Clean terrace tiles: What you must consider

 Unfortunately, there is no patent remedy for cleaning terrace tiles. Whether natural stone or concrete: Depending on the material and surface sealing, you have to proceed differently. Here you will find useful tips.

Fotolia/Markus Bormann In order to clean your terrace slabs properly, you must proceed differently depending on the material and covering

When cleaning and maintaining terrace tiles, 

the procedure varies depending on the material and 

surface sealing - and regular cleaning is essential. 

Terraces are objects of daily use, so stains on the slabs cannot be avoided. 

And Mother Nature also contributes diligently to the soiling with 

leaves, petals, damp weather or annoying greenery. 

The degree to which patio slabs become soiled depends 

on the type of stone and the location of the terrace: 

Spots are more noticeable on light, 

smooth and even surfaces than on dark, 

colorful or structured terrace tiles.

Terraces without a roof or with dense plant 

growth as edging are particularly exposed to moisture. 

Increasingly, there are also green coverings to deal with. 

Especially lichens, i.e. algae aggregations and determine fungi, 

can be very stubborn on terrace slabs.

Clean patio tiles: The most important at a glance

Fresh stains should be removed as quickly as possible, 

loose dirt can be removed with a street broom. 

Water and pH-neutral soap are generally suitable 

for cleaning pavements or small stains, 

for stubborn stains there are special, environmentally friendly cleaners. 

A high-pressure cleaner is only recommended for robust terrace tiles. 

Stains on concrete can often be removed with quartz sand.

How is the basic cleaning of terrace tiles successful?

Spilled red wine, splashes of grease or rust - remove 

fresh stains as quickly as possible. 

Especially on terrace tiles with porous surfaces, 

liquids are quickly absorbed and lead to discoloration, 

which is difficult to clean afterwards. 

Loose dirt can be easily removed with a street broom 

or a classic witches broom made of rice straw, 

leaves with the leaf broom known from the lawn. 

If possible, use a model with plastic 

prongs - your neighbors will thank you for not 

having to hear the loud scratching sound of the metal prongs.

MSG/Martin Staffler With the broom you can remove coarse dirt from patio slabs in no time

Without bending over and in a fraction of the time: 

sweeping and sweeping up can be done 

on large terraces by sweepers that can be pushed as easily as a lawnmower.

Stains and discoloration on patio slabs

Some stains on terrace tiles fade and either disappear by themselves 

over time due to sunlight or gradually dissolve due to precipitation. 

If this is not the case - or if stains are annoying right from the 

start - they must be tackled with water, soft soap or simple aids. 

Where scrubbing brushes and water have to fit, 

special cleaners are used, which are available for almost all 

patio slabs and for every type of terrace covering. 

Also for wood, which is difficult to clean with other products. 

Mix the agents with water, let them work for a while and rinse 

with clear water. Depending on the ingredients, the cleaners have 

different effects: Solvent cleaners remove color stains or resin, 

alkaline solutions remove grease and other everyday stains, 

acidic cleaners remove cement residue, lime efflorescence and rust stains.

There are also various recipes on the Internet for homemade 

cleaning agents for patio tiles, for example made from soda, 

starch or other household remedies. Everybody has to try 

these products for himself, a try can't hurt.

Stock/mtreasure Lichens can hardly be removed from patio tiles without special cleaning agents

However, with all cleaning agents, first check somewhere in an 

inconspicuous place to make sure that the terrace boards do not 

react offended to the agent and discolor. For cleaning terrace tiles 

made of wood, natural stone or concrete, there are special agents. 

These should in any case be biodegradable and environmentally friendly, 

because the rainwater washes the residues from the 

terrace slabs into the garden. Lichens are almost 

impossible to get rid of without special cleaning agents; they even successfully 

stand in the way of high-pressure water jets 

and are completely unimpressed by green cover removers.

High-pressure cleaner

Using a high-pressure cleaner to clean terrace tiles is 

absolutely tempting and very convenient. High-pressure 

cleaners are also quite suitable for robust patio tiles, 

if you know how to use them properly. High-pressure 

cleaners get the water from the outside connection 

properly on the go and let it loose on the ground 

with up to 150 bar - too much for most terrace tiles, 

whose surfaces can be roughened or even damaged by 

so much power and then get dirty even faster. 

A further problem: if water is applied at high pressure to the joints, 

it splashes through the area together with the joint 

contents and is guaranteed to hit a window or land on the house facade. 

You can prevent this by working with your back to the house wall. 

Even joints closed with joint sealing compound can be 

damaged with a high-pressure cleaner, sand is usually 

completely washed out of the joints - the surface can become unstable.

