Is greenery in the garden and around the house a thorn in your side? You can restore the well-maintained appearance of your terrace, balcony, garden furniture and tiles with simple tools from the kitchen shelf. Read this guide on how to successfully remove green growth without chemicals.
How can you remove green growth without chemicals?
To remove green deposits without chemicals, home remedies such as soda, vinegar or soft soap can be used. Soda is particularly good for paving, wood and stone, while vinegar is effective for garden furniture. Sun and dryness help prevent green growth.
Remove green growth – where and with what?
Shady, damp and cool locations are the territory of green cover. The unsightly patina is formed from moss, lichen and algae, preferably where sunlight rarely or rarely reaches. The following table shows where green deposits often occur and names good home remedies:
| Infestation of green vegetation | best home remedy | second option |
|---|---|---|
| on pavement | Soda | Professional joint brush |
| on wood | Soda | soft soap |
| on stones/natural stones | Soda | High-pressure cleaner |
| on house wall | All-purpose cleaner | High-pressure cleaner |
| on garden furniture | Vinegar, vinegar water | soft soap |
Soda, also known as washing soda, has proven to be excellent in tests on all surfaces. Soda has been useful as a cleaning agent for generations, long before chemically aggressive products came onto the market and threatened nature. Washing soda is available as a powder that turns into a mild, yet effective cleaning solution with water. The many advantages include very good environmental and he alth compatibility.
Tip
Soda and baking soda are usually mentioned in the same breath as home remedies for verdigris. In fact, soda (sodium carbonate) is much more effective against green deposits than the more harmless baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). If you have the choice, this rule of thumb applies: Baking soda is at its best as a baking ingredient and for stomach upset. When the green surface gets tough, Soda proves its effectiveness.
Removing green growth from pavement
Green deposits on pavement are best removed with a hard brush
Green covering impairs the well-groomed appearance and makes paving stones a slippery hazard. Simply scrub off isolated green spots with a brush or painter's spatula. Large areas of green cover on paving stones require tougher control strategies that do not require chemicals. How to remove green growth from pavement in harmony with nature:
Material and tools
- Soda powder (drugstore, supermarket, Amazon (€1.00 on Amazon))
- warm water
- hard broom or scrubber
- Bucket or mason's tub
- Watering can or spray bottle
Step-by-step instructions
- Sweep the area thoroughly to remove loose green growth
- Stir 20 g soda powder into 10 l warm water
- Apply to green pavement with a watering can or spray bottle
- Leave for 24-36 hours
- sweep away loosened green deposits with a broom or mop
- Processing joints with a joint scraper
- you can either rinse with the water hose or wait for the next rain shower
The best time for application is a dry day with no rain forecast for the next 2 days. As with all home remedies, the same applies in this case: repeated use optimizes the effect. Use this method to combat green growth until the paving stones shine in their former glory.
Removing green deposits from wood
If hobby gardeners discover green deposits on the wooden fence, the first impulse is to bring out the high-pressure cleaner. If desired, the hard jet of water removes the green deposits from the wood. The disadvantage of this approach is that water penetrates deep into the wood pores and roughens the surface. This creates the ideal attack surface for mosses, algae and lichens. Devastating result: green deposits spread over the wood at ever shorter intervals, requiring correspondingly frequent cleaning operations.
You will be spared this Sisyphean task if you proceed like this:
- spray commercially available vinegar cleaner onto the green covering on the wooden fence
- Leave for 30-60 minutes
- fill warm water with vinegar cleaner into a bucket
- Dip sponge in cleaning solution and wipe green growth from wooden fence
The video below demonstrates in a practical test how you can easily remove green growth from a wooden fence.
video: Youtube
Cleaning verdigris from stones
Washing soda is the method of choice for removing green deposits from all types of stones. Stone slabs on balconies and terraces with green coverings are not only an eyesore, but also pose a high risk of injury to family and guests. You can seamlessly transfer the above instructions for green covering on paving stones to patio slabs made of natural stone, such as granite, marble and sandstone.
You can conveniently and effectively remove green deposits from robust stone slabs such as travertine, marble, bas alt or granite with the high-pressure cleaner. Furthermore, patio tiles made of porcelain stoneware can withstand strong water pressure, so you can tackle dirty-green plaque with a high-pressure cleaner. In advance, please check in a concealed area whether the hard jet of water only removes green deposits and does not dissolve any stone particles.
