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How to Wash Outdoor White Rock

Bright white landscaping stones seem appealing in walkways, borders and in French drains, particularly when you first lay the rocks, but the look goes downhill when the stones get dirty and depressed. Soil can be kicked onto the stones, dust blows over to coat the stones and lawnmowers can blow grass and leaf debris to the rocks. You would spend all your spare time picking heavy debris out and washing the stones individually by hand. It’s much easier to remove the stones in the bed before attempting to clean them, though cases of light dirt and debris do not require removal.

Rake on the surface of the stones gently with a leaf rake to choose out light debris without disturbing the stones. If there are just a few blades of grass, leaves or sticks, it might be worth the time to only pick them out by hand.

Spray the stones with a garden hose to clean off light dirt and dust without having to remove the stones in the bed. Avoid spraying with high pressure because this can dislodge the soil under, causing mud splatters.

Scoop the stones off the ground with a scoop shovel or apartment shovel and place them in a bucket.

Set a wire mesh screen soil sifter over a wheelbarrow. Purchase a soil sifter or create your own by stapling 1/2-inch diameter hardware cloth to a square frame created with two-by-fours.

Pour a little batch of the stones onto the monitor. Don’t add too many stones simultaneously because the burden might be too much for your display.

Grip the sides of the soil sifter and shake it back and forth to knock off any dirt and make it fall through the monitor. Pick out any debris that doesn’t fall through the 1/2-inch mesh. Put the soil sifter aside and dump out the dirt and debris. Replace the sifter in addition to the wheelbarrow.

Spray the stones with a high-pressure garden hose to rinse off stuck-on dirt. Turn them frequently to make sure you spray all sides of the stones. Scrub them with a scrub brush to clean off any dirt that doesn’t come free with all the spraying lonely.

Put the stone in a bucket with mild detergent and hot water. Scrub them with a scrub brush to remove the remaining dirt. This might not be necessary depending on the amount of dirt. If the stones are stained, then add bleach with the hot water rather than mild soap, using up to 1 part of bleach for every 9 parts of water. Rinse the stones well to remove all of the soap and bleach.

Establish the stones out to dry before putting them back from the garden so that they do not pick up dirt too easily.

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