Cleaning a patio can be made a lot easier with the help of some cleaning solutions. But not every cleaner is suitable for different patio types. In fact, many common solutions are actually harmful for patios and the surrounding plants.
There are ways to clean patio pavers without a pressure washer, but it's important to make sure we're not using harmful chemicals instead.
We spoke to some outdoor cleaning experts to learn what we should avoid using when cleaning our patios and what we can use instead to achieve the same effect.
Vinegar (of any kind)
'Never use vinegar to clean a patio,' says Mause Ramirez, owner of MCS Cleaning Services. This is because it can damage the surrounding grass and plants.
Trevor Knight, technical garden and driveway specialist for Marshalls expands on this: 'Despite often being a popular choice for cleaning the patio, vinegar can harm the biodiversity of your garden.'
Acidic cleaners
Just like vinegar, other acidic cleaning solutions should be avoided at all times.
'Any product with an acid composition has the propensity to cause burn/etching marks in natural stone and even wooden-based patios,' explains Delah Gomasi, Director of MaidForYou.
Trevor Knight agrees, highlighting the importance of protecting your patio's surface: 'The use of acidic solutions should be avoided, particularly on calcareous pavers such as those made from limestone. Use on these pavers can lead to irreparable damage of the material.'
'If you're looking to clean your patio and pavers, you'll want to use a non-acid cleaning solution or no cleaning solution at all,' says Delah. He recommends the Wet & Forget Moss, Mold, Mildew, & Algae Stain Remover at Amazon as a non-acidic cleaning solution.
Bleach
'Bleach is harmful to plants and, therefore, can harm your garden’s biodiversity. Any bleach solution that runs off of the patio onto grass or plants when cleaning can cause significant harm to these, likely causing them to die,' explains Trevor.
'Over time, bleach can also lead to discoloration and irreparable damage to paving slabs, particularly those that are man-made such as concrete slabs,' he adds.
This isn't exclusive to bleach, either: 'Using harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners can damage furniture, plants, or grass. Pay attention to the instructions, as every chemical or cleaning product is labelled by experts,' says Mause.
High pressure water
As we learned in how to pressure wash a patio - you should always start on the lowest possible pressure. High pressure can seriously damage patios of any kind, and is unnecessary as low water pressure will generally clean the patio anyway. Niki O'Brien, operations manager at Custom Exteriors LLC, explains what's worked best for them:
'When we clean patios or porches, whether wood, synthetic, or even concrete, we start with the lowest pressure water and no cleaning materials. While many cleaning products are safe for deck cleaning, we find that the best solution is to start with low-pressure water, and we're able to get most areas clean just by using this method.'
Once you know what to avoid, it doesn't take too long to get the patio looking clean. While you're at it, getting stuck into some spring patio prep will leave it looking ready for these warmer days.
