Patio Cleaning - Chemicals ?

It will soon be time to get the jet wash out and clean the patio ( joy of joys - not may favourite job ) Now I have tried several patio cleaning chemicals , applied in the jet wash foamer or by bucket and yard brush. All seem expensive and do not have much chemical action to loosen the grime before jetting . I find buckets of hot water with washing up liquid in agitated with a yard brush , just as good. Now chemistry is not on off my strong points , but if I mixed hot water , detergent and household bleach together ? Would this be safe ? Have a good cleaning action ?
The volumes/mix I was thinking off would be moderate - bucket of hot water , good squirt of detergent and 1/3 of a bottle of thick bleach.............

TIA

 

Last year my patio was dreadful, covered in algae and looked horrid, I bought 6 large bottles of Asda thin bleach and I didn't need anything else. Poured on the bleach, left for about half hour then just hosed it and swept it off. Dogs were back out there within the hour and it looked amazing!!!

Val

 

I just use a presure washer, i did buy a new one this year as the old one didn't want to work and cault fire the new one came with a dirt buster which is a pencil jet which goes round and around which is good for cleaning but it will take out the grout

 

Pressure washers are too noisy for me, if I used one I would have to shut the dogs in so I may as well just use the bleach!!

Val

 

I always use Stardrops, old fashioned product available at supermarkets and poundshops for about a quid a bottle. Mix a small amount with a bucket of warm water. Slosh over surfaces and scrub a bit with a stiff broom to foam it up (dribble a bit of stardrops straight from the bottle onto the wetted surface if badly grimed up) and scrub in, leave for half an hour. Bit of a scrub then slosh the area with a bucket or two of warm water.

Doesnt harm grass.
Works well on algae, other grime and leaves the flags nice. No harmful effects I've noticed and cheap as chips. Smells nice too.

 

If you have some hard to remove crud from the patio like rust marks from metal garden furniture, then Sodium Hydroxide (caustic soda) slightly diluted in water works a treat.

Pour some on the patio, leave for a few minutes and wash away thoroughly.
Repeat if required and use a plastic brush (no metal) for really tough marks.

Few words of caution:
This stuff is not only highly corrosive to metals but also harmful to people and animals if the fumes are inhaled or if you come into contact with it so keep everyone away and use a mask and rubber gloves when using it.

On the plus side, it works like nothing else especially on perimeter walls and tiled patios.
Just make sure you test first on a small inconspicuous area first and only use on glazed tiles.

 

Thin cheap bleach 2 cups about, good squirt of washing up liquid, 2 gallons hot water, stiff brush scrub well, leave for a cup of tea, scrub again rinse, did a lovely job on mine.

 

Good old fairy liquid and a hard broom does the job for me

 

Thanks all
I don't think I'll risk the caustic soda Dave, I have a dog and some of the run off will go into my borders . So bleach and fairy liquid it is + hot water + yard brush + jet wash . The chemist at work thinks the mix will be safe - he wasn't definate though .................

 

The nice thing about caustic soda is that less scrubbing is required (and in some cases none at all, simply rinse off with a hose) but if one can't control the run off and it could potentially harm people or animals then I completely agree with you HarryS, give it a miss and simply use more "muscle power" instead.

I'm not familiar with fairy liquid and assume you are referring to the washing up liquid.
If so, then I can't see a problem when mixed with bleach but keep in mind that adding hot water might accelerate any reaction.
To be absolutely certain, I would mix a small amount of bleach and the fairy liquid and add the hot water last and see if anything happens, wait ten or so minutes.
If nothing happens, then mix up the required amount.
Keep the mix percentages roughly the same as with the test run.

 

@shiney

To make things easier on your back, why not make up a Heath Robinson contraption like shown below which will allow you to scrub and jet wash without the need to go down on your hand and knees.

 

Good idea dave , its hard work when I try to jet and brush at the same time !
Fairy liquid is washing up detergent . We love a little fairy in the UK