Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive heard a week
mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look " The paving is
only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of time.
Thanks Mike .

Mike wrote:
:: Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive heard
:: a week mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look "
:: The paving is only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
:: I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
:: time. Thanks Mike .

You don't need any specailist stuff and if you do it correctly, you don't
need to scrub neither!
Buy a tub of caustic soda and mix it according to the label, water it evenly
over the paving, preferably when it's damp, to allow it to work before
evaporating/drying up.
Leave it for 45 minutes.
Go over it again with a few watering cans of clean water and give it a good
brushing with a stiff yard brush, this will partially rinse it and remove
all the dead algy (which incidentally stinks to high heavens when it's
killed)....any alkali will kill algy and it doesn't need to be particularly
strong - I found this out by accident when using sand/cement which is a
fairly weak alkali, brushing up and washing down at the end of the day
resulted in clean patches on the green paving stones where the mix had been.

When you've give it all a good brushing over, rinse it down thoroughly with
the hosepipe, you may need someone to help you here, to brush the water into
the drain.

*** CAUTION***
Caustic soda will take your skin right off and is an irritant even in it's
weakest solution.
It will bring cold water to the boil when mixed and may give off a sharp
smell.
If you have any pets or kids they will need to be kept away, and preferably
locked up:-p
you will need old clothing when using it as it acts like acid.
I don't know the toxicity of it WRT plant life but can't imagine that it
will do them any good.
Only use this method if you are confident that little or none will end up on
the soil - it's ok for patio's with drains to wash it into.


HTH

*** CAUTION***
Caustic soda will take your skin right off and is an irritant even in it's
weakest solution.
It will bring cold water to the boil when mixed and may give off a sharp
smell.
If you have any pets or kids they will need to be kept away, and
preferably
locked up:-p
you will need old clothing when using it as it acts like acid.
I don't know the toxicity of it WRT plant life but can't imagine that it
will do them any good.
Only use this method if you are confident that little or none will end up
on
the soil - it's ok for patio's with drains to wash it into.


HTH



VERY glad I have a power washer :-))

Soooooooooooo much safer :-)))))))))

mike

Phil L wrote:
Mike wrote:
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive
heard
a week mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look "
The paving is only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time. Thanks Mike .

You don't need any specailist stuff and if you do it correctly, you
don't need to scrub neither!
Buy a tub of caustic soda and mix it according to the label,

[...sensible advice about the serious hazards of caustic soda
snipped..]

If you don't fancy bleach, maybe household ammonia or washing soda
would do. But I haven't tried it.

Why anybody would want an "as new look" in the garden is a separate
question. Unless the slabs were covered with green algae, I'd want
them to look as old as possible as soon as possible!

Mike.

"Phil L" wrote in message
.uk...
Mike wrote:
:: Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive
heard
:: a week mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look "
:: The paving is only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
:: I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
:: time. Thanks Mike .

You don't need any specailist stuff and if you do it correctly, you
don't
need to scrub neither!
Buy a tub of caustic soda and mix it according to the label, water
it evenly
over the paving, preferably when it's damp, to allow it to work
before
evaporating/drying up.
Leave it for 45 minutes.
Go over it again with a few watering cans of clean water and give it
a good
brushing with a stiff yard brush, this will partially rinse it and
remove
all the dead algy (which incidentally stinks to high heavens when
it's
killed)....any alkali will kill algy

I have seen algae grow on limestone

and it doesn't need to be particularly
strong - I found this out by accident when using sand/cement which
is a
fairly weak alkali, brushing up and washing down at the end of the
day
resulted in clean patches on the green paving stones where the mix
had been.

When you've give it all a good brushing over, rinse it down
thoroughly with
the hosepipe, you may need someone to help you here, to brush the
water into
the drain.

