Your Complete Guide on How to Clean Artificial Grass

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how to clean artificial grass

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Knowing how to clean artificial grass will prove essential if you want your artificial lawn to continue to look as good as it did when it was initially installed. It turns out that this won’t be the most challenging task to perform, which is helpful because it’s something you should be doing frequently.

People do make the mistake of believing that there’s no such thing as artificial grass maintenance. They think it’s all in the domain of natural grass, so when you remove that turf, then all of the maintenance is over. Well, that’s not true.

So, let’s look at how to clean artificial grass to get it to look as good as new.

General Maintenance

Before we move into the steps and teach you how to become a prolific artificial grass cleaner, we need to note one crucial factor, and that’s where you need to brush your synthetic turf. It is something that should be done weekly, but as you are about to see, there are times when you need to increase the maintenance of your fake grass.

So, aside from knowing what you need to do, you also need to be aware of the items you require in your arsenal.

Important Tools

In order to clean your artificial turf, you do need a few tools that will make life easier when it comes to looking after your synthetic grass. Tools should perhaps include the likes of the following.

As you can see, the list is short, but there will be a couple of other items that we will mention later on for use under certain circumstances.

Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning Your Artificial Grass

Step 1: Clear the Debris

Small debris can get into the lawn and stay there. That is why a leaf blower is going to prove to be very useful, as it will have the power to blast all of that small debris out of there and allow you to push it into a pile.

It will prove to be the hardest part of the entire process. It’s also something you need to do year-round, or you will have debris rotting and getting into the base of your artificial grass. That will then make the process of cleaning your artificial lawn a lot harder.

Step 2: Deal With Pet Waste

Pet owners need to remove pet waste, but in all honesty, you shouldn’t allow pet waste to be sitting on your fake grass for too long. You should clean pet waste as soon as you see it has appeared. If you don’t, then the smell can infiltrate your fake lawn, and that’s going to lead to you requiring a turf deodorizer to sort the problem out.

Step 3: Brush the Grass

You also need to brush the grass, and you should use a stiff broom to do this. Do not use a metal rake like you would with natural grass. That’s only going to damage the artificial turf rather than helping you to clean it.

Step 4: Work in Strips When Brushing

Begin in the corner of your lawn, and then work down in strips covering the entire lawn. Brush the grass upwards, so work in a direction whereby the grass blades are being pushed back into an upright position.

It will involve you going against the grain, so looking at how your fake grass is sitting and then going in the opposite direction.

Step 5: Deal With Any Weeds

Weeds are tough. They will work through any weakness around the edges of your artificial grass, so you need to deal with those weeds to keep your artificial lawn looking pristine.

Now, you can go ahead and use weed killer, but be careful that the harsh chemicals in the weed killer don’t discolour your fake grass. If you plan to use a weed killer, then make sure it has a pH of less than 8.

Stopping weed growth and preventing weeds from developing is something you need to do on a regular basis to maintain artificial grass correctly.

Step 6: After Killing Weeds, Remove the Debris

Once those weeds have been killed, you need to remove the debris to keep your artificial grass clean. You can get the leaf blower out again or use a stiff brush.

Step 7: Scatter With Sand

The final step is to scatter some sand over your artificial grass. Do a light cover, and then brush it into your artificial grass. It helps to protect the base of the artificial lawn, and even though you may not have to do this as often as the rest of the cleaning process, it’s still something that should be done on a semi-regular basis.

Those are the key steps when it comes to you trying to clean artificial grass. But what happens if you are dealing with a specific problem? Well, considering what we do on our artificial grass, it’s clear that accidents can happen, so here are some tips.

Dealing With Spills and Stains

Removing spills or stains from artificial grass is possible, but you need to understand the correct method. We will mention some additional specific problems later on that we feel most people may have to contend with at some point.

Spills

If someone spills a liquid onto your artificial grass, then get some paper towels and blot the spillage. It is the same approach as you would use inside your home, and it’s way more effective than most people would expect.

Make sure you dab and don’t rub. If you rub, then the spill could develop into one of those stubborn stains, but we do have advice on dealing with that in a bit.

Once you have finished dabbing, you can continue cleaning your artificial grass by rinsing the area with water.

Stains

Stubborn stains are harder to deal with, but they are not impossible when dealing with them on your artificial lawn.

For a stain, you want to use a water and detergent mix. Roughly, it should be a spoonful of detergent to 500ml of water.

Next, get a sponge and rub this mixture into the stain. Most spills and stains will react to this mix, and you can then rinse the artificial grass to get rid of the debris.

Sticky Substances

If you find the remains of a sticky substance on your artificial grass, then rest assured you can still get things clean. Use the same mixture as above, but get an old toothbrush and use it to scrub the area.

Pet Urine and Stains

cleaning artificial grass

It goes back to the earlier point about pets, but if you have pet urine, then while it kills real grass, it will still need to be dealt with when it comes to fake grass.

Get your garden hose, and rinse the area. The water will dilute the urine, so make sure you have the correct drainage system in place to allow the liquid to run off without pooling.

Removing Chewing Gum

You may reckon removing chewing gum from your synthetic lawn would be tough, but that’s not the case. Instead, you need an ice cube, and then apply the cube to the gum. That will harden the gum, and then once it’s set, you need to get something along the lines of a plastic putty knife to scrape it off. As it’s hard, it should come off in one go.

Snow and Ice

With cold weather comes the chance of snow and ice, so how do you clean artificial grass under those conditions? Well, do remember that fake grass won’t be negatively affected by snow or ice, but you still want to clear it off.

If it’s a light dusting, then get your plastic rake or brush and simply brush it away. It is easy to do, and removing ice manually using this method will not take long.

If the snow is thicker, then use a plastic snow shovel when cleaning artificial grass of snow and ice instead of a metal shovel. The metal shovel could damage the artificial grass, and you want to avoid that.

When clearing away snow, do leave a small layer behind that you can then brush off. That will help prevent you from damaging your grass.

Finally, if there’s been heavy ice instead of heavy snow, then leave the ice to thaw naturally. It’s easy to remove snow, but removing ice will mean you are likely to damage your artificial grass in the process.

It’s Still Low Maintenance

With proper care, looking after your artificial lawn should be easy. Knowing how to clean artificial grass is not rocket science, and it’s going to use up very little of your time if you carry out regular maintenance.

Just remember to avoid using metal rakes or metal shovels. Also, be careful with a spray fertilizer and take care when you want to apply weed killer.

If you care for it correctly, then your synthetic turf will last for years, and you can continue to enjoy it for the foreseeable future.

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