Regardless of whether you remove verdigris from stone with soda or a pressure washer. The impregnation should then always be renewed.
Eradicate green growth on the house facade
Green coating on the house facade is a case for all-purpose cleaners, brushes and sponges. You can optionally remove the dirty green layer with liquid soap or soft soap. Plastered or clinkered facades are not suitable for using a high-pressure cleaner. There is a high risk of plaster and clinker joints becoming loose.
Clean green growth from garden furniture
Vinegar helps against green deposits on furniture etc.
Vinegar does a great job when you are struggling with green deposits on plastic garden furniture. The home remedy contains a natural acid that kills moss, lichens and algae. How to properly use vinegar as an organic cleaning agent:
- Fill vinegar with 5-6% acid into a spray bottle
- First dilute 500 ml vinegar essence (25% acid) with 1.5 l water
- Spray plastic garden furniture
- Leave for 2-6 hours
- wipe with brush, sponge and clean water
Please note that due to its acidity, the use of vinegar on sensitive surfaces is not advisable. Natural stones, such as granite or sandstone, then suffer from dirty brown rust spots. High-quality types of wood, such as teak or Bankirai, should also not be treated with harsh vinegar to remove green deposits. Acetic acid massively attacks paint and impregnation.
Excursus
Successfully prevent green growth
To completely remove green growth without chemicals takes a lot of time and concentrated muscle power. In order for the green patina to not develop in the first place, it is important to have a combination of sun and dryness. Protect your garden furniture from moisture during a period of bad weather. Choose a sunny location for the terrace, far away from a pond and water feature. When designing a garden with stones and gravel, you should ideally give preference to bright, dry locations. The house facade is spared from green growth if you regularly cut back trees and bushes near the building.
Frequently asked questions
How can I remove green growth from the convertible top of my car?
Rabid scrubbing can irreversibly damage the fiber mesh on the convertible top. Gentle methods are therefore required to remove green deposits and other contaminants. First clean the green canopy with warm water, soap and a sponge. The Tapir upholstery cleaner brush with integrated tank is perfect. Finally, use a vacuum cleaner to vacuum up dissolved particles and water. Washing vacuum cleaners are known from carpet cleaning and can be rented inexpensively.
Dirty green covering spoils our roof tiles. Is there an effective way to remove green growth from the roof naturally?
There is the option of cleaning the moss-covered roof of green deposits with a high-pressure cleaner. As a result of the high water pressure, the roof tiles are roughened and literally washed out. The cleaning campaign therefore inevitably results in a fresh coating of roof tiles, because otherwise new green cover is inevitable. Alternatively, arm yourself with a brush, sponge, washing soda and vinegar. First, guarantee your secure footing on the roof. Then scrub the bricks with warm washing soda solution. Finally, spray the roof tiles with vinegar to prevent new verdigris.
Our awning is dirty with green deposits despite extensive impregnation. What to do?
Impregnation unfortunately does not offer an awning complete protection against verdigris. To ensure that your sun protection shines sparkling clean again, you don't have to resort to chemical agents. Instead, make a mild detergent using mild detergent and 40 degree warm water. Apply the solution with a sponge. After allowing it to act for 15 to 30 minutes, rinse off the soap residue and green deposits from the awning with clear water from a water hose or watering can.
Green covering is spreading on our wooden terrace made of WPC boards. How can the green, slippery deposits be removed naturally?
As a combination of wood and plastic, WPC boards (wood-plastic composites) on a wooden terrace can be cleaned very well. You can safely avoid having to resort to chemical tricks. Sweep the terrace beforehand to remove any loose dirt. Then fill warm water into a 10 liter bucket and stir in 20 grams of soda powder. Use a sponge to spread the lye on the WPC floorboards. After an exposure time of 2 hours, you can clean away the green deposits with a brush or scrubber. If necessary, repeat cleaning until all debris is removed.
Tip
Biocidal products attract people with the argument that they remove green growth automatically. The flip side of the coin is that Mellerud green deposit removers and comparable products have a harmful effect on aquatic organisms and other soil organisms. In the fight against annoying green deposits, you are doing nature a valuable service if you use natural remedies and accept a little sore muscles after scrubbing.
