To clean smaller surfaces areas, pH-neutral soap, a little water, and a brush are suitable. If you want to clean larger areas of natural stone efficiently, you can reach for the electric patio cleaner or work with the pressure washer and a surface cleaner.
Sodium Hypochlorite Patio Cleaners are used for more stubborn stains as you need the EXTRA strength solution, which is 50% stronger than the heavy duty solution and may be diluted with up to 6 parts water and 1 part Sodium Hypochlorite 15%.
To create a powerful mold-killing mixture, you can add one cup of bleach to a gallon of water. However, you should exercise meticulous care and caution since bleach can discolor your brick pavers and thus ruin your precious hardscape.
As a gentler cleaner, bleach can't harm concrete's durable material. Aside from being an effective cleaner and stain remover, it also acts as a disinfectant to the concrete surface.
In fact, vinegar removes mold from concrete better than bleach. Bleach will only remove the top layer of mold, causing the mold to return.
Use Bleach
Of course, you should dilute it with equal parts of water or a 1:1 ratio. With the mixture ready, spray it on the driveway, allowing it to sit for 10 minutes. Then, use a stiff brush before rinsing with clean water.
While researching how to remove patio black spots you may have come across “Sodium Hypochlorite” which is a very strong bleach and while it may remove black spots, it will also damage the surface of anything it comes into contact with.
Cleaning patio slabs with bleach
It is important for us to mention that it may be more environmentally friendly to use detergents than bleach. The bleach will get into the cracks and dramatically improve the look of your patio by killing things like weeds, moss, and algae.
Use a mild grease-cutting detergent such as Dawn or Ajax dishwashing liquid mixed with water and a natural or synthetic bristle scrub brush to help brighten the patio surface. NOTE: Never use a wire brush as it can leave rust stains and scratch the concrete surface.
Mix Solution of dish soap and water, and use a brush to scrub the pavers clean. Make sure to rinse the pavers thoroughly afterward. This process may need to be repeated for tough stains. A recommendation is to do this every few months.
Make this simple homemade patio cleaner to get your concrete or pavers looking brand new. Make a paste with two parts of baking soda to one part of vinegar. Spread the paste on the patio surface and scrub with a brush (we like a long-handled one so you don't have to bend over).
Bleach. Does a large area of your concrete need a good cleaning? Fill a bucket with warm water and about ¾ a cup of liquid bleach and start mopping. Let the bleach solution sit for a few minutes before using a bucket with clean water to mop up the bleach solution.
Bleach gets into all the dirty cracks and helps to improve the appearance of your patio slabs dramatically. It can help you get rid of moss, algae and weeds.
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.
The use of a high temperature, low pressure steam cleaner (such as Doff) will kill the black spot but unfortunately will not always remove the more stubborn black marks on the stone.
This is a common problem. It could either be mildew, or a reaction from tannin in the wood. Given that you have black residue on rocks, it may be mildew.
Bleach: This alkaline solution may be effective for other household uses, but it can discolor concrete pavers that have been colored or stained.
When bleach is left to air dry on floors and is not rinsed away, it can leave behind bleach crystals after the bleach evaporates. Sodium hypochlorite will break down into salt and water when left to do so. Since undiluted bleach is mostly water to begin with, once the floor dries, salt crystals will be left behind.
Apply the bleach solution
Allow the bleach solution to contact the surface for up to 15 minutes. Work in smaller sections if the patio is too large to finish in that time.
Bleach is commonly used to whiten concrete and is very effective at doing so if the initial stain is removed beforehand. Bleaching stained concrete white prepares it for any additional coloring treatments that you may wish to apply in the future.