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Recipe 83 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Clean Slippery Green Algae Off Steps and Walkways

Vinegar Wash

Combine 1 gallon hot water and 2 cups white vinegar in a watering can and swirl in 2 tablespoons dish soap. Soak every plant and grass edge within 3 feet first and lay cardboard along the edge as a shield. Pour slowly over one section, let it sit 20 minutes, scrub hard with a stiff brush and rinse. Rinse the borders a full two minutes and sweep the path dry. Not on limestone, travertine, bluestone, unsealed stone, stamped or sealed concrete.

Green Algae Remover for Walkways and Stepping Stones recipe card: 1 gallon hot water, 2 cups white vinegar, 2 tbsp dish soap, Stiff brush on a pole
What it fixesSlick green algae and black mildew on concrete paths, pavers and stepping stones.

You need

Mix it

  1. Combine the hot water and vinegar in the watering can.
  2. Add the dish soap and swirl it in. The soap is a wetting agent, it keeps the solution sitting in contact with the algae instead of running off the slab.

Use it

  1. Soak every plant, grass edge and flower bed within 3 feet of the path until the soil is saturated. This is mandatory. Vinegar will brown grass blades it lands on undiluted.
  2. Lay the cardboard along the edge of the path as a shield anywhere the grass grows right up to the concrete.
  3. Pour the solution slowly over one section at a time and let it sit for 20 minutes. The algae will start turning from green to brown.
  4. Scrub hard with the nylon brush, then rinse the section with the hose while moving the cardboard shield along with you.
  5. Rinse the entire border of the path, plants and all, for a solid two minutes when you finish. Sweep the path dry so it does not stay damp and reseed itself.
Dale's noteAlgae grows where water sits and sun does not reach. If the same three feet of walkway go green every year, trim back whatever is shading it and check that the slab still drains. Fix the cause once instead of scrubbing it every spring.
Don'tDo not use this on limestone, travertine, bluestone or any unsealed natural stone pavers. Vinegar is acidic and it etches the surface into dull white patches that never polish back out. Keep it off decorative stamped concrete and sealed concrete as well, since the acid dulls the sealer and the color hardener. And on bare slab, use it a couple of times a season at most, because acetic acid slowly etches Portland cement with repeated use and a chalky pitted walkway grows algae faster than a smooth one.
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