# Brick driveway cleaning - talk to me.



## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Hi chaps. I have a brick driveway which is looking pretty grubby after the winter and washing cars, i'm wondering what the preffered method of cleaning is amongst you all.

Last time, I just attacked it with the single jet attachment on my pressure washer which took me literally all day, and I used hundreds of litres of water, and got very dirty indeed lol... in short I don't really fancy having to do it again.

Is there any type of chemical I could use? Either that could already be among my collection or available locally (B&Q/homebase etc.)

I was thinking I could spray it over with something through my nilfisk bottle attachment, aggitate it and leave it to dwell, them simply wash it away, or am I wishful thinking? 

The drive isn't sealed, and is a pale yellow brick for reference.

Cheers in advance!


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## Davemm (Mar 9, 2009)

would quite like to know this to, because as you said its a messy long job brick by brick!


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## Martin_HDI (Aug 19, 2010)

You could try TFR and a scrubbing brush, I done my mums slabs in her garden with it and they came up nice.

Also I added TFR into the built in spray bottle and a few scrubs


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## Tweak (Sep 17, 2010)

What about the patio cleaner attachment for nilfisk's, I haven't used one so I cant comment on how well they work. Or you could try the turbo nozzle, the one that rattles when you shake it, not advisable to use said nozzle on car paint work so I'm guessing it's fairly powerful.

*Edit, sorry I thought you said you had a nilfisk :lol:


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## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Yeah I have an E140, I have the turbo nozzle but not the patio attachment. I did have one for my previous karcher though and was unimpressed. 

I don't have any TFR, but i've got some G101 and VP Ph neutral snow foam lol


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

Depends how dirty we are talking. You could get some Autosmart Treble X and brush it over the driveway and then rinse it off and it will remove the top layer of the brick revealing a nice new clean surface underneath. You would have to do the whole drive though or you would end up with patches!


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## AdrianW (Sep 17, 2010)

You use ..rotary wash ..looks a bit like a lawn mower and you attach it to your pressure washer you might be able to hire them .A friend of mine does this for a living ,he's done mine many times ,comes up like brand new


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## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Thanks for the responses, i've just nipped to B&Q and bought a bottle of swarfega multipurpose outdoor surface cleaner. I'm going to dig out the bottle for my nilfisk and go and give it a scrub. 

I don't want to go to the hassle of hiring anything, if push comes to shove i'll spray it brick by brick.

Cheers again.


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## 62mph (Jul 28, 2010)

You could try all the suggestions above, or, you could go to the Builders yard a get 5L of brick acid. I do this of part of my job [Landscaping and Garden Maintenance] and nothing comes close to using brick acid. What I do is spray the area with water first, then pour the acid over the surface [neat], and spread with a broom. Give it about 5 minutes to do its thing [if you start to smell a stale pond smell, its ready to be pressure washed off :lol:] Rinse well, let it dry and re-seal.

Jobs a goodun:thumb:

http://www.four-seasons-landscaping.co.uk/work_barton.html


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## M.O.S (Dec 26, 2008)

Wonderwheels did a good job for me!


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## scoobyman (Jun 8, 2008)

Hydrochloric from your local farm supplies Just keep it well watered down


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## tommyzooom (Aug 15, 2009)

The nilfisk patio brush came free with my e140, I probably would never of paid around £50 for one as I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. How wrong I was, it makes patio cleaning so much easier, and no tracks of the pressure washer, you just move it slowly over the whole surface, no scrubbing required, I have some 50/50s on the other comp


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## titanx (May 4, 2009)

How about jeyes fluid, water the drive then spray over bricks. Worked for me on a block drive but not sure on brick?


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## distracted (Oct 30, 2010)

Cleaned up our own bricked driveway a few weeks ago. I watered down the area first and scrubbed over it with a stiff bristled yard brush. Then I pressure sprayed a high intensity mixture of Jeyes Fluid and APC over the bricks and let sit for about a half hour or so. Back out and scrubbed down with the yard brush again, then out with the pressure washer and hosed down the loose dirt. It was about 80% clean at that stage. All it took then was another final scrub and power wash and it was 100%. 

It wasn't as labour intensive as that sounds and I used very little water.


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## liam99 (Dec 29, 2009)

The patio needs doing, I going to use surfex hd.


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## GR33N (Apr 5, 2009)

EsiFlow said:


> Thanks for the responses, i've just nipped to B&Q and bought a bottle of swarfega multipurpose outdoor surface cleaner. I'm going to dig out the bottle for my nilfisk and go and give it a scrub.
> 
> *I don't want to go to the hassle of hiring anything*, if push comes to shove i'll spray it brick by brick.
> 
> Cheers again.


Ive got a mate who usually spends a weekend a year cleaning his patio with my Nilfisk E130. Last year however he went and hired a proper petrol powered PW, it took him 4hours.

They're obviously no good for cleaning cars but they make a massive difference when cleaning something like a patio or brickwork :thumb:


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## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Cheers for the input.

Well I used the swarfega APC @ about 1:10 (the bottle said 1:20 but meh) through the nilfisk bottle and worked in with a stiff brush... it didn't really give the desired effect, but what it did do was loosten the moss up inbetween, and make the grime abit easier to blast up.

The E140 made it alot easier than the karcher I had last year, so I just went with it and did about 12 square mtr's. Another day next week should have it nailed, then back to the drawing board for my decking


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm sure you can get something to coat the bricks with once clean, that makes them easier to clean next time. B&Q stock it i think, but i'm sure you guys already know what i mean. IIRC you paint it on to the brick, and it seals it


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## Gizmo68 (Mar 27, 2008)

62mph said:


> You could try all the suggestions above, or, you could go to the Builders yard a get 5L of brick acid. I do this of part of my job [Landscaping and Garden Maintenance] and nothing comes close to using brick acid. What I do is spray the area with water first, then pour the acid over the surface [neat], and spread with a broom. Give it about 5 minutes to do its thing [if you start to smell a stale pond smell, its ready to be pressure washed off :lol:] Rinse well, let it dry and re-seal.
> 
> Jobs a goodun:thumb:
> 
> http://www.four-seasons-landscaping.co.uk/work_barton.html


+1

brick acid is _the_ stuff to use :thumb:


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## Mr Yellow (Apr 30, 2009)

All purpose cleaner is just that. It is definitely NOT designed to be good at patio cleaning! Depending just what the dirt is and whether you have cement/mortar between the bricks, the acid approach will work or alternatively a strong hypochlorite solution (many patio cleaners will be just this). Both are enormously cheap (anything more than a couple of pounds per litre and you are being had) and will work. Just never, ever, mix them.


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## MCZ2047 (Oct 10, 2007)

scoobyman said:


> Hydrochloric from your local farm supplies Just keep it well watered down


Hydrochloric acid some times know as path clear is the way to go. Water it down about 10-1 and spread it about with a watering can, leave it for 10 mins then scrub with a stiff brush then pressure wash. :thumb:


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