Preparing black limestone patio for sealing

[1964johnr]

I have laid a Black limestone patio of 30m2 on 40mm of cement and sharp sand and pointed with a 4-1 mix of sharp and cement. I was a little concerned about mortar stains, but these have worn away naturally over the last couple of months. There was a little efflorescence, but most of that has also gone now. Advice from Roger told me to leave sealing until next spring and to use an impregnating colour restoring sealer such as Miracle 501 or Aquamix. I am going to do this and in the next few months will keep the flags as clean as possible and sweep the autumn leaves off from time to time. I have noticed that it is impossible to keep them really clean. Surface dirt and detritus is leaving it's mark. Before sealing in the spring I will need to clean them as best I can. Can one of the experts please guide me as to the best cleaning substance for my very porous Black Limestone. Thanks.

[RAPressureWashing]

Hello John,

Yes if you can keep leafs etc off as much as you can IE don't let debris sit there for weeks on end etc, then to clean this in the spring you can use the mix I have put up on the stains page on the main site, here http://www.pavingexpert.com/stains.htm it is the one for removing berry stains, it is an Alkaline based solution so is perfectly safe on Limestone or any natural stone for that matter.
All the instructions are on the main site, just follow them to the letter.
The sealer I would use is Miracle 511 seal & enhance, here is a link to the USA site but it is available over here.

http://miraclesealants.com/index.p....mid=178

Aqua-Mix is going to be hard to get hold of, from next year as they are pulling out of the UK market.

Let me know if you need any more help.

[1964johnr]

Thanks Roger. will use your Berry Remover.