Winnipeg Realtor and Real Estate Blog

Do you have an outdoor patio space that you like to spend lots of time relaxing and/or entertaining in?   Well concrete and brick can get dirty too, so we thought we would share an excellent way to clean it up for summer.

Firstly, hose down your patio.  You can use a pressure washer if you have access to one.  Next, grab some dish soap and apply it directly to the wet concrete.  As with dishes, use it sparingly unless you want to be rinsing bubbles from your patio for the next year!  Once you have sparingly put dish soap on the concrete, take a broom (whatever you might use to sweep your patio – can be a normal kitchen broom, or an industrial push broom), and work the soap suds into the concrete.  This would be a great job for the kids to do!  Once you have ‘swept’ the whole patio, simply rinse off the suds with your garden hose or pressure washer.  Dish soap is a good cleaning agent for your patio because it won’t harm your grass or surrounding vegetation.

Now, if some stubborn stains remain, here is a formula that tends to work excellent.  (Please keep in mind, the white vinegar in this formula WILL KILL YOUR GRASS, so it’s best to just spot clean with this formula.  If your patio is nowhere near any vegetation, go ahead and use this formula on your whole patio as vinegar is one of the best cleaners and disinfectants out there!  And not only will it clean your concrete, it will help control your weeds as it kills the vegetation).

Use an empty spray bottle, and fill it with a solution of 50% white vinegar, and 50% water.  Spray it on the more stubborn stains, and let it sit for 10 minutes.  After the 10 minute mark, you may want to put a little bit of elbow grease into it and scrub with a brush.  Then simply rinse it off, and you should be left with a nice, clean, inviting space to spend your summer!