Many consumer fertilizers today contain a small percentage of iron a mineral your lawn needs to stay healthy but which your concrete certainly doesn t.
How to remove white fertilizer stains from concrete.
These stains are caused by chemical fertilizer granules that are left on concrete surfaces.
Rinse the concrete with water until you remove all the soap.
Water causes the chemical pellets to basically soften on the concrete and therefore the properties inside the chemical will cause deep rust stains on top of and inside of the concrete.
Given enough time acid rain can clean the majority of white concrete stains but many homeowners do not wish to wait to remove the problem.
Occasionally white stains also appear from salts in the fertiliser.
Let it sit for a few minutes.
Spray them with easy off no fume oven cleaner in the blue can.
Pour fresh lemon juice onto the stained area.
The white residue on the surface of new concrete can be removed only with an acidic cleaner.
Apply solution to fertilizer stains.
Removing the fertiliser stains without damaging the pavers is usually possible.
For this article we will focus on a wet method.
However the pet store products are most effective.
Scrub the stain between each application of the solution and see if the fertilizer stains are being removed.
First scrub the concrete stain with dish soap and water in order to remove as much urine as possible.
If you catch the stain early this might be all you need in addition to some sunshine odor can be further reduced by an application of distilled white vinegar.
Pavers are usually made of concrete mixed with sand or pebbles so power washing is not an option as it may break the pavers apart.
Scrub vigorously with a stiff broom or scrub brush.
Decide if you want to use a dry method or a wet method.
Dry methods include scouring grinding or sandblasting away the stain.
Apply an organic detergent as recommended above to damp concrete.
Purchase an acidic efflorescence stain remover available at hardware stores and home centers.
Severe stains may require a second application.
This may sound weird but fertilizer really can leave rust stains on your pristine concrete.
Wet methods use chemicals to remove the stain.
Let it settle for 5 10 minutes then scrub with a stiff brush and rinse it off with your garden hose at its highest pressure.
These methods will also remove a portion of the concrete so most people choose to use a wet method.
Get those unsightly grease oil and transmission fluid stains off your concrete driveway or garage floor.
How to remove fertilizer rust stains from concrete.
Dilute clear white vinegar with water.