Clear the Driveway
This is applicable to concrete driveways. The first step is to clear all the debris. This is to make sure the chemical can equally get to all the parts of the driveway and leaves, branches, and thick patches of dirt won’t get in the way. You can use a leaf blower, hard bristled broad brush, or spray water.
Use Sodium Hypochlorite Before Pressure Washing
Use pool bleach so that the mold and bacteria are all killed and not just blasted off by the pressure washer. Cleaning should be done with SH aka bleach and the amount depends on how black the driveway is. If it is relatively dark, using 4 percent of SH would work. Depending on how much sun is out and the size of the driveway, it is good to work in sections.
Use the Right Tool for Pressure Washing
It is not the best to use a pressure washer gun because it has an uneven look and would take forever to do the driveway. Also, if using a hard-hitting tip, it could leave scoring lines in the driveway. You can use it to get off something sticky on the driveway like gum. A surface cleaner is a more even pressure washer that has multiple tips spinning in a circle at the bottom, so it evenly shoots out water over the surface. Make sure you work sections so that nothing dries and work high to low. Pushing the dirt in one direction and not having to reclean is the goal.
Don’t Mistaken Stains with Mold
If you see dark spots after you clean, they are most likely oil stains from a car. If you have ever used products with car wax in it, it will make it even harder to get marks off your driveway. It should be clean after the bleach is used, but getting that out is a degreasing job. Orange colors on the driveway are red clay stains. That is a job for more acidic products.
To see our video on this, check it out on YouTube.
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