A balcony is a great way to step outside and enjoy a private space and some fresh air. However, it’s a lot less refreshing if you don’t keep your balcony space clean. The good news is that even if you don’t have a garden hose, you can still help give your concrete balcony a thorough cleaning. Keep reading and we’ll break it down!
How Do You Clean Your Balcony Without a Hose?
Garden hoses are a common tool in cleaning balconies but you don’t have to suffer a dirty balcony floor if you don’t have one. We’ll go over a few different ways that you can get your apartment balcony looking like new and ensure a consistently relaxing space.
What You’ll Need to Clean a Balcony
- Bucket
- Any size will do but bigger buckets are easier since they need refilling less.
- Warm water
- You’ll need enough water both for creating a cleaning mixture for your balcony and some to rinse it off at the end.
- Sponge or scrub brush
- Mop
- Liquid dish soap
- Broom
- Duster
- Multi-surface cleaner
- Cleaning supplies for any balcony furniture you may have
How to Clean a Balcony Without a Water Hose
Step 1: Start with a Cursory Cleaning
Start by cleaning your balcony items and even removing them from the balcony to allow you for a more all-encompassing cleaning.
Remember, you shouldn’t forget to take the time to clean your balcony furniture and any other plants or items you may keep outside as well as clean the balcony itself. Make sure as well not to forget about cleaning your awnings. If you have retractable awnings, now would be a good time to open them and clean them up. Even when closed they will still accumulate dust that you don’t want to deal with the next time you will be using it.
Since you can decorate a balcony space in so many different ways, this step can vary in exactly how to clean these design items. However, you’ll need to make sure to sweep and dust any loose debris away.
Step 2: Use a Multi-Surface Cleaner
You should also pay careful attention to any part of your balcony that could benefit from individualized care or a little one-on-one work with a multi-surface cleaner. For example, make sure to take the time to take glass cleaner to any windows.
Step 3: Mix Some Soap and Water
Now that your balcony is ready for you to tackle the floor, you’ll need to create a cleaning solution for it.
For this, you’ll want to start by grabbing your bucket and adding in some warm water. Remember, you’ll need to carry this bucket out to the balcony.
Once you have the water, add a few drops of liquid dish soap so that you have a soapy cleaning solution.
Step 4: Start Mopping
From here, you can start mopping your balcony floor with the mixture! If you find a tough spot, a scrubbing brush can help tackle areas that need a little extra elbow grease. Don’t forget to clean any railing with a sponge too!
Step 5: Drying Everything Off
Once you’re done, you can rinse everything off with a fresh round of clean water. The good news is that, since a balcony is an outdoor area, you can often simply let the area dry out on its own.
How to Clean Your Balcony with Laundry Detergent
Step 1: Create Your Cleaning Solution
This method is especially helpful if you have a wood balcony.
For this step, you’ll need to grab some bleach, water, and detergent. It’s absolutely crucial that the laundry detergent that you use is ammonia-free. Mixing ammonia and bleach causes a chemical reaction that creates a toxic gas, so you absolutely don’t want a detergent with ammonia here.
Once you have your supplies, mix the following measurements in a bucket:
- ½ cup of ammonia-free laundry detergent
- 4 cups of bleach
- 12 cups of water
Step 2: Start Cleaning Your Balcony Floor
After you mix your solution, you can start using it with a scrub brush on the balcony. For the best results, let the mixture sit for a few minutes before you rinse the balcony floor with a fresh bucket of clean water.
How to Clean Your Balcony with Vinegar and Water
Step 1: Create Your Cleaning Solution
Another cleaning solution that works wonders for balcony floors is actually vinegar and water. This is handy since many people already have white vinegar handy! For standard concrete balcony floors, a one-to-one ratio will work here.
From there, you can follow the same steps we discussed above to mop and scrub your balcony.
Step 2: Tackle Tough Stains
If you run into any particularly stubborn stains, letting a baking soda paste set on the area for thirty minutes can help. You can create a paste by mixing water and baking soda until you have a pasty consistency. Then, just tackle it with a scrub brush as needed and rinse it off.
How to Clean the Balcony with a Pressure Washer
Step 1: Find the Right Pressure Washer
Since you don’t have a garden hose, you’re going to need to choose the right pressure washer. Luckily, there are plenty of models like this available including this one. Models like this allow you to fill a reservoir with clean water to work from rather than a direct source like a water hose hookup.
Step 2: Remove Items
When you’re using a pressure washer, you won’t want to hit everything on your balcony. As such, now is a good time to move items like potted plants to avoid damaging them.
Step 3: Follow the Manufacturer’s Instructions
From there, you can follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to power wash with your exact model. You can clean a brick house with a pressure washer easily.
Common Asked Questions
If It’s So Much Effort to Clean a Patio, and It’s an Outdoor Area, Why Even Try to Keep It Clean?
Just like any other part of your home, cleaning your balcony can help keep things tidy and keep your balcony looking just like new. If you regularly clean your patio or balcony too, it can help you prevent stains and even keep things as hygienic as possible.
Not to mention, since it’s an outside area, it’s likely to get dirty quickly, making it a little uncomfortable if you don’t commit to regular maintenance. Also, make sure to have an expert inspect your garage doors every once in a while. If your garage doors make some strange noise or the sound is growing more wrenching while opening or closing, you need to contact the experts at Titan Garage Doors for help.
You can also dazzle your neighbors with these curb painting stencils to perfectly coordinate with your home!
Should You Vacuum Your Balcony or Clean It with Water?
This actually depends a bit on the situation! Generally speaking, if you’re just worried about debris then a vacuum cleaner can be a great option.
There are instances that a vacuum can help in tandem with another method, though. If you’re cleaning a balcony with water, a water vacuum can help soak up any excess water at the end.
How Can You Reduce Dust on Your Balcony That is Low Maintenance?
It’s hard to make sure that dust never happens, especially when you’re talking about an outdoor balcony space. Yet, there are a few things that you can do to help reduce the frequency of your dusting.
You can help reduce how open your balcony is to the elements without completely bringing it indoors with the help of a mesh screen.
Believe it or not, it’s a good idea to hang your plants up high too! They can attract dust and they still will but that can work to your advantage. Planting them up high on your balcony and creating a perimeter around the balcony can help block some of the dust coming onto your balcony.
How Do You Set Up a Stunning Balcony Maintenance?
We already went over a few tips in looking at how to reduce dust such as using plants but there are a few more key things to remember too.
When you’re designing your home or apartment balcony, start with the basics like a set of chairs and a table. You can spruce up the space with an outdoor rug but you’ll have to remember to keep that clean as well. Finally, if you reduce the amount of clutter on your balcony, it will help keep it generally cleaner as well. Plus, it gives you fewer items to upkeep on the balcony.
Did you like our tutorial? With these steps, you can keep your balcony floor looking like the day you moved in! If you found these tips helpful, make sure to let us know below and to send this handy guide to a friend.
