Moss on path

Use Lidl bio washing powder. Kills anything IME!

I was tempted to use washing powder after it had been discussed here recently but this a sloping front path and washing powder slipperiness will cause problems.

Well, it claims to be a moss killer. Probably based on Benzalkonium Chloride, as are several of these algae/slime/moss killers. 'Patio Magic' is another.

Jeyes fluid, if you don't mind the place smelling like a chemical toilet for a week or two, or sulphate of iron (mostly ferrous sulphate), available in any garden centre or Amazon. Keep the sulphate of iron off your hands as it will stain them black. In both cases the moss is killed, but you still have to remove the corpse, as you probably do with the one you mentioned. I don't think either Jeyes or iron sulphate is particularly long lasting.

NT

The problem I found was that even after scraping it all off when it appeared it was dead, it came back again because its been there so long its got itself deep into microcracks in the cement. Brian

My front garden wall is topped by those decorative things with holes in them. They were full of moss. I used diluted caustic soda and a wire brush, this about three years ago. The moss has yet to return. Probably not much use to you given the area of your path, but it may give you ideas.

I put a dropbox pic/link here, Mr Hogg gave me a commendation!

It will come back - if the conditions are the same and the removal chemical has worn off.

I found a solution of Jeyes killed off some thick moss after a dry week, but I do expect it to reappear eventually.

I have a few bottles of Jeyes Fluid but it's far too smelly and the pong would upset the neighbours. Strange thing is a couple of people I know told me they actually enjoy the smell of Jeyes Fluid. Not me.

Benzalkonium chloride kills moss and algae just fine.

I used to use armatollox, which is similar to jeyes fluid. But that seems to have become unavailable. As a result, I bought 5 litres of "BAC 50" from Amazon, and (correctly diluted and applied), it's been amazing.

Things like "patio magic" are just diluted and overpriced versions of BAC 50.

It can also cause rust stains on patio -- beware.

Thomas Prufer

Armatillox had to change is formulae to avoid having to spend zillions on EU safety tests.

Local garden centre says it is now the same as Jeyes Fluid but being a lot more expensive, so they won't (or cannot) sell it.

Big time. Removing rust stains is a lot more difficut than removing moss.

replying to Chris Hogg, OldChemist wrote: Maybe!? But ferrous sulphate will leave a deposit of iron oxide (rust) on stone slabs. Not sure whether this will easily be removed with a jet wash.

I ordered 5 litres of some other product and it is almost finished. Maybe I should try that BAC 50 although it's about double the price.

What's the dilution of neat BAC 50 for use on paths?

I ended up staining the flags on our drive, but oddly, I actually prefer them uneven and brown, rather than uniform and grey :-) But yes, ferrous sulphate, which is great at killing moss, will certainly stain a patio.

No, they left the formulation the same and called it "a soap based outdoor cleaner" instead of a "pesticide, insecticide or herbicide"

compare and contrast ...

:-)

I quite like the pong of coal tar, though I wouldn't choose the soap. I always liked the smell of tarmac being laid, though these days it seems to have changed (or my nose is even less sensitive than it used to be).

Chris

Coal tar pong makes me want to puke. When I was a child, I nearly died from asthma. One of the things that was all the rage was a "Wright's coal tar vapouriser". Basically a can with a lit 'nightlight' in the bottom, under a porous stone that had a depression in the top into which 'coal tar oil' was placed. In my bedroom many nights.

In message , Bob Eager writes

Yes, I had one of those, although I swear mine was black.

I still like Wright's Coal Tar soap, though.