Does anyone have experience on how to remove red clay stains on brick? My builder did a piss poor job at keeping straw down during construction and now I have red stains all over the front of the house. The brick that I have is not the same color throughout the brick. Trying to explain this. The face of the brick is like a grey color, while the majority of the brick is red. Once the brick is laid you only see the face of the brick. So any way, with that kind of brick I don't think I can use acid to clean off the red clay. I am not sure though. Any insight would be great.

Lowes & home repot sell stuff specifically for that. I've never used so i don't know how good it works....

Acid, it wont hurt the brick.

Pressure washer. Never seen any type of mud in brick that a pressure washer won't take care of.

Yes it will if you're not careful.

I have pressure washed the brick, and even scrubbed it with soapy water. This did not work. My understanding from what research I have done is the iron in the red clay has stained the brick. So I got to use something that will get rid of the iron.

depends on the acid. we use Sulfamic Acid Crystals on brick everyday. ($6/lb at Home Depot)

dissolves in water. not bad on your hands.

we are usually cleaning grout/mortar residue though, not clay

Try CRX or Greased lightning cleaner but DO NOT USE A PRESSURE WASHER. Some brick are fired with a aggregate finish and pressure washer will knock it off the brick facing. Happened on a house I built once. Acid won't cut the red dirt stain because it has no cement in it.

Pressure washer can cause a lot of damage if you use them wrong.

Had to go to Kentucky one time to fix a big house that the contractor used a pressure washer on. Not all brick are created the same! Some have a sand coating and others have a slurry coating. If your brick has either one YOU CAN NOT PRESSURE WASH IT! I guess you can , but you will have a messed up striped brick.

Try shure clean

this and a stiff brush should do it.

Find a brick paint color you like and go for it. That red clay stain was probably absorbed into the brick itself.

That why you never pay 100% till complete. Make it his problem.

Acid and shut clean won’t do anything on dirt mud stains. It only reacts with the lime in the mortar for cleaning it off. What I would recommend is take one of your left over brick to Home Depot and have them match the color with the laser eye they use. Tell them you want a masonry stain which will be for concrete will work fine on brick. If you have pigment colors or flash marks on the face of the brick you will need that color also. Simply get a sponge brush and apply it. Don’t go to heavy with it you can always paint more on. And if you have pigment colors just take an artist brush for them

Mud B gone. We sale it to contractors for final cleaning. Demcosystems.com.

I ordered some red clay stain remover
https://www.eco-wares.com/How-to-Clean-Red-Clay-Stains-from-Concrete-Brick_b_13.html

This stuff works great!!

I know this is an old thread but I have the same problem as the OP. I have a coated brick that has red clay stains in places around the house. Looking at purchasing the same stuff OP mentioned. Anyone have any input. Thanks in advance!

When my wife and I was building our house we both had 1st shift full time jobs and wasn't always around during construction. My dad tried keeping tabs on the build when we was at work, and one of the things he done was went and bought and laid down hay around our foundation when brick was being laid. Thanks Dad! Once those red clay stains soak in, you got em forever.

THIS is what solved the OP's problem!