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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 10, 2010 10:59:45 GMT -5
My new house has a recently (not sure how recent, but it is nice and white) poured concrete sidewalk and driveway. We had a rain day before yesterday and my spotless sidewalk/drive now have lovely imprints of maple leaves on them....  I may get out there this evening and spray with the hose, but just wondered if anyone else has ever dealt with this?? |
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Post by DJ on Sept 10, 2010 12:42:13 GMT -5
ok, don't shoot me but i think those leaf imprints are beautiful and yet another aspect of my hoarding/collecting is to get photos of natural imprints on concrete. imagine my delight when mancreature told me he had his OWN photoseries of them from his art school days. swoon.
everything i've read about removing stains from concrete starts calling for hauling out acid which i have never done. just not up to it. and i worry that if i remove a stain it will lighten a single spot and leave the rest looking dingy by comparison and i'd have to use buckets of acid to clean entire lengths of concrete and and and. yeah, this is where the ocd perfectionism still rears its ugly head and makes what could possibly be an easy project into a terrifying one where i see myself destroying the environment and everything in it in an ocean of acid.
i've had decent luck at least lightening some stains using a powdered biodegradable laundry detergent with a smidge of bleach. i sweep. rinse off any remaining gunk with water and wet the concrete down. spot treat the stains.. i have a scrub brush with a uhm hole thing that you can screw a pole into. it helps my back and knees not kill me... after i hit the spots i sprinkle a bit more all over, scrub lightly and rinse.
i uhm have a habit of setting my garbage bags outside and taking them down to the trash later. i also have a habit of drinking mochas. but leaving some in the cup. then it leaks through the bag and leaves a horrible coffee/chocolate/rank milk stain on the concrete underneath. it leaves embarrassing nasty spots in front of my door. you'd think i'd learn after the 5th or 6th rank of scrubbing concrete :/
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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 10, 2010 13:16:49 GMT -5
Thanks DJ! I was afraid it might be a painstaking procedure.  I am not going to scrub concrete after every single rain....considering there are 3 maple trees in my front yard. Wow....I may just have to live with the stains if the hose won't spray them away. |
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Smokey
New Member
Baltimore MD
Joined: March 2009
Posts: 68
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Post by Smokey on Sept 10, 2010 13:29:30 GMT -5
It would take supernatural powers to keep every grease or leaf stain off a driveway. I try and scrub down and repair concrete 2x a year. And, yeah, the stains bug me. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C4TEIM/?tag=thrshoguideaa-20 . is a temporarily free 120-page or so Kindle book I have not read yet. Overcoming Perfectionism: The Key to a Balanced Recovery by Ann W. Smith. A reprint of a last-century book but the title sounds hopeful for ignoring or appreciating things like leaf imprints on the driveway. And the price, for now, is $0.00 for U.S. customers. |
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Post by eagle on Sept 10, 2010 13:43:06 GMT -5
Annie, I hope you find a way to enjoy the leaf imprints rather than obsess over cleaning them off of your driveway. Unless you seal the driveway after doing an acid wash, I don't think you have much other choice than to learn to tolerate the occassional 'stain.'
You can Google 'concrete stained by leaves' and actually find some suggestions, though. I'm having trouble with my browser right now, so I didn't read any of the links.
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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 10, 2010 13:55:44 GMT -5
Looks like the natural look for me!  I just never knew that leaves could stain so quickly!! There weren't any stains when I moved in at all.....then we had one rain and POOF...leaf imprints. Weird. |
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Post by sleepymom on Sept 10, 2010 14:19:41 GMT -5
I`m pretty sure they will eventually wash away. I`m seriously a NONperfectionist when it comes to outside work, and while I notice these spots at times, they don`t stay forever. So, yeah, you can hose them down or just wait. Either they`ll vanish or after enough time there will be enough spots that they just meld together enough to look like that`s the way it`s supposed to be |
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Post by StuffNoMore on Sept 10, 2010 17:16:48 GMT -5
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Sept 11, 2010 1:54:33 GMT -5
I'd suggest waiting another month, until the trees are bare. I've had very good luck with a much weaker solution than the link suggests: A bucket of warm water with a generous helping of liquid soap, Simple Green, dishwasher detergent, or laundry detergent, and about 1/2--1 cup vinegar or lemon juice. Throw the water on the stains, let sit a few minutes, then scrub with a stiff porch broom (flat head and stiff bristles.) You can also use baking soda as an abrasive cleanser. Rinse with a hose, or better yet, a pressure washer. I have a pressure-washer nozzle that fits on my hose that works great. I've used this method to clean our deck, siding, patio, roof, and driveway, all with good results, but not all on the same day. |
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Post by luckyleprechaun on Sept 11, 2010 16:26:17 GMT -5
you got DJ's idea of soap and bleach....me I just let it go...I did have to deal with oil stains and soap like DAWN worked wonders....scrubbing was pain but with a broom makes it easier
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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 22, 2010 11:03:50 GMT -5
I just wanted to let you all know that I noticed last night that the stains are pretty much gone! We have had at least one good hard rain since I noticed the stains, so I am not sure if it was that or just the sunshine (it is pretty shady on my sidewalk though) that took care of them. Interesting!
I will take care to keep my yard, sidewalk and driveway reasonably clear of leaves during the fall/winter.
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Post by BetsyMarie on Sept 22, 2010 11:15:03 GMT -5
Glad to hear the stains are almost gone. I'm late to the thread, but often natural dyes/stains are not very permanent and will disappear with the sun, air, and time. I've acid washed concrete before, and it works very effectively. But it gets an area so clean that the clean part stands out,  , so you have to do the entire slab. That said, I no longer worry about organic stains since I also found they will just go away on their own.  |
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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 22, 2010 11:17:54 GMT -5
Betsy-If you had told me a couple of months ago that I would be worried about stains (organic or other) on CONCRETE....I would have laughed in your face. I have to laugh at myself sometimes...
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Sept 22, 2010 21:01:20 GMT -5
We have to clean the sidewalk TOO?!?!? Oh dismay, dismay, how can I ever face that? ? |
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Post by AnnieOkie on Sept 22, 2010 21:43:17 GMT -5
We have to clean the sidewalk TOO?!?!? Oh dismay, dismay, how can I ever face that? ? That's what I thought when I first saw the stains, but nature took care of it!  |
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