How to remove leaf stains from pavers

There’s almost nothing worse than seeing your gorgeous pavers stained by leaves. Can I clean it with some windex? Should I pour some bleach on it? Should I replace the pavers? These are all questions that might be running through your mind.

Leaf stains occur when dying or fall-time leaves from plants or trees fall onto your driveway, front entrance or patio pavers, staining them. The good news is that organic stains such as this are not permanent and can be prevented or minimized.

You could just do nothing and live with it and call it “aging.” But leaf stains on a patio is like having a dirty kitchen floor, so here are three options that you have to deal with these stains.

1. Waiting. You will find that, over the winter with snow and rain, 80% – 100% of the staining will disappear. Nature has a way of self-cleaning. Proof of this can be seen on public concrete sidewalks in heavily treed urban areas which are never permanently stained and actually look clean by spring.

2. Cleaning. Cleaning the surface with dish detergent or a product such as Simple Green Oxy along with warm water and a stiff bristle brush, will do an excellent job of cleaning the surface. Be careful when using a pressure washer that you don’t dislodge the joint sand and never pressure wash at point blank range against the surface. Doing so may damage the surface. Whenever you use cleaning substances, always test a small area in a less visible area to ensure that the results are acceptable.

3. Prevention. To prevent the deep penetration of the staining substances, it is recommended that sweeping or blowing the leaves off your paver surface regularly is your best defense. Another way to prevent the penetration of stains, is to install pavers that are pre-sealed in factory with a surface protection, such as Easy Clean. If your pavers don’t have a factory applied sealer, you can also apply an after-market sealer.

All in all these tips should ensure that you will have many years of enjoyment and use from your paver installation.