Clean a Patio

Spring and summer are excellent seasons to sit in the garden, enjoying the good weather, and to relax with family and friends. Cleaning the patio beforehand is important, but generally the job can be huge, depending on how large or dirty the patio is. This article offers tips to make cleaning a lot easier and faster.

Steps

Preparation

1. Declutter your patio. Remove any items that doesn't belong there or broken.
2. Sweep or rinse the entire patio so that all dirt, debris and leaves are removed.
3. Remove weeds. Weeds do not look attractive on a patio, remove the biggest weeds and use a simple kitchen knife to easily remove the leftover or smallest weeds between the patio tiles. You can spray weed killers or pour salt between the patio tiles to kill them for good.

Concrete patio

1. Make a solution of one cup bleach and pour into a bucket water. When the patio is really dirty use undiluted bleach. If the patio is regularly cleaned use brown soap.
2. Scrub the entire patio vigorously with a stiff brush. While using chlorine bleach be careful when you are scrubbing near grass or plants, the bleach can kill them. If you are using undiluted bleach pour it on the patio and let it rest for a couple of minutes or hours (depending on how dirty the patio is) and come back and start scrubbing. If you use brown soap, just pour some soap over the patio add water and start scrubbing.
3. Rinse the patio carefully or if you used undiluted bleach let it rest for a night and rinse the next morning.

Stone patio

1. Make a mixture of one cup of brown soap or soda crystals in a bucket of water and pour it over the stone patio. Before you use any soap or detergent make sure that it's appropriate for the patio tiles, some tiles need a special cleaner.
2. Scrub the patio vigorously with a stiff brush.
3. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. When preferred you can also spray white vinegar between the cracks of the tiles to remove and kill the weeds.
4. Rinse the patio carefully. Be careful that the soapy water does end up on your lawn or flower beds as this can kill them!

Tips

• Wear gloves when handling bleach.
• If your patio is really dirty you can use a pressure washer to clean it.
• A water hose can be handy when cleaning your patio, you don't have to carry buckets of water and it goes a lot faster.

Warnings

• Wear old clothes while handling bleach,your clothes will get stained and possibly ruined.
• Be careful while handling bleach. Keep children and pets out of reach while you are cleaning.
• Never mix cleaning products together
• Bleach is dangerous and is poisonous. Take care when using bleach, although cats and dogs sniff before licking.

Things You'll Need

• Hard bristled brush
• Bucket
• (Rain) water
• Oxygen or Chlorine bleach
• Brown (lye) soap
• Gloves
• Old clothes

Related Articles

• Repair a Sinking Stone Patio
• Clean Patio Furniture
• Create a Patio Garden

See also

• Clean Deck Wood
• Screen a Porch
• Build a Porch Swing
• Seal and Stain Pressure Treated Wood Decking
• Build a Deck Around an Above Ground Pool
• Create a Patio
• Seal a Deck
• Build Porch Steps
• Install Deck Piers
• Remove Paint from a Concrete Porch

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