You can purchase special cleaners for patio's, most diy/garden stores.
I don't know how good they are though.......

hands and knees and scrub :-)

a stiff broom/scrubbing brush and elbow grease.

But why bother, it will simply get dirty again! We just sweep when it gets too grungy... then we are not posh gardeners!

Can i ask why you dont want to use a pressure washer?

The reason im a bit puzzled is because they do such a good cheap & quick job even without any special cleaners
and you can hire one for a few pounds for the day that would work out very cost effective.

But the other way is to buy whats known as a "DECK SCRUBBING BRUSH" and then you'll use a lot more water via the hose pipe than you'd use with a p/washer and its very hard work scrubbing the patio in this manner.

But good luck and i hope you enjoy the task.

Yes they do Dungy and they leave everything squeaky clean... which we don't want :-)

You don't need to use a hose pipe with a deck brush. Just fill an old washing up bowl with hot soapy water and go for it. Works a treat and is good exercise into the bargain.
You don't have to do it all on the same day!

I don't like everything too clean either, but if you're determined to get it clean I reckon Steragram has the best idea, if you're physically up to it then it's excellent exercise and as has been pointed out, you can do a bit at a time if you're not too fit!

I agree with Steragram...

I disagree "again" with moon growe,
And this is why,

firstly whats the floor coverig made of on this patio??

if like my own patio "its concrete slabs of a very rough surface and not in anyway a smooth one"

then not to get the dirt off the slab surface would only leave the muck to dry back inbetween all the roughnes of the slab,
and again because of the roughnes of the slabs you'd have a hell of a job brushing this now dust off.

And any marks left from using pots on the patio and all the watering of those pots leaves a mark under the pots and again if its a rough surface its very very difficult to remove.

Smooth slabs /tiles,

Around our pool we have a smoother tile idea but because of both nature and all it has to offer in the winter and the fact that i have a long cross ended section of photinia hedging at one end,
the bottom of the hedge leaves marking thanks to rain and the leaves leaving a dark mark,
Again not only do i want to clean away any marks but also nesting places for any bacteria !!!!

The way i look at it is in two ways (1) being when i layed the patio i was happy with a nice clean flooring i didnt go out to buy a half clean one,
(2) No matter what system you use it'll soon start to return to that not perfectly clean look.

And as an extra thought, if you paid someone to clean it and after they'd finished it looked half clean would you be happy and think you'd got your monies worth???

When you go to buy slabs / tiles do you only want to see half cleaned ones? I dont think so.

But it your patio, your friends coming to see your efforts and at the end of the day your choice?

As ive said good luck and enjoy your gardening.

Our front patio is Indian stone isn't completely smooth and looks much better now it has weathered rather than the raw look the stone had when first laid. The patio in the back garden is cement slabs with some sort of coating... which is gradually wearing away. Neither has ever seen a pressure washer or scrubbing brush and the only time they get wet is when it rains!

I tried pressure washing some old concrete slabs and it looked awful so I have left well alone to weather naturally.

Dungy, a lot of people like the weathered look, and don't feel the need for outside spaces to look spotless. It's not like you'll be eating off the outside slabs so it really doesn't matter to many people if they've got marks under the pots etc but we're all different. You like your patio squeaky clean, a lot prefer a more natural look. As for bacteria, it's outside, so I expect bacteria out there in the garden/patio/back yard, and would always wash my hands when I come back inside the house.

I've had good success with concrete slabs using the really cheap large bottles of bleach (29p from Tescos) Obviously keep it off the plants . A bottle will cover about 6-8 square yards. Apply a cup full and spread it over the patio with a stiff brush until you get a bit of lather . leave it on for a few minutes then wash off with clean water.

This can work superbly well leaving the slabs as new but on some slabs it isn't very effective.

I'd suggest testing a small area and waiting to see the results

I agree with anchorman, If you like them clean then use bleach, If you have a farmers store or a shop selling horse equipment you can buy a large plastic carrier of bleach, people like that use it after mucking out. We use it on our patio too. You'll be amazed.

I usually mix vinegar and water to make a scrub for the dirty brick walls and scrub it in with a sponge, this can be left on the walls to dry or washed off by chucking water over it (using a bucket or hose). Then I brush up the leaves and put them in a bag and dispose of those. Next I mix fairy liquid and water and scrub the patio surface, after a goid scrub I wash it away with water using a hose or throwing buckets of water over it. Sometimes I will scrub vininegar, normal surface disinfectant or diluted bleach into the ground before rinsing-the vinegar and surface cleaner doesn't need to be rinsed. Sometimes after cleaning, I hoover the patio, this makes it look super clean an tidy. It is a good idea to do this around once every month or two. This is an idea for those who don't want to splurge out on expensive patio cleaners, although I am sure there are some cheap ones for those who dont like the effort. Remember, my method is juat for people like me who prefer a spotless patio

Heavens Cleandude, you are well named! I guess a lot depends on what sort of garden you have. If you have a small neat front garden facing the road you'd feel more need to have it spotless than if you have a largeish country garden subject to all sorts of bird droppings, leaf fall, ants, moss etc...

Hoover the patio... well there is a first time for everything I guess but hoovering the patio is not likely to happen in our or and of our friends gardens! As Stera says in the countryside you just live and let live...I've got better things to do with my life than try to keep the patin spotless - or the kitchen floor for that matter!

I'm with you on this one MG. life is too short especially in the countryside.