All Natural Concrete Cleaner To Remove Patio Stains

This will be our third year in our home and we’re finally ready to pay attention to the outdoor space, specifically our patio. The little concrete patio slab is big enough to create great memories but it has been sadly neglected and the dirt tracks from the kids have become noticeable. Recently I decided to look for a natural concrete cleaner recipe that will fix it up using simple ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere and came up with this DIY concrete cleaner.

We want the backyard to serve as a play area for our kids, so there is open grass areas that often creates a ton of mud and dirt. And that dirt and mud was tracked onto the concrete and… well, after three years, the concrete needed a good cleaning! We needed the perfect patio cleaner. There are also a few stains from before we moved in that I would like to try and remove, but I was willing to try this homemade concrete cleaner. (Update: check out how to clean a concrete patio with bleach for  our best concrete stain remover solution.)

Let’s get this clean concrete patio party started!

Natural Concrete Cleaner: Clean Concrete Patio Without All The Junk

Like I mentioned, our patio has rust and paint stains from the previous owner. Eventually, we’d like to tile it but for now, I began researching how to clean cement patio with the least amount of chemicals possible. Since my kids play on it and our lawn is adjacent, I didn’t want to risk the chemicals running off into our green space. Keeping this natural concrete cleaner recipe as simple as possible was a big priority.

That’s when I came across washing soda. Cleaning patios with vinegar wasn’t a surprise, but washing soda? How have I never heard of washing soda before? It’s not edible, like baking soda, but also more abrasive  – making it a great detergent for a patio cleaner and perfect to clean concrete.

Obviously, this is super labor intensive (I was on my knees with this brush, but use a broom for easier application), But I felt better knowing my natural patio cleaner wouldn’t harm our grass.

How To Clean Cement Patio

Here’s what you’ll need to make a DIY natural cement cleaner for your outdoor space:

• Arm + Hammer Washing Soda (found in cleaning/detergent sections or using this aff link)
• White Vinegar
• Bristle Brush

DIY Natural Concrete Cleaner

To make your DIY concrete patio cleaner, mix the washing soda and vinegar until it becomes a thick consistency. You’ll want to make enough to clean your desired concrete surface, so be liberal with the amounts.

In small sections, hose down the concrete. Add a bit of your DIY concrete cleaner solution and begin to scrub. Depending on how dirty your concrete is (ours was really dirty!), you’ll have to scrub for a while to lift up the adsorbed dirt. After the area has been cleaned, hose down the concrete well.

The Final Results

So, after all that work, did the natural concrete cleaner achieve the results I was looking for? Kind of, but not entirely. The pounded-in dirt that was 100% removed after I scrubbed for awhile, and even some of the paint stains were removed too, but the natural cement cleaner didn’t stand a chance again the copper-colored rust stains.  Those stubborn stains will need more than my homemade concrete cleaner. That was a big bummer and I might choose to use a less natural recipe in the future – probabaly somekind of bleach concrete cleaner.

To cover up the unsightly rust stains that won’t be cleaned by an all natural cleaner, I put an outdoor rug down. It looks great and covers up the stains, which is better than nothing I guess.

Have you ever cleaned cement with a natural DIY recipe before?