I’m looking to clean/power wash the concrete around my in-ground. I’ve looked at Wet and Forget and they say it doesn’t effect pH and safe for around pools. The only drawback is the time it takes for it to work. I’m looking for something a bit more immediate. I have a scrubber attachment for my power washer and I’m looking for a cleaner that won’t effect my water chemistry too much. Options that I’m aware of are Krud Kutter, Simple Green, bleach and water, dish soap and water, Zep. I know some of the cleaner will make its way into the pool and I don’t want to overly effect pH, alkalinity, phosphates, etc. Deck is stamped concrete, 10 years old, in good condition, just dirty. Any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks.
Hi Rick, I’m a big fan of the cleaners you mention but most of them contain other things that you really don’t want to get into the pool. My recommendation would be to just let the high-pressure water from the pressure washer do its job and, for areas that are stained heavily, use a little automatic dishwasher detergent with water and a stiff bristle brush to clean them or some bleach mixed with water.
If your pressure washer is not quite cutting last year’s mustard spills you may want to rent a higher-pressure pressure washer from your local home center. The electric-powered ones are not quite strong enough to get the crud off of concrete.
Another suggestion would be to get a garden sprayer and mix liquid pool chlorine with water and spray your deck (do this after sunset so the sun doesn’t eat the bleach up and keep the family & pets off of it until you can give it a quick rinse the next morning. You can purchase a garden sprayer specifically made to spray bleach solutions - just be sure to not use it for any other purposes). Don’t add bleach to the pressure washer’s soap container since it will harm the pump.
Let us know what works for you!