*** CAUTION***
Caustic soda will take your skin right off and is an irritant even
in it's
weakest solution.
It will bring cold water to the boil when mixed and may give off a
sharp
smell.
If you have any pets or kids they will need to be kept away, and
preferably
locked up:-p
you will need old clothing when using it as it acts like acid.
I don't know the toxicity of it WRT plant life but can't imagine
that it
will do them any good.
Only use this method if you are confident that little or none will
end up on
the soil - it's ok for patio's with drains to wash it into.

If, as you say, algae hate alkaline conditions, it should not be
necessary to go to such drastic measures as using caustic soda.
Scrubbing with a washing soda solution, or putting down a thick
dusting of garden lime and leaving it in situ for the rain to disperse
in due course ought to do the trick.

Franz

Franz Heymann wrote:
:: "Phil L" wrote in message
:: .uk...
::: Mike wrote:
::::: Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive
::::: heard a week mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as
::::: new look " The paving is only 3 years old ,hopefully I can
::::: catch it early . I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power
::::: washers are a waste of time. Thanks Mike .
:::
::: You don't need any specailist stuff and if you do it correctly,
::: you don't need to scrub neither!
::: Buy a tub of caustic soda and mix it according to the label,
::: water it evenly over the paving, preferably when it's damp, to
::: allow it to work before evaporating/drying up.
::: Leave it for 45 minutes.
::: Go over it again with a few watering cans of clean water and give
::: it a good brushing with a stiff yard brush, this will partially
::: rinse it and remove all the dead algy (which incidentally stinks
::: to high heavens when it's killed)....any alkali will kill algy
::
:: I have seen algae grow on limestone

Me too, and on concrete which are both alkaline based, nevertheless, wet
sand/cement seems to remove it, provided of course that it is brushed and
washed away.
::
::: and it doesn't need to be particularly
::: strong - I found this out by accident when using sand/cement
::: which is a fairly weak alkali, brushing up and washing down at
::: the end of the day resulted in clean patches on the green paving
::: stones where the mix had been.
:::
::: When you've give it all a good brushing over, rinse it down
::: thoroughly with the hosepipe, you may need someone to help you
::: here, to brush the water into the drain.
:::
::: *** CAUTION***
::: Caustic soda will take your skin right off and is an irritant
::: even in it's weakest solution.
::: It will bring cold water to the boil when mixed and may give off
::: a sharp smell.
::: If you have any pets or kids they will need to be kept away, and
::: preferably locked up:-p
::: you will need old clothing when using it as it acts like acid.
::: I don't know the toxicity of it WRT plant life but can't imagine
::: that it will do them any good.
::: Only use this method if you are confident that little or none
::: will end up on the soil - it's ok for patio's with drains to wash
::: it into.
::
:: If, as you say, algae hate alkaline conditions, it should not be
:: necessary to go to such drastic measures as using caustic soda.
:: Scrubbing with a washing soda solution, or putting down a thick
:: dusting of garden lime and leaving it in situ for the rain to
:: disperse in due course ought to do the trick.
::
:: Franz

Probably would if my suspicions are correct....it would be worth trying a
few patches of various strength solutions of washing soda and / or bleach
and if they don't work, then weak caustic soda mixture, it all depends on
what size area needs cleaning, if it's only a few square metres then a
weaker solution and more hard graft would suffice, if it's a large area I'd
be tempted to use something quite strong and do less scrubbing.

In article ,
Phil L wrote:

Me too, and on concrete which are both alkaline based, nevertheless, wet
sand/cement seems to remove it, provided of course that it is brushed and
washed away.

Alkalinity is not on or off. Calcium carbonate IS alkaline, but
is a very weak alkali; calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate
are MUCH stronger alkalis.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Phil L wrote:

Me too, and on concrete which are both alkaline based, nevertheless, wet
sand/cement seems to remove it, provided of course that it is brushed and
washed away.

Alkalinity is not on or off. Calcium carbonate IS alkaline, but
is a very weak alkali; calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate
are MUCH stronger alkalis.



