“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The pithy quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde perfectly sums up how the entryway to any property powerfully shapes a visitor’s opinion on everything that comes after.
Whether that’s a business attracting new clients, or a homeowner ready to sell their home, your street appeal — including the state of the driveway — says almost as much as your expensive advertising. So if your driveway screams ‘dirty, weed-filled, cracked, and careless’ a professional driveway cleaning and sealing is definitely the order of the day.
What does a professional driveway clean involve?
Professional driveway pressure cleaning is a specialised process that removes stains, dirt, and debris from pavers, stone, concrete or aggregate surfaces. It often requires pre-treatment of certain stains with environmentally sound products before the entire surface is cleaned with water at high pressure.
Kleenit’s driveway pressure cleaning professionals bring all the tools, solutions, and even our own water tanks to make cleaning day at your place an absolute breeze.
The most common types of troublesome stains we encounter in professional driveway cleaning are motor oil, soil/fertiliser, and rust stains from bore water. But never fear; there are solutions suitable for all driveway materials and types of stains.
DIY removal of oil and grease stains from driveways
Good Housekeeping recommends that an environmentally friendly DIY technique for removing fresh grease or oil from concrete is using vinegar, soap, washing liquid, or baking soda and scrubbing it with hot water and a stiff nylon brush. If you try these home remedies, be sure to spot-test the substance on an inconspicuous area before applying it widely.
In many cases, motor oil stain removal will not be total, with it stubbornly soaked into the surface of the material. There are over 200,000 pores per m2 of slab concrete. The job may require a poultice-style cleaner designed to soak up the stain over a few hours, before being washed with plenty of hot water.
Another option is using a biological-based oil stain remover, based on natural bacteria eating the oil stains from the concrete substrate. This almost waterless method does take longer but also prevents hydrocarbons from contaminating soil, water systems, and underground watersheds.
Then the next problem with oil stains is that cleaning the stained area often leaves it cleaner than the surroundings — so it still looks uneven and messy. That’s where high-pressure cleaning can blast away the buildup of general grime and tyre marks that have accumulated over the years.
Prevention is the best cure — and after getting your car’s oil leak remedied, you may wish to consider driveway sealing (a solvent-based acrylic product) to make quick cleaning a breeze.
Removing soil and fertiliser stains from concrete, stone or pavers
In many cases, ‘organic’ stains are the most easily removed with professional high-pressure cleaning. Under a microscope, you’d see that the ‘dirtiness’ is quintessentially dirt — small particles that can be blasted away with the right PSI of a professional hot water pressure clean, and environmentally friendly cleaning solution.
Getting rid of rust stains or bore water stains on a driveway
Rust stains, or oxidisation, are one of the most challenging types of stains to remove, and if it’s been left for a long time they may be impossible to completely eliminate. It typically requires a non-acidic oxide remover and a consummate professional to apply it safely.
How much does professional driveway cleaning cost?
As much as we’d like to believe they don’t, appearance matters. A grubby entryway may imply a lack of care from the homeowner, landlord, or business owner — which isn’t the impression anyone in the hospitality, healthcare, or service-centric industries would want to convey. You may never know the clients you’ve lost who drove straight past an unsightly front entrance. A clean driveway is an investment in your commercial or residential property.
Get a free quote for your driveway clean