Cleaning plumera leaf stains off tiles

[Guderian 745]

My paths and driveway are paved with white tiles, not the wisest move, I know, but it wasn't my choice. Over the years the area beneath a large plumeria/frangipani/leelawadee tree has become badly stained from the dead leaves lying there. I assumed my handyman would know how to clean the stains off, but he's tried the usual path cleaners, petrol, alcohol, acid (not wise with all the grout around) and some chemiclean stuff that I gather is used to clean engine blocks. None of it works, even with the Karcher at full blast.

 

Does anybody have any experience with cleaning these dead leaf stains off tiles? Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

 

[bankruatsteve 958]

Have you tried a power washer?  If it has actually stained into the tile, you're probably screwed.

[Guderian 745]

3 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

Have you tried a power washer?  If it has actually stained into the tile, you're probably screwed.

Yes, I did mention that even the Karcher at full blast did nothing. There's lots of plumerias around the place, and I can't be the only one whose tiles have got stained. Or is it maybe that the tiles are a load of rubbish and the protective glaze isn't worth diddly squat? From what I recall, the tiles weren't exactly bargain basement.

[grollies 2,559]

If an acid wash won't remove it I think the stains are there to stay.

[Fruit Trader 383]

Have you tried hydrogen peroxide or liquid chlorine

[Guderian 745]

18 minutes ago, Fruit Trader said:

Have you tried hydrogen peroxide or liquid chlorine

No, I've got a bottle of hydrogen peroxide handy so I'll give that a go. It certainly works on my white tee-shirts when they get nasty stains on them

[Guderian 745]

51 minutes ago, grollies said:

If an acid wash won't remove it I think the stains are there to stay.

You may well be right. I said to my handyman as he was scrubbing the chemiclean in that it might be easier simply to replace the tiles. I'm disappointed though that some dead leaves will screw the glaze up like that.

[eyecatcher 2,664]

In fairness to the tile, any decent external floortile wouldnt or shouldnt have much of a glaze anyway as they are dangerous.

 

Do you mean "sealed" rather than "glazed"?

[VocalNeal 2,894]

For about 35 quid you can get a wet blast attachment for your power washer and sand blast the tiles.

[Guderian 745]

1 hour ago, eyecatcher said:

In fairness to the tile, any decent external floortile wouldnt or shouldnt have much of a glaze anyway as they are dangerous.

 

Do you mean "sealed" rather than "glazed"?

Yes, no idea what the terminology is, but I assume they must have some coating on the outside to protect them from the elements (If not from falling leaves, shades of the British railway network).

[Guderian 745]

51 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

For about 35 quid you can get a wet blast attachment for your power washer and sand blast the tiles.

That's something I'd leave to the handyman. I'll give teh hydrogen peroxide a spin tomorrow.

[VocalNeal 2,894]

Is the stain "in" the tiles or "on" the tiles?

 

If on you can try leaving a bag of ice on a tile then when cold scrape at the surface see if anything peels off?

[Guderian 745]

OK, the hydrogen peroxide worked just fine, thanks for suggesting that. You have to leave it soak for 30-60 minutes, or maybe even overnight, but it does a decent job of getting rid of the black stains. Now I just need to find an industrial-sized vat of the stuff, my 1 litre bottle won't clean many tiles.

 

 

BTW, this might not work so well on coloured tiles, I'm guessing it might affect the colour as well as removing the stains.

[bankruatsteve 958]

If peroxide works, then bleach would probably work better and less expensive.

[VocalNeal 2,894]

12 minutes ago, Guderian said:

OK, the hydrogen peroxide worked just fine, thanks for suggesting that. You have to leave it soak for 30-60 minutes, or maybe even overnight, but it does a decent job of getting rid of the black stains. Now I just need to find an industrial-sized vat of the stuff, my 1 litre bottle won't clean many tiles.

 

 

BTW, this might not work so well on coloured tiles, I'm guessing it might affect the colour as well as removing the stains.

 

Sorry to be thick but the bottle in the picture is not Hydrogen Peroxide?