Cleaning white gravel of general grime and some geenage

[Davie_GLA]

As we approach the spring and i begin the annual planning of fence painting, patio cleaning and plants etc. I need a way to swiftly clear whitte gravel from general grime and some algae that's accumulated in the shaded areas and ove the winter.

The best way i can think of is scopping all the gravel into buckets ina mild bleach solution, leaving for a while and then transferring the clean stones back but this will take ages and i suspect i'd need some sort of grate in a bucket or something like what the chippy guys use to pick chips out of fryers.

We have 3 mutts so need to be careful on the chemicals but not a show stopper, they can be kept away while i do what i'm doing. Could i mix up some sort of potion in a 5 litre sprayer and then treat the stones, leave for a while then rinse using the hose (or pressure washer on a low setting).

Open to suggestions!

[finlo]

Watering can and a bleach solution rinse after a few hours keep the muts away for a day or two.

[fasimew]

Could try some sort of acidic brick/concrete cleaner.

[PlywoodPascal]

Dishwasher

[Davie_GLA]

PlywoodPascal said:

Dishwasher

She nearly killed me when i washed pistons in the last one.....

[DodgyGeezer]

if nothing is to grow there would a salt solution work?

[ManicMunky]

Wet and Forget?

[Sheepshanks]

ManicMunky said:

Wet and Forget?

Been impressed by that on shady paths. Takes a while to work - like a couple of weeks.

[xx99xx]

White vinegar, spray on, forget. Vinegar clears anything green.

[Chumley.mouse]

Pressure wash, rake them around , pressure wash….. repeat until they are all clean. Thats how i used to do mine.

[Silvanus]

Before using any chemicals consider where they will run off.

[stabilio]

ManicMunky said:

Wet and Forget?

I tried this on some of our fence panels, pizza oven cover, patio and quite a bit of other stuff and its been excellent.

[Ziplobb]

cement mixer
shovel it up and wash it in there
siv it on the way out
level and rake
you can burn weeds, green and other crap off with a Sheen flame thrower like this


driveway will look as good as new

[glow worm]

Cheap Biological Washing Powder

[Davie_GLA]

Thanks all. Looks like I was indeed overthinking this. I’ll buy a shedload of vinegar and a flamethrower. What could go wrong!!!!

[OutInTheShed]

It's traditional to recommend tweezers and a toothbrush...

[Davie_GLA]

OutInTheShed said:

It's traditional to recommend tweezers and a toothbrush...

To be clear we are still on about gravel, yes? Just so I know where to point the A and E people

[dudleybloke]

I cleaned the stone chippings here by putting a load in a bucket then using a jetwash on them, didn't take too long but had a lot smaller area to deal with than you.

[Davie_GLA]

dudleybloke said:

I cleaned the stone chippings here by putting a load in a bucket then using a jetwash on them, didn't take too long but had a lot smaller area to deal with than you.

Thanks mate, if I remember rightly there’s ten tonne of them laid down. Which looks a lot in backs but is probably only a couple inches deep.

Ideally I’d like to lift it all, wash it then put it back down and repeat as needed.

[OutInTheShed]

Seriously, it's an awful problem.
The most effective things involve lots of water, which is wasteful and creates problems with run-off.

Raking it over helps.
I use a leaf blower to get rid of loose dirt, leaves, composting stuff.