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Keeping your driveway clean is an important step in maintaining your home’s appearance. The benefits aren’t just cosmetic, either. Mold, algae, and moss can make pavement slippery and unsafe to walk on. Automotive fluids, such as oil and transmission fluid, can degrade the structural integrity of the concrete. Even simple dirt accumulation can create beds for weeds, allowing their roots to widen existing cracks. So, in a very real sense, keeping your driveway clean helps to preserve its safety and structural integrity.

One of the easiest ways to clean a driveway is by investing in a good pressure washer from a major brand. All you need to do is hook it up to your hose, power it up, and blast away. Not only does this clean the surface of your concrete, but it penetrates deep into the pores. That said, a lot of people might not want to purchase an expensive and space-consuming tool just to do one job.

Fortunately, there are two main methods of cleaning: mechanical and chemical. Using a pressure washer is a form of mechanical cleaning — literally blasting the dirt and debris from the concrete. It’s highly effective and requires minimal effort. That said, it isn’t the only way to clean your old driveway so it looks new again. You can also use a chemical cleaning solution with a bit of extra elbow grease. There are plenty of cleaning chemicals that are designed specifically for removing grime from driveways. But if you’re really in a pinch, you might even be able to use something that’s already sitting in your cabinet: baking soda. Additionally, there are several smaller and more affordable pressurized nozzles for you to choose from.

There are a lot of different compounds out there that are designed explicitly for cleaning driveways, patios, and other paved surfaces. Simple Green Concrete and Driveway Cleaner with Oxy Solve is one of the better-selling and higher-rated products on Amazon. This cleaner has a 4.2 out of 5-star rating aggregated from over 4,900 reviews. It’s primarily designed to work in tandem with a pressure washer, but the company also gives directions on how to apply it manually. To use it without a pressure washer, you need to mix two cups of the cleaner with one gallon of water, and then apply it with a soft-bristle brush or other scrubbing apparatus. Once the driveway is thoroughly scrubbed, let it sit for five to seven minutes, then hose it off. 

There are several other similar options available as well. Zep Driveway and Concrete Cleaner has garnered quite a reputation on TikTok as a solution that works wonders on oil stains. Meanwhile, Wet and Forget Outdoor Cleaner is specifically designed to target moss, mold, mildew, and algae. Those who don’t want to purchase a special cleaner for the job might be able to get away with just using baking soda. It’s abrasive, alkaline — and best of all — cheap.

To clean your driveway with baking soda, start by sweeping off as much debris as you can. Then get a large bucket and combine a cup of baking soda and about ¼ cup of dish soap per gallon of water. Stir this up good and then pour it over the parts of your driveway you want to clean. Let it sit for about 15 to 30 minutes, but don’t let it go dry. Then you’ll need to scrub it with a brush and, finally, hose it all down.

Cleaning compounds and elbow grease will win the day if you don’t own a pressure washer, but there are a few tools that can add a bit of blasting power to your hose without the need for a motorized pressure washer. The most basic of these is a simple hose nozzle. There are tons of multi-setting options, like the Automan Garden Hose Nozzle, that offer multiple watering patterns. If you own one of these, then the ‘jet’ setting is probably your best bet. There are also twist nozzles, like the Gilmour Heavy Duty Brass Twist Hose Nozzle, that can be twisted until they unleash a similarly concentrated stream.

That said, one of the best options if you don’t have a pressure washer is to get yourself a high-pressure nozzle. You can get the Carfka Jet Nozzle High Pressure Wand for just $19.99, for instance. This utilizes the same narrow frame and tip as a pressure washer, but it concentrates the water from your hose into a narrower stream instead of using gas or electricity to generate pressure. As such, the PSI will depend entirely on the output of your spigot.

There are also options with a more ergonomic design. The JetHose Pressure Washer Jet or the Pocket Hose Arrow, for example, both use a similarly narrow tube and small-opening tips to build pressure. Unlike the wands, they have a pistol grip with a lever to control the stream. These tend to be a bit pricier, however, generally retailing for around $50.