You know how appealing the decorative and durable resin bound surface can be. The mix of aggregates and resin creates a somewhat slip-resistant, low-maintenance driveway option. However, no driveway type is completely maintenance-free. To keep your resin driveway looking like new and prevent avoidable damage, proper cleaning methods and care are essential.
A small personal time expense in regular care or a minuscule investment in professional resin driveway cleaning services yields huge dividends by extending the lifetime of your driveway. Let’s get into the details on how to clean resin bound driveway:
Tools and Supplies Needed for Cleaning Resin Drives
Having the right cleaning solutions and tools on hand makes maintaining a pristine resin driveway much easier. Here are the recommended supplies to assemble:
- A stiff bristle brush. The stiffness allows you to scrub stains and sweep away debris. Avoid wire brushes or abrasive bristles that could scratch the resin surface.
- A large bucket. This will hold the cleaners and water you’ll mix to wash the resin drive.
- A standard garden hose. The spray nozzle allows you to rinse away cleaning solutions.
- pH-neutral cleaner. Dish soap or laundry detergent works well. Avoid acidic cleaners that could damage and discolour.
- Optional. A pressure washer with an adjustable nozzle. On the lowest pressure setting, power washers can provide a deeper clean for heavily soiled resin.
With these supplies in hand, you’re ready to revitalise a dirty resin driveway. Let’s go through the cleaning process step-by-step:
Step 1: Sweep Away Debris
The first step is a light sweep with your stiff brush to clear any loose dirt, leaves, gravel or other debris sitting on the driveway’s surface. This prevents debris from getting ground in as you scrub the surface. A quick sweep or blow with a leaf blower prepares the way for washing.
Step 2: Hose Down the Resin Surface
After sweeping, give the entire resin driveway a light spray with your hose on a standard setting. This further clears dust and grit from the resin finish. Let the water drain off completely before moving onto cleaning.
Step 3: Mix pH Neutral Cleaner in a Bucket
Fill your bucket halfway with warm water. Add a small amount of pH neutral dish soap or mild detergent – a couple of tablespoons should suffice. The cleaner will bind to and dissolve grime, oil spills and other residue on the driveway surface.
Step 4: Scrub Stained Areas
Use your stiff-bristled brush dipped in the cleaning solution bucket to scrub stains, tyre marks and heavily soiled areas of the driveway. Apply light pressure and circular motions. Let the cleaning solution sit for 5-10 minutes on any stubborn stains to fully dissolve the grime before scrubbing.
If you are dealing with oil or fuel spillage, then must go through this: How to get rid of oil from resin bound driveway.
Step 5: Rinse the Driveway Surface
Once you’ve spot cleaned any visibly soiled areas of the driveway, hose down the entire surface again to rinse away all residue. Avoid flooding the driveway. Let the rinsed surface dry completely before assessing if additional cleaning is needed.
Step 6: Repeat as Needed
Check for remaining stains or soiled patches. Repeat the scrubbing, soaking and rinsing process until your resin drive appears clean. Heavily stained areas may require 2-3 cleanings and soaking time to remove all traces.
Step 7: Power Wash for Heavy Soiling
For block or bound paving driveways with absolute built-up dirt, soot, moss growth, leaf debris, vehicle fluids, chewing gum and other grime that standard cleaning can’t remove, get the pressure washer. On the lowest setting with a flat spraying nozzle, jet wash from top to bottom in lines across the full driveway. This provides a deeper clean while being safe for resin surfaces.
Helpful Cleaning Tips
Follow these additional tips for effective resin driveway cleaning:
- Always test cleaners on a small, inconspicuous area before applying widely to check for discolouration or damage.
- Wear protective eyewear and gloves when cleaning. Resin can splatter debris under pressure.
- Limit water use. Too much water exposure over time could compromise resin bonds. And you might end up with a standing-water headache.
- Avoid flooding low areas and dips to limit water pooling under the driveway.
- For oil and fuel spillages, sprinkle cornstarch on the spot to absorb oil before scrubbing.
- Rinse away all cleaning residue thoroughly after washing. Lingering cleaner can eventually etch resin.
Regular Maintenance Keeps Resin Driveways Gleaming
While an initial deep clean may be needed for severely neglected resin drives, with proper regular cleaning and maintenance you can keep your resin bound driveway in good condition. Here are the maintenance steps we recommend to keep your driveway looking its best:
- Sweep/blow away debris weekly or more often if trees overhang your driveway. Don’t let leaves and dirt settle in.
- Hose down driveway monthly to prevent algae, moss and weed growth.
- Check for tyre, oil or fuel stains and clean promptly when they occur to prevent staining. Also for tyre marks you should stop turning your steering wheel when the vehicle is idle.
- Scrub and spot clean as needed, at least every 3 months.
- Plan to do a deeper clean 1-2 times per year with a pressure washer to prevent grime accumulation.
- Reseal your resin driveway every 1-2 years per manufacturer instructions. This protects the resin surface from sun damage, chemicals and water erosion.
Avoid Practices That Damage Resin Driveways
Just as important as cleaning resin properly is avoiding misguided practices that can permanently degrade your driveway’s appearance and integrity. Here are habits to avoid:
- Power washing at high pressures or with narrow nozzles held too close. This can etch the resin.
- As mentioned above, using acidic or abrasive cleaners which can discolour and damage the surface.
- Allowing significant vehicle fluid spills to sit for long periods and deeply stain.
- Pushing heavy objects like wheelie bins, skips etc across resin can scratch and you can have puddles on the surface. We’d recommend wooden planks for that.
- Applying rock salt as an ice melt product can leave white stains.
- Neglecting to reseal the driveway when needed causes sun and water damage over time.
If you face any difficulty or have questions regarding cleaning. Please don’t hesitate to contact us. We also offer driveway and patio sealing services in Southport. For any enquiries call us at 01704-620414
