concrete brightener?

You may greatly enjoy the fun of renting a pressure washer from your local home depot. It's remarkable how it can clean up concrete.

Careful with distance and the tip and use just enough pressure to get the dirt up, but not so much to break the surface.

They do sell brightener and such but I htink you might be surprised at what a pressure washer alone can do.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

Power washer, just water.

In most cases, apply household bleach, diluted 50/50 with water. Brush it in with a broom, and just let it dry out normally. I have cleaned concrete like this for years.

Yes, the power washers are also great. In fact, if you have an extremely mildewed sidewalk, putting bleach on about 30 minutes before washing will do an even better job.

--James--

Hi,

Without getting into chemicals that might damage your lawn, try high pressure washing. That will remove dirt, mildew, mold, etc and make the concrete look almost new again.

David

Agreed.

Then, in the fullness of time, it's back to black.

Anything that's a preventative?

thx guys, great advice.

Sequence of choices:

1) Powerwashing - safe, quick and easy. It removes dirt, mold, moss, etc. Generally, It does not remove stains. 2) Bleach - dangerous to lawns & plants. It is also pretty harmful to auto & home carpets when tracked in. Note that "dry" bleach is still dangerous - the bleached area should be rinsed extremely well. Bleach removes many stains such as the brown stains on concrete from leaves in the fall. It also kills mold, moss, etc. It does not remove dirt. 3) Sandblasting or sand-entrained powerwashing. This removes everything listed above since it works by removing a layer of the concrete itself and everything attached to it. If used intelligently and sparingly, it is somewhat safe, but I'd recommend it only as a last resort. Any form of sandblasting is similar to using rubbing compound (abrasive) to clean automobile paint - you are removing part of what you are cleaning.

Good luck, Gideon

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any info would be appreciated.

thanks mike