During recent times, more and more people are treating their outdoors area as an extension of their home. Due to this, the need to keep your garden patio looking fresh and new for longer, this is especially true if your garden has just undergone a complete overhaul but this can be time consuming and costly. Fortunately, Porcelain Paving has a low maintenance point so you can spend more time doing the things you love, but that doesn't mean you should neglect your Porcelain patio all-together.
With that in mind, we thought we would put together our top 5 recommendations for maintaining your Porcelain Garden Paving.
Tip 1 - Keep it simple, use a broom.
As previously mentioned, porcelain paving requires little maintenance to maintain its shine. This is due to the vitrification process used in creating the paving. The vitrification of porcelain paving means that the slab holds very little moisture, making it difficult for mould and algae to grab hold.
This, however, doesn't mean your patio wont get a bit dirty, that's why it is a good idea to give your paving a sweep with a soft bristles broom to prevent any scratching that would remove the protective coat and allow the shine to come through.
Tip 2 - For tougher dirt, Hot water and solution
There may be times when something tougher than a soft bristled broom is needed. In these scenarios, hot water and a PH neutral cleaning solution will be your best friend. Using an acidic cleaning solution will remove the protection from your porcelain which will lead to the paving becoming more prone to the elements which will result in more regular cleaning periods, so a PH neutral cleaning solution is the best choice.
Simply mix a high to low hot water/solution ratio and start to apply it to the problem areas. You may be required to do a bit of scrubbing but, as with the broom, ensure the rag is soft to avoid any chance of damaging the porcelain.
Tip 3 - Rinse well!
If a more intensive cleaning method was needed, then ensure that you don't leave the solution to stand for too long as eventually, it may start to damage the paving so rinsing well will help prevent this. It's also a good idea to give it a rinse, even if a cleaning solution wasn’t used as this will remove any dirt that may have been missed, plus it will help to give your porcelain paving that ‘just cleaned’ sparkling look. This is especially true for some of our lighter toned options.
Tip 4 - Gentle Drying
This tip may come as a bit of a surprise for you but to ensure that your paving retains that fresh new look for as long as possible, gently drying your paving with a soft rag is the best option. The reason for this is two fold -
1 - Using a soft rag reduces the chances of scratching the protective coat on the porcelain paving.
2 - Using a soft rag to dry your paving instead of letting it dry naturally will eliminate the chance of watermarks.
You may think this is quite a bit of maintenance work needed but compared to natural stone, the amount of maintenance needed is significantly less.
Tip 5 - Enjoy your clean Porcelain patio paving.
You may be thinking that this isn’t a tip but surprisingly, it is. We have found that once most people have finished cleaning their garden patio, they do not take the time to enjoy it for the fear of it needing cleaning again. We say, enjoy the results of your hard work. Porcelain paving is incredibly tough and stain resistant so when you get the chance, make sure that the patio is used to its full potential.
With that, these are our top 5 tips for maintaining your porcelain paving. If used correctly, they will help your porcelain patio looking new and fresh for years to come. Need any advice regarding porcelain maintenance or paving in general?, please do not hesitate to contact us either by phone on 0800 047 0427 or drop us an emailsales@pavingstones.co.uk.
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