After the winter months, patios may have green and even black stains on them. Green or black debris on patios may be mould, mildew or moss which needs to be removed.
Mould, mildew and moss usually grow in damp and moist conditions and can cause surfaces to be slippery and dangerous.
With this in mind, fans of cleaning sensation Mrs Hinch, whose full name is Sophie Hinchliffe, have shared their simple solution for cleaning patios so they come up “cleaner” and “brighter”.
Mrs Hinch has more than 4.6 million followers on Instagram and often shares her garden and home tips online.
Fans of hers have taken to social media in recent years to share their own hacks for solving common household and garden problems.
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On one such group, Facebook user Dawn Wilson asked: “What can I use to get my patio to come up cleaner and brighter when power washing?”
The post was inundated with responses from Mrs Hinch fans but the most suggested solution was to use washing powder.
Michaela Harris said: “My husband used boxed washing powder, wets it, leaves it overnight and then power washes it. Ours came up spotless!”
Amanda Elizabeth agreed and wrote: “I was about to say this! It also helped with the dog wee smell.”
Claire Corrigan suggested: “Scrub with washing powder.”
Most homes will have washing powder but those who don’t can buy it from most local supermarkets.
Surf Laundry Powder Lavender costs £5 from Ocado and Persil Fabric Cleaning Washing Powder costs £4 from Ocado. JUST ESSENTIALS by Asda Non-Bio Washing Powder costs £3.90.
Other suggestions for cleaning patios included using Wet & Forget, Pink Stuff cream cleaner, bleach, chlorine, vinegar and soda crystals.
Ally Allen said: “Don’t power wash but use Wet & Forget – spray then leave it to work.”
Donna Fleet replied: “The Pink Stuff cream cleaner. Give it a scrub then wash off.”
Ian Gray wrote: “I used bleach and water and it worked great. Scrubbed it and left it to dry.”
Tomme Da suggested: “Hot tub chlorine I used. Mixed it up in a car sprayer for the jet wash, sprayed it all over, left it for 10 to 20 minutes then went in and jet washed. It removed all the white blobs that only show when wet with no effort at all.”
Jennifer Clasper commented: “Just done mine and it’s like new. Bleach, rub it in with a broom. Pour boiling water on it and scrub again. Leave it for 20 minutes and hose off.”
Pauline Mccoullough posted: “Spray vinegar! Let it sit for an hour. Scrub it with a broom and wash it off.”
Karen Power said: “Soda crystals, a bottle of bleach, water in a bucket and rub it in with a brush. Don’t rinse it and let the sun dry it out. It came up like new. No hard work.”
