The lead up to summer can be quite stressful if your garden isn’t looking up to good standard. Here is a patio cleaning guide to get your garden in the best condition possible.
Using a pressure washer to clean your patio and paths will make them look much better and stop them becoming dangerously slippery to walk on.
How to clean your patio with a pressure washer
- Clear your patio. Move any plants or furniture and give surfaces a good sweep. A clear patio will make things a lot easier while powerhosing.
- Connect your pressure washer to your hose and turn on the tap. Pull the trigger gun, letting the water run freely (approximately 20 seconds) which will expel any air from your machine. Then connect to your mains supply and turn on.
- If you’re using a detergent, wet your paving first on a very light setting. Add the detergent to your pressure washer and spray onto your patio using the ‘mix’ or ‘low’ pressure setting, depending on your model. Leave for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Turn to a medium pressure setting to wash the detergent off. Start from one corner or edge, and work across the patio using sweeping motions.
- Keep your pressure washer at a 45 degree angle, using a wide fan. Don’t follow the joining lines with the water jet as this could risk forcing your paving stones apart.
- When finished turn off your pressure washer and disconnect from the water supply. Then turn it back on, pulling the trigger gun until all of the water leaves the machine. This will reduce any risk of residual water freezing and expanding inside which could cause damage to the pump.
To add some finishing touches to your now clean patio you can
- Remove and discard any of last year’s annual plants and refill with new compost and flowers. This will freshen and brighten your patio for spring and summer.
- Clean, treat and paint any fences, walls and sheds in your patio area so the whole garden will have a new fresh warmth to it.
- Add some garden furniture to be ready for the summer months.