Start with a high-pressure spray and see what will come clean with water. Then, move to a household cleaner. A dish soap, like Dawn, is a safe place to start. The surfactants in dish soaps are designed to remove oil and grease, they're gentle enough to be used without issue on your pavers.
Try Concrete Stain
The simplest path to reviving tired pavers is to apply an acrylic-based semitransparent concrete stain, such as Behr Premium Semi-transparent Concrete Stain ($27/gal.; Home Depot) or Valspar Semi-transparent Concrete Stain ($28/gal.; Lowe's).
Efflorescence occurs when water-soluble salts within concrete migrate to the surface and react with carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate. This substance remains visible on the surface of the hardscape products like pavers, slabs and walls in the form of a white haze.
Usually, hosing them down once a month is sufficient. Use soap and water, if the pavers are still dirty after sweeping and water hosing, make a solution of soap and water. You can use dish soap, laundry detergent, or any type of general-purpose cleaner. Never use bleach on your pavers, as it can damage the surface.
A dish soap, like Dawn, is a safe place to start. The surfactants in dish soaps are designed to remove oil and grease, they're gentle enough to be used without issue on your pavers. In a bowl or bucket, mix the soap with water and pour it onto the stain and agitate. Rinse and repeat if needed.
OxiClean is a powerful concrete cleaner that works well on various materials, including pavement and grout. This concentrated solution provides excellent cleaning without leaving residue.
White vinegar is good for cleaning pavers, though it's also acidic enough to erode the stones' surface. Diluted vinegar can be used safely to clean paving stones, though it should be used sparingly and infrequently to protect your paving from damage.
Cleaning your pavers with bleach has a lot of benefits: Disinfecting the Surface: Bleach is an effective disinfectant and can kill any bacteria or mold on the surface. This will help to prevent any health hazards from occurring. Removing Tough Stains: Bleach is also effective in removing tough stains from the surface.
For human-made colored concrete paving slabs or concrete pavers, we don't recommend the use of bleach for cleaning. That's because the substance could fade your paver colors if regularly cleaned with bleach over a long period. However, if you don't mind this, then there will be no problems.
This residential application had pavers that had faded badly over the years. In this case, it was too late for any type of clear sealer to try to revive the pavers. The options would be to stain the pavers from products available at the big box stores OR utilize National Sealing's revolutionary dyeing process.
Over time, the continuous high-pressure blast of water will erode the layer of color on the pavers and expose the stone and aggregate contained in them. Oftentimes, the stone and the aggregate do not retain the color of the pigments used and will appear dull.
Yes, you can pressure wash your pavers. But while using a pressure washer at a basic level is simple, ignorant and inexperienced users can easily damage their pavers by using a stream that's too powerful, by holding the wand too close to the pavers, or by falling into any number of other rookie mistakes.
Dry brushing with or without application of clean sharp sand. OR High pressure water jetting with or without detergent. OR Apply fungicides. Use ordinary bleach or calcium chloride followed by sodium hypochlorite dissolved in water (1kg in 5 litres) then scrub with stiff brush.
Simple Green is one of the best cleaning products for dirty pavers. It doesn't have any harmful chemicals that could possibly warp your precious driveway. Less chemicals mean there's a less likely chance your paver stones will change to a weird-looking color.
Use a specialist cleaner
Try a specialist cleaner like Wet & Forget, at Walmart, which you spray onto the surface of the paving and leave. It can also be used on steps, fountains, patio umbrellas and other smaller outdoor areas. It's bleach-free and non-acidic but will remove mold, moss and grime without any scrubbing.
On the other hand, baking soda is useful because it is slightly abrasive, which is excellent for the rough surfaces of paving slabs. When it is mixed with water, it can dissolve dirt and grease, and like vinegar, you'll only need a brush or broom when cleaning.
Although bleach is great at the whitening effect, you can use peroxide to achieve this. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxygenated bleach. It is safe for plants, so when you rinse this solution, it won't harm anything. It works together with the dish soap and baking soda to remove dirt and whiten dirty concrete.
But without maintenance, brick starts to look worn and dirty, and can even become loose or uneven. Frequent sweeping is one of the best ways to keep brick pavers looking good. But pavers can get soiled with muddy shoes, windblown dirt, food spills, and standing water—and these require a bit more elbow grease.