How to clean leaf stains

Brown (tannic acid) stains from leaves on your patio

At first glance, leaves on your paving stones look quite harmless. Unfortunately, those stray leaves or even those carefully raked piles of leaves can cause a lot of annoyance. After lying on your paving for a while, they can leave irregular brown patches. Annoyingly, these stains are difficult to remove. Asking around often yields answers such as, “It's tannic acid”, but what is that? And more importantly, how do you get rid of these stubborn discolorations?

How can you prevent stains (tannic acid) from leaves on your tiles?

You can think one step ahead by taking the choice of your plants into account. For example, it is well known that oak leaves contain extremely high levels of tannic acid. You can therefore adapt the situation accordingly. If this situation has already been determined for you, or if you do not consider it important enough to cut down or replant, there is another way. In the case of concrete paving, opt for Protection Plus protection for your tiles. It is still important to sweep the tiles clean from time to time, but the stains will disappear much more easily and quickly thanks to this protective layer. This makes the adhesion of stains less deep and therefore easier to clean. Ceramic is also a good choice. Thanks to the extra “compacted” surface of ceramic, it is also relatively easy to clean stains.

What you should not do

Experimenting with various aggressive household remedies is probably a bad idea. Not only is this harmful to you and your environment, but also to the tiles you are trying to clean. We also strongly advise against using a high-pressure cleaner to tackle the stains. This is virtually ineffective and also causes a lot of damage to your tiles.