Cleaning Concrete Floor

[WNYflyer]

GJ folks,

Here is the problem,

60 year old concrete garage floor (24' x 42') in great condition other than being extremely dirty. Never sealed that I can tell and wouldn't expect it to have been given its age. Over its life it has been subjected to oil, grease, anti-freeze, transmission fluid, cutting oils, etc. well just about anything auto related. Water beads up on it in spots due to soaked in oil.Basically 60 years of grime.

Basically looking for recommendations on any perhaps "Citrus" ( basically non - "nasty" stuff ) based concrete cleaning products that anyone has used that worked well. Not trying to clean it up to put any coating on it just trying to do a general cleaning to make it look better.

I typically look to the professional supply houses for stuff like this and have seen products from Dayton Superior, Euclid, L&M, etc. Any real world recommendations ?

Thanks in advance,

 

[djjsr]

For stubborn oil/grease stains, I use lacquer thinner. Caution - VERY flammable. Mineral spirits for lighter stains, it's cheaper. There are safer cleaners available but never had much luck with them.

 

[Mustanger]

Agree with djjsr on the mineral spirits, just make sure you have good venation. Simply Green Extreme is a really good general degreaser that is biodegradable.

 

[Az Scooter]

D-Limonene. There are sources for it all over, but do not expect it to be cheap. It does work really, really well, though.

 

[Andy4639]

How about a pressure washer and this stuff. I plan on doing mine this spring and want to wash it good then seal it. 5 gallons is $125.00 but I shouldn't have to use but maybe 2 gallons the rest should do me for awhile. My garage is only 2 years old this March.


http://www.greenterpene.com/Product...&Click=20451&gclid=CIvXqbfx_58CFRTyDAodZG0klg

 

[Az Scooter]

Mind you, I pressure wash for a living, and actually clean over 10 million feet of concrete a year, just for a frame of reference. If you have a hot washer, that will work amazing. If it is a cold washer, you will need to work at it a bit more, but it will work. More pressure and volume is better for something like this.

 

[WNYflyer]

Thanks to all that responded. Looks like the D-limonene based products such as the Greenterpene stuff and pressure washing is the way to go right now for a large area. I was looking at the industrial stuff from Euclid, L&M and they seem to all be based on the D-limonene stuff also. Just going to have to mess with the concentrations to see what works best.

Az Scooter...................10 million square feet/year ?........That got my attention

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Az Scooter]

Yep, lots of parking garages.

 

[Hammerdown]

Try a floor buffer with the scrubbing pad. This has a nylon bristled brush "pad" on it and when used with a good degreaser will scrub the detergent into the floor, emulsifying the oils and dirt and lifting them to the surface where they can be rinsed away. You can usually rent these at Sunbelt Rental or a home improvement/hardware store, and they will save you a lot of "elbow grease". I would not use any solvents with this, just a good degreaser.

 

[Snap50]

How about a pressure washer and this stuff. I plan on doing mine this spring and want to wash it good then seal it. 5 gallons is $125.00 but I shouldn't have to use but maybe 2 gallons the rest should do me for awhile. My garage is only 2 years old this March.


http://www.greenterpene.com/Product...&Click=20451&gclid=CIvXqbfx_58CFRTyDAodZG0klg

That's what I thought, but the stuff does not have a ling shelf life.
I have 3 gallons of useless toxic waste that I need to pay to get rid of now.
If you can buy gallons, do it.

 

[WNYflyer]

That's what I thought, but the stuff does not have a ling shelf life.
I have 3 gallons of useless toxic waste that I need to pay to get rid of now.
If you can buy gallons, do it.

Thanks for the heads-up. Yep learned that lesson long ago. Should have seen the stuff in my garage when I bought the house from my Grandfather's estate . Almost anything like that I buy now one of the first things I look at it how easily can I get rid of the leftovers. I try to buy only as much as I need.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Check with your local municipal refuse service, many of them have special programs or facilities for dealing with toxic materials.

Here in Los Angeles they operate a collection center every Saturday, a well run program.

A bit surprised the citrus oil product has a shelf life. I've had some citrus based "De-solve-it" adhesive remover for years and it still works fine and appears to be the same as the day I bought it. Great stuff by the way.

BTW, we offer "OrganiClean 931", a concentrated, non toxic, degreaser and general cleaner. Dilute it up to 100:1, great stuff to have around the garage & house.