Cleaning your patio

Cleaning products

On this page, we discuss the use of various cleaning products and what you should and should not use.

• Green soap
• Steam cleaner
• High-pressure cleaner
• Soda
• Biotex

Unfortunately, everything outside turns green, regardless of the material. Just look at your rubbish bin, woodwork or glassware. The conditions that cause algae are moisture and cold. You probably also know that the rubbish bin is easier to clean than other coarser surface structures. The same applies to your patio. The type of surface determines how easy it is to clean your patio.

A patio that is always wet and damp will suffer from a lot of green deposits. A patio where a lot of sunlight falls on the paving can dry more quickly and the deposits will disappear quickly. The choice you make when constructing your patio starts with this question. Is my patio in the sun or always in the shade? Patio tiles have different types of top layers, which vary in terms of ease of maintenance. Some tiles are easier to clean than others. Your decorative paving specialist can give you the right advice on this.

Which cleaning product works best against algae and moss?

You can find good cleaning products at your paving specialist; it is best not to experiment with household remedies. Also, choose an organic product so as not to damage the other plants in your garden and our environment. Most organic products must be applied to dry surfaces and contain natural enzymes/substances that do the job (dry weather is a requirement). After a short time, most of the green deposits will have disappeared and you can remove the rest with clean water. These products are also available from your paving specialist, including our choice Lithofin, for specific, stubborn stains.

Can I clean with vinegar, soda or Biotex?

Cleaning vinegar

It is true that weeds do not like cleaning vinegar, and algae do not like it very much either. So it seems like an ideal household remedy for quickly cleaning the patio. However, vinegar is just as aggressive as a chemical agent and, in large quantities, is also not good for the rest of the garden (this applies to both normal cleaning vinegar and natural vinegar). Read more in our special blog about vinegar.

Soda

Soda is a chemical cleaning agent. Chemical agents and nature do not go together. In addition, soda is not very effective on green deposits. As far as we are concerned, don't use it.

Biotex

Biotex is often mentioned as a home remedy. The advantage of Biotex is that it is said to be less harmful to the environment (we do not have any data on this). However, it is much less effective and, for good results, it needs to be left to work for a whole day (apply diluted). Incidentally, we have never tested Biotex and it is unknown whether frequent use can damage the top layer of a concrete tile.

Lichens

A more stubborn form of contamination is lichens. These consist of combinations of algae and fungi. They come in various shapes and colours. Sometimes they look like crusts, but in other cases they are leaf-, shrub- or cup-shaped. The best way to combat them is to use steam to raise the temperature of the lichen to 70 degrees Celsius. Do this in dry weather and when the outside temperature is at least 15 degrees. This will kill the roots.

Primordial stains (rust)

Primordial stains in tiles are caused by pieces of primordial matter that bloom when exposed to oxygen and rain for a long period of time. Concrete consists largely of natural products. Sand and gravel are extracted from sand and gravel pits. Because there is sometimes more in the ground, the sand and gravel may contain iron. These iron particles are not visible to the naked eye.

The particles are not visible during the production, packaging or processing of concrete products. Despite strict quality standards and controls, it is possible for these particles to be present in the raw materials in the concrete mixtures and thus in the end product.

If these particles end up in a tile and are exposed to oxygen and rain for a long period of time, the iron can oxidise. This causes a brown stain. This stain does not affect the quality of the products, but can be aesthetically unpleasant. Unfortunately, this type of contamination is inherent in the raw materials used in concrete products.

Always remove leaves as quickly as possible!

Regular maintenance is the key to a beautiful patio. By regularly sweeping leaves from your patio, you prevent the acids from the leaves from seeping into your tiles.

Cleaning

Existing stains will slowly disappear due to various weather influences. Sunlight often has a positive effect on stains. If you want to clean your patio quickly and thoroughly, you can use Lithofin Active Cleaner. This product removes stains from plants, leaves, mould and moisture.