Floor cleaner / Mop bucket solution?

[Will H]

Just wondering what everyone uses to mop up the floor in their garage? I have an epoxy floor, and currently have a mess of rust shavings/powder, PB blaster, and brake fluid that has been mixed by wet shoes and smeared all over the place. It's dried up, and I'd like to mop it up now that the project is out of the way. I put a few gallons of straight Greased Lightning in a mop bucket, and it made decent initial progress. But I still have a smeared mess everywhere, and the GL seems to be too dirty to be useful now. At $7/gallon, I'd say it's a bit pricy to mop, rinse, repeat. I was hoping to keep it around for spot cleaning, but it seems now that it's so dirty it just makes the floor worse.

Anyone have any good alternatives? Pinesol, Simple Green, etc? Or do I just need a full bucket to dilute the greese & dirt further?

Maybe this time it's so dirty I'm just SOL, but thought I'd ask anyways. If cheap-o pinesol cuts grease and oil well enough then I'll skip the Greased Lightning next time.

 

[bmwpower]

DILUTE, my son. I use Simple Green, quite diluted. Then, in a spray bottle, I have straight Simple Green. I walk around and mop the floor with the diluted stuff. Then, stuff that won't come up with decent scrubbing, I spray with the straight Simple Green and let it sit for a little while, then mop up. If THAT doesn't bring up the spot, it's time to break out the carb cleaner.

This seems to work for me.

 

[boiler7904]

Similar to BMWPower, I use Simple Green. I start by hosing down the entire garage to get rid of the big loose stuff. Then using a spray bottle with straight Simple Green, I spray the floor and mop one quadrant at a time. Between having a wet floor and a wet mop, the straight SG dilutes itself. Rinse and repeat as required.

Acetone gets used on some stubborn spots like paint overspray.

 

[1320stang]

Take a green scratch pad and put it over the mop in the handle, you can use it to get stubborn spots without having to bend over and show your plumber's crack.....

 

[Will H]

Thanks for the ideas. Sounds like Simple Green may be the better way to go from now on.

I don't really have any stuborn spots. Just a giant mess thats getting smeared around more than cleaned up. I'll start by diluting the Greased Lightning and see if that works a bit better. I had originally planned to do that, but the bottle recommended using it full strength on floors. If that doesn't work, I'll switch to Simple Green and see if that works any better.

 

[bmwpower]

Take a green scratch pad and put it over the mop in the handle, you can use it to get stubborn spots without having to bend over and show your plumber's crack.....

Or get a mop head with the scratch pad built in.

 

[gotmud13613]

another vote for Simple Green diluted.

 

[neblinc]

Just a FYI, but PB blaster left a stain on my epoxy floor, It had sat there quite a while when I was tearing down my tractor, did not see it between the wheels.

Randy

 

[Yotaforce]

Purple Power heavily diluted! And I believe it is cheaper too. In concentrate it will degrease an engine, diluted, it leaves a nice, clean, non slippery surface to walk on. That's just my bag!

 

[InPrimer]

my garage has epoxy coating on it, I found that the best solution (after you solved the clean up mess you have ) is to use cardboard sheets. I mess around a lot with my son's old ford. I go to the local furniture store and get cardboard sheets that furniture comes in , they are happy to give it to you ,95% of the debris lands on the cardboard and then sweep it into a pile and shop vac it, the wet stuff is mostly absorbed by the cardboard ,then with a utility knife I cut it up when the cardboard is too saturated. hope this helps

 

[Danglerb]

Big Lots has Simple Green MAX for garage work on sale, one spray bottle wrapped up with a gallon jug for $6. Its supposed to really go after grease and oil.

 

[MDH9252]

I use the plain Simple Green for just about everything...good cleaner but not too agressive. Be careful with Simple Green EXTREEM....it's much stronger than regular Simple Green and will etch paint! (lesson learned )

 

[alteredpilot]

i've found that mopping epoxy floors only spreads the grease around.

i's a pain, but i use a two mop (and a broom) approach...something like this....

hose the floor down (but not flooded)
then squirt some straight simple green over the wet area (it will dilute as you work).

scrub the entire area with a stiff bristled plastic (or whatever) broom to loosen any stubborn junk.

i use my 'dirty mop' (with a little SG in the water) to pick up the dirty water and wring it out REAL good before going back down, then i go back over the entire area with my 'clean mop' and fresh, clean water.

its a pain, but in 20 years of mopping garage floors its what has worked best for ME...(there's GOT to be a better way)

BTW...
when i'm done, i always wring my mops out REAL good and soak 'em in clean water with a little heavy SG in it, then finish by pressure washing them clean.

its a lot of extra steps, yes, but my mops last longer and my floor looks better.

 

[Will H]

Thanks everyone. I do have some cardboard around, but usually forget to use it. That Big Lots deal sounds pretty good. Is the MAX the same as EXTREEM? I'm already having flaking paint/powdercoat problems with my hoist, so I better be careful with that.

 

[mikeceli]

About a cup of TSP (tri sodium phosphate) in the bucket/ringer. Cheap, powerful cleaner.