Help removing grease/fat stains from patio?!

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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I made the mistake of giving our dog a rather large beef bone we took home from a restaurant the other week and let him have at it on the patio.

It's left a lot of what I can only think are fat/grease stains on the patio slabs.

I've tried giving it a blast with the pressure washer, a scrub with washing up liquid and also just pouring boiling hot water on it but none of that has really had much of an impact on it.

Do I just need to give it a good soak with a degreaser and a scrub or are there other products or processes I should use that will get rid of the stains easier? You can only really see them when the slabs are wet but I'd like to get rid of them.

I'm fairly sure the slabs are kandla grey Indian sandstone if that makes a difference?
 
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Nothing acidic and be careful with the pressure washer. Find a sweet spot if you can regulate the pressure on your washer. Try a high alkaline cleaner and degreaser. The stains do seem to fade with time but it is a problem with permeable sandstones. Rust is another one with the kandla grey.
Maybe think about sealing your paving if you have fruiting shrubs in your garden or if you like a bbq. There is wet and matt sealers.
 
Lean said:
Nothing acidic and be careful with the pressure washer. Find a sweet spot if you can regulate the pressure on your washer. Try a high alkaline cleaner and degreaser. The stains do seem to fade with time but it is a problem with permeable sandstones. Rust is another one with the kandla grey.
Maybe think about sealing your paving if you have fruiting shrubs in your garden or if you like a bbq. There is wet and matt sealers.
Click to expand...
Yeh I probably will look at sealing once i've been able to clean it properly!

The pressure washer didn't seem to do any damage, got off some general muddiness but didn't shift any of the "stains". Will look into alkaline cleaners now.

I wonder if something like this from Screwfix will suffice?

Error 410 | Screwfix

Thousands of products at low trade prices | FREE next day delivery available | 30 day money back guarantee on all orders.
www.screwfix.com www.screwfix.com
 
Jeyes fluid (sp) used to be my default go to for stubborn stains on paving or concrete but I think they had to ‘tweak’ the formula a few years back to comply with some regulations or other and it’s never been quite as potent (imo) - dairy hypochlorite might work but test on a small area first.
 
Honestly Bilt Hambers all purpose cleaner is amazing stuff. Bought it for the car cleaning routine but have gone on to use it in so many situations. Had a greasy door you could scrap off with a filling knife and this stuff just melted it.

www.theultimatefinish.co.uk

Bilt Hamber Surfex HD APC Degreaser (1L, 5L & 25L)

Traffic Film is stubborn to remove but with Bilt Hamber Surfex HD it will truly shift the grease and grime from your car, a water based formulation makes it also safe to use all over your car's exterior.
www.theultimatefinish.co.uk www.theultimatefinish.co.uk
 
Did you have any luck shifting these stains? I have a similar issue, tried the usuals (fairy liquid, bleach, jetwash etc) to no avail.

Some people mentioned they fade over time?
 
One idea I stole from an engineer who visited me. Dissolve a whole dishwasher tablet in not much water at all(<250ml). To do this, put a tablet into a plastic bag, and smash it with a rolling pin, until
a fine powder. Add this powder to boiling water and encourage it to dissolve. An ultrasonic bath can assist at this point if you have one. This solution is now a pretty powerful degreaser (watch your eyes!)
He used it for cleaning instrument parts in an ultrasonic bath. However it would be worth a go with stains as well.
 
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To be honest i'd forgotten all about them until I saw this pop back up. From memory it does look like they have faded tbh. I can't remember if i used anything hardcore to clean it besides fairy liquid, bit of turps, vinegar and similar in differing amounts.
 
Hypochlorite.

sometimes marketed as patio cleaner, swimming pool cleaner.

professional pressure washer businesses use it before pressure washing because it is so strong.
 
I imagine something like that wouldn't be too friendly to lawns? Id love to use something stronger just to clean them up in general but the run off into my lawn would concern me.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
To be honest i'd forgotten all about them until I saw this pop back up. From memory it does look like they have faded tbh. I can't remember if i used anything hardcore to clean it besides fairy liquid, bit of turps, vinegar and similar in differing amounts.
Click to expand...
Good to hear they do fade over time; teach me a lesson for not sealing the flags. I'd never opt for Sandstone again without sealing, the porous buggers absorb everything...
 
dave28 said:
Hypochlorite.

sometimes marketed as patio cleaner, swimming pool cleaner.

professional pressure washer businesses use it before pressure washing because it is so strong.
Click to expand...
I'll give this a go, guess the trick is leaving it as a liquid on the flag long enough for it to soak into the stone and hit the areas of grease within, as this isn't surface grease...
 
I have the same Kandla grey sandstone patio and its a bloody nightmare to keep clean. I have not sealed it yet though so I'm looking into what I need to do this.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
I imagine something like that wouldn't be too friendly to lawns? Id love to use something stronger just to clean them up in general but the run off into my lawn would concern me.
Click to expand...
It will kill your grass stone dead within 5 minutes if you get any hypo on the grass. Try bog standard toilet bleach just on the stains. Easier to control the run off
 
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