Help with cleaning a driveway

S

skoons6694

New member
Hello, my partner and I just got a job cleaning a house as well as the driveway. This will be our first driveway and I have several questions. The driveway is blacktop and I have not found much information on this type of surface. The driveway is just dirty with top soil and the homeowner will be sealing it after we clean it. We will be using a cold water
4 gpm/3000psi machine and doing the driveway with the wand, as we do not have a surface cleaner yet. My questions are as follows: (1) What chemical should we use, if any? (2) How much pressure is normally used on blacktop and what spray
pattern(15, 25, 40)? (3) What is the best way to clean a driveway(where to start, which direction to clean in.....)? Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
 
my 2 cents worth

Start out with a blower first and get the heavy off.
If you have 2 guys use a push broom and point the blower at the back of the broom while one sweeps.
Then just wand it with a 40 deg tip or a water broom.
Start from the high side to the low side.
By getting most of the dirt with the broom/blower the washing will go fast.
 
Be carefull not to get the wand too close to the asphalt or you'll be blowing chunks out of it!

Gav
 
I know there are some chemicals that will harm blacktop. Use a search to find out what thay are.
 
I would use a blower also for the big loose stuff, then use low pressure, around 1000 psi and a 15 or 25 tip. As previously posted don't get real close or you will loosen the blacktop where there are cracks. do a light cleaning and get the cracks clean. It isn't like concrete cleaning because you/they are putting a new (light) coating down. Don't use any degreasers because it will weaken the dexterity of the blacktop. Should not take you long at all.
 
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