If you’ve ever spent hours sweeping your patio, driveway or other outdoor area with a broom, you’ve been doing it all wrong, warns a professional cleaner.
Instead of struggling to do this task by hand, our cleaning experts recommend using a $42 leaf blower from Amazon.
This will help you complete important outdoor maintenance and cleaning tasks on large areas quickly and with minimal effort.
Karina Toner, professional cleaner and head of operations for Spekless, says this affordable device, pictured above, is a great place to start.
“It’s battery-powered, so it’s quieter and more environmentally friendly than a gas blower,” she says. “It’s also easy to operate and store, and it’s sturdy enough for weekly outdoor cleaning needs.”
Karina says replacing your outdoor broom with a blower can revolutionize the way you clean patios and driveways. “For outdoor cleaning, a blower is faster and more thorough, especially for removing dried debris, dust or pollen. It also saves time cleaning large areas and can clean corners under patio furniture,” she says.
If you suffer from back pain, knee pain or other joint pain and are used to cleaning with an adaptive pace, using a blower instead of a broom will also save you the hassle of moving most outdoor furniture or bending over. Simply point the blower in the right spot and it will do the hard work for you.
“If you’re still using a regular outdoor broom to clean your patio or driveway, it may be time to upgrade,” Karina adds.
A leaf blower does more than just blow away leaves; it’s a highly efficient tool for removing dust, pollen, twigs, dry grass clippings and other outdoor debris in a fraction of the time and with far less physical effort.”
Rather than pushing debris to the surface, the concentrated airflow does the heavy work for you, removing debris from under patio furniture, between bricks or pavers and across wide driveways with minimal effort.
Professional cleaner Karina points out the main benefits:
Speed: What might take you 15-20 minutes with a broom can be done in just 5 minutes with a blower.
Efficiency: It’s particularly good for uneven or textured surfaces where dirt hides in grooves.
Accessibility: It’s great for small spaces or corners that a broom can’t easily reach.
While there aren’t many of these devices, it’s always worth knowing about them before you ditch your broom completely. First, these appliances are noisy.
“If you’re sensitive to sound, consider using it during the day and wearing earmuffs,” Karina advises.
We recommend Amazon’s Pro For Sho earmuffs, which also come in handy when mowing the lawn or any noisy DIY project.
Blowers can also produce fumes if they’re gas-powered, and they’re not good for the environment. “They’re powerful, but they produce emissions,” Karina says. “For most homes, electric or battery-powered blowers are quieter, cleaner, and lighter.
Always keep blowers away from people, pets, and delicate plants. Avoid using a blower in very dry, dusty environments without a dust mask.”
Amazon’s Base Camp M Pro dust mask is comfortable to wear and perfect for dusty jobs, including landscaping and carpentry.
Karina has some tips to help you get the job done right with the least amount of mistakes, effort, or time.
Blow debris toward a designated area, such as a back corner, compost pile, or fence edge, and scoop it up with a shovel or gloved hands.
For a cleaner finish, lay a tarp or dust sheet over the target area first so you can catch all the debris at once.
“On wide driveways, work in sections and blow the debris in one direction to avoid redistribution.”
If you need to manually clean up mulch or debris, QVC’s clawed gardening gloves are useful because they protect your skin while making it easy to rake up small amounts of debris without the need for large tools.
Karina adds that these gloves are “very helpful for gardening and cleaning, and they are reusable.”
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