Removing bird poo from paving stones

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82101270#Comment_82101270

No its def bird poo

bjorn_toby_wilde

I know you’re adamant that it’s bird poo but it doesn’t look like it and if it doesn’t scrub off with a bit of hot water and some detergent then it definitely isn’t.

If you google “white lichen on paving” then click across to images you’ll see dozens of photos of paving that look just like yours.

I found the best results from using a biocide. There are a few on the market but patio magic is the one I’ve used. I sprayed some on last year to deal with the green slimy algae that make the slabs slippy in winter but it’s been really effective on the lichen as well, which has completely disappeared. It’s even killed the black spots that were on some of my sandstone for 15 years plus.

It’s not an instant product. It takes time to work but take some before and after pics and you’ll see what I mean.

Swipe

Probably lichen with additional bird poo on top

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82101991#Comment_82101991

Done that and whilst a similar colour - they are more "frilly" around the edges ours are more "blobby" and being added too - there are fresh blobs daily - at different stages of drying - some are still wet, some damp and some completely dry ! Even "Wet and Forget" Patio cleaner doesn't touch it - which if it were lichen would remove it !

Rusty190

I had some very stubborn black blobs on my paving slabs that wouldn't budge no matter what I tried.

The chap who mows my grass brought some "Jennychem 14 - 15% Sodium Hypochlorite solution - Pool and Patio cleaner". He said he'd already diluted what was left in the tub, 1:10.

He splashed it on the affected areas, scrubbed at it with a stiff brush to spread it about, left it for about 10 min then rinsed off with cold water.

I was very impressed with the result - and I'm not easily impressed!

Mine was pigeon poo.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82109616#Comment_82109616

Thanks for confirming that bird poo can be extraordinarily hard to remove….

outtatune

Except of course that stubborn black blobs on paving stones are not bird poo, they are lichen. The imaginatively named 'black spot' lichen.

Slinky

If it was bird poo, how come none of them have hit the grout?

bjorn_toby_wilde

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110272#Comment_82110272

Although it’s not the stubbornness of the stain that makes me think it isn’t bird poo. It’s the sheer quantity of stains.

To have that many would surely require a nightly starling murmuration directly over the patio.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82112749#Comment_82112749

That's effectively what we have gulls, pigeons and starlings in their hundreds !