6 Surprising Tips To Clean Concrete

6 Surprising Tips To Clean Concrete

Summer in New Zealand means BBQs, swimming, and outdoor activities. And, with the kids not in school than the kids will be spending most of their days outside playing, running, and having a good time. Whether it is a BBQ, swimming, sidewalk chalk drawing, or some other activity, a surprising number of summer activities revolve around concreted areas. Here are 6 somewhat surprising household items you can use to keep your cement clean and safe for you, your kids, and any guests you may have for those fun summertime activities.

• Ammonia: effective at cleaning discoloration from your concrete. Mix 1 cup of ammonia with 3 liters of water and scrub the discolored concrete. Hose the cement down when you’re done.
• Diet Coke: Surprised? Well, don’t be Diet coke is actually really great at removing rust stains from cement. Use coke zero with hot water and scrub the rust stained concrete areas.
• Oven-Cleaner: Spray those spots of oil, grease, and transmission fluid with oven cleaner and let stand for 10 minutes. Scrub with a stiff brush and then hose of. For extra tough stains try multiple applications on your concrete.
• Pepsi: Oils stains can be vanquished from cement with some cola. Here’s what you’ll need. Cat litter, cola, stiff bristled broom, a bucket, laundry detergent, bleach, and protection for your hands and eyes.
• WD-40: Great for removing oil stains from concrete. Simply spray the area with the stuff and hose it down with water.
• Baking Soda: Okay so this article is mostly about cleaning your concrete this Summer to keep your cement patios, driveways, walkways, and poolside areas clean and safe. However, to keep your concrete truly safe, it starts long before the Summer. In the cold New Zealand South Island winters, try using baking soda to melt ice on your concrete and cement walkways, patios, and driveways. It is less abrasive and harmful to your concrete.
• Troy Hillard
• Wash Rite House Washing
• www.washrite.co.nz
• 
  

Benefits of Pressure Washing Your Driveway

House washing services are beneficial for more than just keeping the exterior of your home clean. They’re also a great way to keep your driveway free of rust, oil and grime, which can accumulate from cars and traffic.

Not sure driveway pressure washing is right for you? Here’s why you should:

Why Pressure Wash Your Driveway?

Pressure washing your driveway is the easiest and quickest way to remove the stains. It’s also one of the easiest ways to add both curb appeal and value to your home. According to the Real estate institute of new Zealand, professional washing (for the home and driveway) can add anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 to the value of your home, making pressure washing one of the most cost-effective and time-efficient cleaning techniques for your driveway.

How it works

Driveway pressure washing is no ordinary pressure washing service. It uses a combination of eco-friendly cleaners, low-pressure washing techniques and experience to effectively rid concrete surfaces of tough stains.

Surfaces are first pre-treated with a concrete brightener, and then a concrete surface cleaner to break up the surface stains and give the driveway a stripe/streak free appearance. After rinsing the uplifted debris, a special eco-friendly cleaner is used to work out the tough stains, like oil and rust.

There are other services, such as a concrete sealing service, that can be applied after the eco-friendly specialty cleaner to protect your driveway from stubborn stains and make the surface look clean much longer.

If you require any information Wash Rite New Zealand offer free information sessions, please contact them on 0800101216

TIPS TO KEEP YOUR DRIVEWAY OR CONCRETE AREA'S CLEAN

There are a few easy steps you can take to keep your driveway clean and free from moss, mould and gunge. Now there is no replacement for getting a professional company in to clean and treat your driveway and hard surfaces. These tips are for after the professionals have been in and cleaned your concrete and you wish to keep it looking clean and just like it was brand new. For a free quote on the initial clean click FREE QUOTE

After your driveway is clean and you wish to keep it clean you can follow some or all of the bellow points.

• Mix a 10 to 1 bleach to water solution and spray that over the concrete once a month, The sodium hypoclhorite in the bleach will kill and moss, mould and gunge spaws before they can grow.
• If you have fruit tree's in your garden you would almost certainly spray them with cooper sulphate on a yearly basis. Next time you spray your fruit trees make a little more up than you need and spray any concrete area's. Nothing kills moss, mould spaw's as fast as cooper sulphate.
• A very Eco friendly option os to spray the concrete with vinegar, This is not as fast as bleach but will slow down the return of the moss and mould dramatically as it puts the PH balance out and its not ideally growing conditions for the moss and mould.
• The best long term option if its available is to trim or cut down any plants or trees that is shading your concrete, direct sunlight is great for stopping moss and mould growing, As you will see it always grows on the shaded side of your house. Sunlight is free so try this step first.

If you have any questions please visit our website at www.washrite.co.nz