly on the ground while cleaning your gutters, you should check into a telescopic hose wand. These products attach to your garden hose’s threaded fitting and, in most cases, allow you to reach your gutters from the ground. They have hooked arms that reach and spray down into your gutters, providing a great angle to get the job done.

These products don’t require a pressure washer. They take the pressure from your hose and increase it with specially designed nozzles with restricted outlets that increase the water pressure. Their wands also adjust to reach higher gutters with watertight telescoping sections.

Telescoping Claw

For a more aggressive approach, you can try a gutter cleaning claw. These devices affix to the end of a telescoping pole and reach down into your gutters to loosen and remove leaves and debris. While they can be a bit more labor-intensive than a hose attachment, they’re able to break up tough blockages much easier.

Not all “claws” are actually claw-shaped. Many of these products look more like small garden hoes or scoopers. In most cases, you’ll have to climb a ladder to use them, which can be dangerous, but they’re sure to clear whatever’s hanging out in your gutters. By physically reaching into the gutter and pulling the leaves toward yourself with the claw, you can remove debris from the gutter by hand.

Gutter Cleaning Scoop

If you’re comfortable on a ladder, you may appreciate a gutter cleaning scoop. These inexpensive options look like large candy scoopers and allow you to reach down into your gutter and scoop the debris accumulated at the bottom.

Gutter cleaning scoops are extremely effective, but their range is a concern. In order to clean an entire gutter, you’ll have to climb down and reposition the ladder many times. Leaning off the side of the ladder to reach further is a major risk, so you may have to move the ladder every 4 or 5 feet.

Pressure Washer Attachment 

Pressure washer attachments can make short work of a dirty gutter. These long, hooked attachments screw onto your pressure washer’s handle, allowing you to position a nozzle directly into your gutter and remove leaves, debris, and the gutter gunk that builds up throughout the year. Some models even have dual-sided attachments that spray in both directions simultaneously.

These attachments bring a lot of firepower to gutter cleaning, but long wands can be flimsy and difficult to position in high gutters. Also, they create a lot of pressure, so, if you aren’t careful, you could make a mess of your home and yard and even your neighbors’.

Wet-Dry Vacuum Attachment

Wet-dry vacuum attachments are another ground-based gutter cleaning product. These kits attach to your wet-dry shop vac and work by vacuuming or blowing the contents out of your gutter.

Most of these kits are universal and feature several lengths of rigid vacuum pipe and a hooked nozzle for reaching into the gutter. When attached to the vacuum side, you can suck the leaves into the vacuum’s drum. When connected to the blower side, you’ll blow leaves and debris out of the gutter.

You need a stout vacuum to get the job done, however. It’s also challenging to blow wet leaves, so this job is best to tackle after a few sunny days.

Blower Attachment

Similar to a wet-dry vacuum attachment, these kits attach to your leaf blower, allowing you to force the debris and leaves out of your gutter. They work incredibly well but can make a bit of a mess as they blow dirty leaves and sludge at high speeds all about your house and yard. But your gutters will be clean, and you won’t have to climb a ladder.

There are very few universal blower attachment kits available, but they aren’t universally reliable, so check with your leaf blower’s manufacturer and purchase a kit for your specific model.

Gutter Cleaning Kit

The product categories listed above can come in kits that are ready to go with everything you need. Pressure washer attachments often come with several lengths of extension wands and interchangeable nozzles. Vacuum kits have multiple lengths of universal rigid pipe, as well.

You can also find some kits that come with several gutter cleaning tools, like scoops, claw gloves, and extension poles. It’s worth spending a little extra time shopping for a kit. You’ll have everything you need in one purchase, minimizing frustration or the odds of forgetting something.