How to Clean an Apartment Balcony

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Published: Last Updated on
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Balcony cleaning is necessary for keeping your outdoor space as fresh as possible. While it might not need as regular cleaning as indoors, it’s best done once a month to keep things tidy.

What’s more, cleaning your balcony is the best way to prevent pests such as rats and pigeons from using it as a food source.

In this guide, we cover how to clean a balcony. We’ll break it down into different areas and provide methods and products for each material type.

How to Clean Balcony Railings

When it comes to cleaning balcony railings, it does depend on the material. It’s best to start at the top and work down, meaning railings first and then the floor.

You can clean metal railings using dish soap and water, scrubbing in small gaps with a toothbrush or other small brush. Wipe down with a microfiber cloth to dry it.

How to Clean a Glass Balcony

Cleaning a glass balcony, and doors and windows, all use the same method. The steps for how to clean a glass balcony are as follows:

  1. Wash everything down with dish soap and water. This’ll remove grime and dirt.
  2. Wipe the glass surfaces with diluted white vinegar and a microfiber cloth.
  3. Work in circular motions, completely polishing the marks off.

While you can buy dedicated glass cleaning products, you can save yourself some money by buying a gallon bottle of vinegar and using that. There’s very little you can’t clean with vinegar!

If you wipe down your balcony’s glass elements once a week with a vinegar spray, you should find you don’t need to deep clean them very often.

How to Clean Balcony Doors and Ceilings

Depending on what your balcony door and ceiling are made from, you can follow the relevant methods for that material in this balcony cleaning guide.

Of course, your balcony ceiling shouldn’t get as dirty as the floor. You can probably get away with not washing it. If not, use a mild detergent and a long-handled outdoor brush.

While the method for concrete floors below is great, you don’t want to risk dripping bleach in your face!

How to Clean a Balcony Floor

Your balcony’s floor has the potential to get quite dirty. Whether it’s dropped food, litter, or just a build-up of grime, an unclean floor makes a massive difference to the balcony’s overall appearance.

So, let’s look at some balcony cleaning methods for the different types of floor.

Prepping

Before jumping into any balcony cleaning, you first need to prep the space. Begin by moving all plant pots, furniture and accessories so you have access to everything.

You might want to clean these separately, all of which can be done with a damp cloth.

Next, sweep the floor with a stiff broom. Pay attention to the corners, as dirt collects here easily. Sweep it into a bin bag and throw it away.

Metal and Tiles

Metal and tile floors are the easiest places to start, as they require the least attention.

  • Mix multi-surface cleaner or a mild detergent with water in a mop bucket.
  • Starting in the farthest corner, mop the floor, moving towards the door.
  • For tiles, use a grout cleaner if it’s looking particularly dirty. You’ll then need to mop again.
  • Hose the floor down and wait for it to dry.
  • Once dry, put everything back where it was.

Wooden Floor

When it comes to cleaning a balcony floor made of wood, you need to pay a bit more attention. Harsh chemicals could ruin any varnish or finish on the wood or cause untreated wood to dry out much quicker.

Instead, you can mix your own excellent floor cleaner using a few household items. For a standard mop bucket’s worth of water, mix:

  • Quarter-cup of washing up liquid
  • One cup of white vinegar
  • A few drops of baby oil

The baby oil is a suitable conditioner for wood and helps give it a very mild shine.

Simply mop the floor down and wait for it to dry.

If there are any stains on your wooden balcony floor, use sodium percarbonate. It’s surprisingly strong but is completely natural, meaning it’s much better for the environment (and your floor) than harsh chemicals.

Follow the package instructions, scrub onto the deck using a stiff brush and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse off using a mop and clean water so you don’t hose it down onto your neighbor’s balcony!

Concrete Floor

Concrete floors are easy to clean with another homemade concoction. Mix two parts bicarbonate of soda and one part bleach. Scrub this onto the floor using a brush (be sure to wear a mask).

Again, rinse off with a hose or a mop after 30 minutes or so.

How to Clean a Balcony Without a Hose

If you’re wondering how to clean a balcony without a hose, just know you still have options. As mentioned above, a mop bucket and water is a completely viable way to complete your balcony cleaning.

What’s more, doing it this way minimizes the amount of water you drip down onto your neighbor’s balcony. Hoses use a lot of water, whereas a mop bucket is relatively limited.

As long as you have a sink in your apartment (which is likely), you can still clean your balcony just as easily as if you had a hose.

If you’re concerned about water dripping during your balcony cleaning, there are a couple of options.

  1. Use microfiber pads to soak up as much water as possible during cleaning.
  2. Try to block the gap with a tarpaulin or waterproof outdoor rug.
  3. Buy a wet-vac (the most expensive but successful option).

Keeping Your Balcony Clean

Hopefully, this balcony cleaning guide has given you some tips on how to clean your balcony.

While none of the jobs is difficult, it helps to create a clear schedule. The more often you clean, the less effort it takes.