Pro tip: Your brick cleaner might be hurting more than the grime

I was cleaning up after a job and saw the runoff from a common acid wash heading right into a nearby ditch (you know, the kind that feeds into local streams). That stuff can kill plants and mess up water for wildlife. On my last project, we switched to a simple vinegar mix and it worked fine without the harm. Always check if your cleaner is biodegradable before you start scrubbing. Try testing a small area with eco options first. Let's keep our work sites clean without hurting the land around them.

3 comments

3 Comments

charles_lewis141d ago

My neighbor in Bristol tried a baking soda paste on his old chimney last fall. It lifted the grime without any damage to his rose bushes.

susan1116d ago

Good call. I had a client freaking out about runoff last year. We swapped the heavy stuff for citric acid powder from the homebrew shop. Cheaper than the branded eco cleaners and did the job on the mortar stains. No dead grass downstream this time.

mia_fox9816d ago

My buddy Nate had the same panic last summer after his new brick patio. He had this awful mortar haze and was worried about the chems, so I passed along @susan11's tip. He grabbed the citric acid powder, mixed it into a paste, and the stains were gone after a good scrub and a rain. His flower beds looked totally fine afterward.