6 Tips For Cleaning And Maintaining Your Driveway

Driveways tend to get greasy, dirty, and accumulate debris quite easily because they’re a high-traffic area.

Although this is far from exciting, driveways need to be taken care of, just like the rest of your home.

Driveways provide a first impression of your house, and you most probably want to make a good one.

Pressure washing usually seems like the easiest way to clean your driveway. There’s more than meets the eye, however.

It’s also about doing it effectively and efficiently. Here are some tips for cleaning and maintaining your driveway that you may find very handy:

Clear The Area

You can use an outdoor broom to clear loose debris and dirt. Proceed to cover all cars or house walls close to the driveway before you start doing a deep clean.

This will help protect them from directly contacting your cleaning agents.

Cleaning chemicals may discolor your cars or house walls. 

Also,

check to confirm whether or not your driveway drainage system is clogged with dirt.

A clogged driveway drainage system may cause an overflow of water as you clean. You certainly don’t want to escalate your water bill unnecessarily.  

Gather All Your Tools

You can’t call it a deep clean unless you have the right tools and products to remove the toughest stains. The tools most recommended for deep-cleaning your driveway include the following: 

• Detergent/liquid soap 
• Scrub brush 
• Outdoor broom (preferably stiff) 
• Sprayer (preferably with a nozzle) 

Cleaning your driveway doesn’t have to be a challenge. You can never go wrong using some or all of these tools. Your driveway will thank you later.

Know Your Driveway Type

It’s important to know the kind of material on your driveway so you can pick out grease removers best suited for it. And yes, driveways are different. There are at least 15 different types of driveways on the market. 

If you have a concrete driveway, you may find that it traps oil very easily because it is relatively porous.

The best way to deal with an oily driveway is to place suitable absorbents over the concrete. These will draw the oil out. 

However, an asphalt-made driveway is less porous. Thus, it’s doesn’t easily retain marks from oil, grease, or slimy dirt. A biodegradable household cleaner should be enough to clean this kind of driveway.

You can apply it to affected areas before you rinse with water from a hose after a few minutes. Use stronger absorbents for larger spills.

Pick A Cleaner Suitable For Your Driveway

Knowing the kind of driveway you have will give you clarity on the kind of detergents you need to clean it. While you can use homemade solutions like dishwashing soap for a concrete driveway, you need bleach and baking soda for an asphalt one.  

Also, note that most concrete driveways have a white surface. This color is often made dull by grease, oil stains, tire marks, grass, and weeds.

This isn’t a train smash as you can simply DIY by mixing bleach, water, and soap to clean your driveway surface. If you’re not fond of DIY, you can buy cleaning solutions that can restore your driveway’s original whiteness.

Do Away With Mildew

Water deposits often get stuck in the crevices, causing a surface fungus (mildew) to form. It’s very slippery and can cause slip and fall accidents.

You certainly don’t want your driveway to cause injuries. To avoid mildew, regularly maintain your driveway. But if it’s already a problem, you can still fix it. 

Ideally, you should pick a warm day to treat mildew so your driveway surface can nicely dry up. Mix bleach and water and apply to affected areas. Proceed to hose the solution down with water.

Try as much as possible to be mindful of any nearby plants, so you don’t contaminate them with your cleaning solution.

Power Wash Your Driveway

Power washing your driveway is pretty much a DIY process. You can also hire a professional to do it for you. Power washing can take care of the weed growing between the cracks on your concrete.

It’s also a good way to take care of oil stains and other driveway blemishes. 

However, you should know that using pressurized water is not exactly the easy way out it appears to be. This is because it can negatively affect your driveway in the long run.

The intense power of pressurized water can drive stains further into the surface, causing a permanent patch. 

Therefore, your best bet is to naturally remove the stains using solvents or absorbents. You can also try to break down the holding molecules to make them soluble enough to wash away.

Conclusion 

Your driveway also deserves regular care. It’s very exposed to driveway blemishes. Sometimes grass and weeds grow within concrete cracks.

Most dangerously,

it can form a surface fungus called mildew which is slippery and can cause accidents. Make use of this insightful guide to ensure your driveway is clean and safe.

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