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Fresh splashes usually hose straight off. Dried on marks need the film broken down first, then the colour lifted out of the surface. Here is the order we work through it, and what to use at each stage.
In almost every case, yes. Fresh splashes usually wash straight off with water. Dried on marks need a product that will break down the film holding the colour to the stone, and then a bit of agitation to lift what is left. Here is the order we would work through it.
If you catch it early this is often the whole job. Flood the area generously with clean water from a hose and work it over with a stiff bristle yard broom. Keep rinsing as you go so you are carrying the colour away rather than spreading it around.
Speed matters here. These products are designed to form a film as they dry, and until that film has properly set the colour has nothing anchoring it to the stone. Get to it in the first hour or so and a surprising amount simply rinses away.
A pressure washer will do the same job faster, but keep it moving, hold it well back, and avoid driving water into the joints.
Once the film has hardened, water alone will not shift it. You need a product that softens that film without attacking the stone underneath. Our Rob Parker’s Best Stone Stripper is formulated for exactly this and is safe to use on natural stone.
The test patch is the step people skip, and it is the one that saves you. Dwell time varies with the stone, the temperature and how long the mark has been there, so a minute spent finding out is worth more than guessing across a whole patio.
It is common to clear the film and still see a shadow of colour sitting in the stone. That is pigment that has settled into the surface, and with the film gone it is no longer stuck fast.
Work at it with the yard broom. If that is not enough, a powered wire brush will lift it without harming the stone. Where the colour has gone deeper into the pores, a strong pressure wash is what pulls it back out, and at that point the extra force is justified.
Marks that look permanent on day one usually are not. Nine times out of ten it is a case of softening the film first, then being patient with the colour underneath.
Porosity decides how far the colour travels and how hard it is to retrieve:
If you are not sure what you have, send us a photograph. If we supplied it we can tell you exactly what the material is and how it will respond.
With the stone clean it is worth sealing. An impregnating sealer will not make paving stain proof, but it slows absorption, and with this kind of spill the gap between the drip landing and the colour soaking in is the whole battle.
There is more on this in does natural stone paving need sealing, and the same thinking applies to copings and to keeping a pool surround clean.
Before anyone opens a tin, sheet over every porous surface within reach of a brush or a breeze: paving, steps, walling, copings and the gravel margins. Weigh the edges down, go wider than you think because spray drifts further than drips fall, pick a still day, and lift the sheets carefully afterwards since the colour collects on them.
The stone care range we keep in stock for jobs like this:
Send us a photograph of the stone and the mark. We will tell you what the material is, whether it will come out, and what we would put on it. It costs nothing to ask and it beats experimenting on your own patio.
sales@stoneworld.co.uk
01844 279274
