Cleaning patio stones

110frankie

I use a pressure washer as well, and I wear a face mask after a friend went through four years of pain and illness after breathing in the spray, which is a fine mist of water and algae mixed.

It's Guille Barre Syndrome (sp?) and very unpleasant.
Face masks are available in pound shops

WestonDave

Before those with outside taps dismiss the pressure washers, it might be worth trying a borrowed one with a bucket (or even filling an empty dustbin and using that) - a washer is only really a high powered pump feeding water to a very small nozzle. They actually use very little water as I've learned when running it on to empty the hose after use. You can get a good few minutes running out of a 20ft hose! As we're now on a water meter I'm planning to try to run ours off a water butt (need to get one and fill it first!).

One word of warning tho - repeated washing (even with a hard brush) can take off the smooth surface that forms when concrete slabs set in the mould, which makes them more prone to algae growth (more for it to grip to) and therefore mean that you have to keep doing it. Some slabs are also made with a fine colour cement powder on the top and just basic concrete underneath - if you wash off the colour you might end up with something horrible!

Penny_Watcher

MadCowMan wrote:

I think you might need to adjust the spray pattern on that a touch

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Think Mr Watcher's attitude to cleaning needs some readjustment too

Zziggi

I spent xmas day blasting our paving slabs with a power washer to get rid of all the algae. They look a treat now. My advice is the same as earlier posters - beg or steal a power washer from a friendly neighbour or relative. It can be time consuming to do the whole of each paving slab (not like the pic above!) but it looks good when it is done. My modest garden took me about 6 hours in total but i did a thorough job. I tend to do ours once a year (funnily enough usually on the 25th of dec!) but i could do it once every couple of year and it'd be fine. My power washer is a yellow kaercher one and does the rounds of relative and friends.

loopyloulou_3

i cleaned my entire patio and decking which had the same problem with algae on it, with good old stardrops! i did use an entire bottle tho, but at 50 odd pence a bottle i thought i could stretch to that!! LOL

i squirted it on and then put some boiling water on with it and scrubbed with a stiff broom (and scrubbed on my hands and knees) left it for a bit and then rinsed it and it came up a treat! next job is to do the same to my garden bench ready for restaining..... although havent quite got round to that one yet!!

prophecy_grrl

Thanks everyone for all this useful advice - I spent two hours in the pouring rain yesterday scrubbing my patio and path with boiling water and washing up liquid - it looks great now, so am very pleased.

I have decided that I should invest in an outside tap though, as my father-in-law has a pressure washer we could borrow, and judging from what you guys have said once a year should suffice if cleaning with a pressure washer. Working full time andbeing addicted to Nintendo Wii mean I like to limit the time I spend on housework!!!

Finally - Penny Watcher, I will heed your advice and keep DH away from pressure washer when we get the outside tap - Although don't you just love duplication of effort (he does the job, you do it properly an hour later)!!!

full-time-mum

The path around the back of the garage leading to the greenhouse is very slippery.

We can borrow a pressure washer but not for a week or two. Can anyone suggest a temporary way to stop it being so slippery without having to resort to chemicals.

Thanks

The_Plush_Doormat

A stiff garden broom, a hose, and plenty of elbow grease.

annie123

I would put some cheap sand on it, works for oil spills.

wildbri

diluted bleach is a very easy and cheap why of cleaning patios along with a stiff brush
to brush it in and the muck off. I know you wanted a chemical free solution, but the only way is hard work a stiff brush and water.. bri:p