Shutterstock/Marina Lohrbach Pressure washers are a convenient way to clean your decking - but they are not suitable for all types of decking

For this reason, high-pressure cleaners must be placed with 

sufficient distance over the terrace slabs or the water 

pressure must be reduced accordingly - with high-quality appliances, 

this can be done at the touch of a button. 

Then you can even clean terrace decks made of hard wood such as tropical wood. 

It is best to use the high-pressure cleaner with a surface 

cleaning attachment that distributes the pressure over a larger 

area with two rotating spray heads. Windows and facades remain dry and clean. 

If you connect such a surface cleaner to devices with adjustable pressure, 

you can even clean wooden terraces with it. On high-quality models, 

you can even use the spray water to apply a cleaning agent by 

inserting a suction hose into the cleaning agent bottle.

How can you clean patio slabs made of natural stone?

Natural stones are robust, abrasion-resistant and do not 

discolor even after years. As a natural material, terrace tiles 

usually have tiny indentations, depressions or other irregularities in their 

surface in which dirt can easily adhere. 

This makes many natural stones such as sandstone also 

susceptible to green coverings such as algae and moss. 

To avoid scratches or other damage, you should inform yourself 

about the properties of the stone before you use a high-pressure 

cleaner or an electric brush.

Water and pH-neutral soap are generally suitable for cleaning 

coverings or small stains. Hard natural stones such as granite, 

gneiss or basalt can be cleaned carefully with a high-pressure 

cleaner and a surface brush. Soft natural stones such as marble, 

limestone or sandstone can only be cleaned with low pressure. 

Stubborn stains on soft natural stone patio tiles are therefore better 

removed with special cleaners on the pellet and rinse with plenty of 

water after it has soaked in.

How can concrete patio tiles be cleaned?

Concrete patio tiles are robust, but open-pored 

and therefore absorbent to a certain extent - liquids and thus stains can seep in, 

as with some natural stone. 

As a preventive measure, sweep colorful petals from the terrace covering, 

which in combination with moisture can cause stains. 

Clean with as little water as possible, many stains 

can even be removed with quartz sand, which you sweep over the terrace slabs. 

This works like sandpaper and polishes the stains out. 

A high-pressure cleaner is possible for cleaning, 

but only from a certain distance. 

Green coverings of algae can usually be 

removed with warm water and a scrubbing brush.

Fotolia/maho Quartz sand is ideal for cleaning concrete terrace slabs

How to clean joints between terrace tiles?

Whether natural stone or concrete, 

if you lay terrace slabs without joint mortar, 

weeds and moss will grow in the joints. Simply spray on and that's it? 

Unfortunately it is not that easy. 

Because herbicides are prohibited on 

terraces and other seating areas as well as on 

driveways - not only are fines threatened, 

they are also being imposed more and more frequently. 

The only things allowed are hot water, joint scrapers 

or flame-off devices or weed burners.

Clean sealed terrace tiles

What works with wood also works with terrace tiles made of 

concrete and natural stone: The stones can either be 

impregnated or sealed. Impregnating agents only allow 

water vapor to pass through and reject dirty 

water - the terrace tiles lose their absorbency and remain clean. 

This makes them reasonably safe from new soiling, 

but at the same time they retain their irregular surface structure. 

Existing stains also remain, of course.

In contrast, a sealant - just like a protective varnish on 

wood - lies like a transparent protective shield on the terrace panels. 

Therefore unevenness in the stone closes, 

in which dirt particles claw themselves gladly. 

Sealed patio slabs and paving stones are particularly easy to clean, 

but become more slippery when damp. 

Both agents emphasize the structure and colors of the terrace slabs, 

they only become slightly darker overall. Through the treatments, 

concrete blocks retain their color, 

which otherwise tends to fade over the years. 

However, these treatments should be repeated every few years.

Terrace slabs with surface sealing are much easier to 

clean than untreated terrace slabs and generally do not get dirty as quickly. 

If a mishap occurs at a barbecue party and sauces or red wine spill onto the floor, 

this is no problem for sealed patio tiles. 

Where otherwise stains threaten immediately, 

you simply wipe off with a damp cloth. Stubborn stains can be 

cleaned with special cleaning agents or green stain removers. 

High pressure cleaners and cleaning sand should remain 

with treated terrace tiles, however, in the basement, 

this shortens the durability of the surface treatment.

Tip: Sealed patio tiles can scratch, which is particularly noticeable on dark and monochrome surfaces. 

Small scratches usually disappear by themselves. 

If not, there are special fillers. 

As a preventive measure, 

we recommend sticking pieces of felt under the legs of tables and chairs.

The electric brush cleans the plates at high speed. 

Depending on the persistence of the stains and the hardness of the stone, 

the manufacturer offers different brushes as accessories. 

With soft bristles made of plastic to the version with steel wire. 

To avoid scratches on the surface, always try first on an inconspicuous place. 

The electric plate cleaner is available either with battery or cable.