Concrete is mildly alkaline, but the pH at the surface is lowered by
exposure to acidic precipitation (the process is, confusingly, called
'carbonisation', but isn't the same sort of 'carbonisation' used in the
production of coke or steel). That's why steel reinforcement in, for
example, line posts, starts to rust and expand, spalling off the concrete -
it happens when the 'carbonisation' penetrates down to the metal. If the
nominally alkaline surfaces on which algae have been observed have been
significantly neutralised by acidic pollution, perhaps the Spp concerned
don't have to be as lime tolerant as might be expected, after all?

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
Phil L wrote:
Mike wrote:
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive
heard
a week mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look "
The paving is only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time. Thanks Mike .

You don't need any specailist stuff and if you do it correctly, you
don't need to scrub neither!
Buy a tub of caustic soda and mix it according to the label,

[...sensible advice about the serious hazards of caustic soda
snipped..]

If you don't fancy bleach, maybe household ammonia or washing soda
would do. But I haven't tried it.

Why anybody would want an "as new look" in the garden is a separate
question. Unless the slabs were covered with green algae, I'd want
them to look as old as possible as soon as possible!

Mike.

I can report that washing soda is as effective as bleach and a lot safer
around plants :~) I now use it for most of the jobs I previously used bleach
for in the tunnels and greenhouses plus the slabed areas when they get
slippery.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Thanks all for advice redilly accepted.
Actually the thing about sand cement jogged my memory ,I,m a fencing
contractor ,and years ago I spilt a small mix on a customers manky looking
driveway, she promptly bollocked me and asked me to do something about the
patch of what appeared to me to be a pristinge piece of concrete .
I promptly gave the whole drive the treatment,and guess what ,it looked like
new.
P S I got no thanks for it !!!

Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive heard a
week
mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look " The
paving is
only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time.

On the contrary, mine cleans all the outside stones and concrete a
treat.

Franz

In message , Franz Heymann
writes

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive heard a
week
mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look " The
paving is
only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time.

On the contrary, mine cleans all the outside stones and concrete a
treat.

I have a Kaarcher (sp?), which works a treat although I admit to being a
bit scared of it. Probably because I am a wimp!
--
June Hughes

As does mine.

And in answer to someone else's question, I have a JCB with a variable
pressure adjustment on a lever which on high pressure shifts concrete and
blows the muck out from between paving slabs.

Mike

--
H.M.S.Collingwood Ass. Llandudno 20 - 23 May Trip to Portmeirion
National Service (RAF) Ass. Cosford 24 - 27 June Lanc Bomber Fly Past
H.M.S.Impregnable Ass. Sussex 1 - 3 July Visit to Int. Fest of the Sea
British Pacific Fleet. Derby 2 - 5 Sept. Visit to Denby Pottery
"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive heard a
week
mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look " The
paving is
only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time.

On the contrary, mine cleans all the outside stones and concrete a
treat.

Franz

In message , June Hughes
writes
I have a Kaarcher (sp?), which works a treat although I admit to being
a bit scared of it. Probably because I am a wimp!

We have one too, and I'm with you all the way (works a treat ... scared
.... wimp)

One word of warning: it's essential to get every drop of water out
(though how, we haven't figured out yet). We didn't use ours for a few
months, and something inside perished and it sprang a massive leak. (It
had definitely not frozen - they told us it was just letting it stand
too long.) It cost £80 to get it fixed, but as it's a good one, we
thought it was worth it (

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 09:19:47 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"Mike" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a cheap method to clean up my paving ,ive
heard a
week
mix of Bleach and water bring back the the " as new look " The
paving is
only 3 years old ,hopefully I can catch it early .
I dont mind scrubbing ,but domestic power washers are a waste of
time.

On the contrary, mine cleans all the outside stones and concrete a
treat.

Which make/model have you got, Francesca?

Karcher 411A

Francoise