Stain removal *without* epoxy/tile/etc...

[somedumbname]

Hello all,

After spending time searching through cleaning/degreasing posts that were for pre-epoxy or pre-tile jobs, I'm now thoroughly confused as to what I should be using to remove the large stains on my garage floor.

The previous owners of my house apparently had some real junker cars, and there are large stains in my 2-car garage where the fronts of cars would have sat. In addition to the stained areas, there are also some odd tar-looking spots that seem to have some texture to them as well. I can take pictures if requested, I am just not at home right now to do so.

A lot of the posts I saw mentioned various chemicals and techniques, but some of them seemed to be damaging to the concrete from the descriptions involved. I assume this is the point in those cases, because you're also trying to "rough up" the surface to accept the epoxy.


So my basic question is this: What is the easiest and surest way to get rid of these stains without harming the concrete or finish? Previous owners lived in the house from '03-'08 timeframe, so we're talking probably 5 years of oil leakage onto the slab. Of course, I wouldn't let my cars leak...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Garage Flooring]

I am sure you will get a laugh out of this, but in 2008 I had to rent a place fairly quickly and moved into a place with a similar problem. I purchased 5 gallon jugs of Pour and Restore and it did the trick very well.

I have also used simple green and there is another product out of Canada that I have heard about but for the life of me can not remember the name

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You may never remove the stain. You need to remove the component that rejects coatings.
Keep working on it until the floor won't bead water. If you can't quite get there oil stop epoxy primers are available.

 

[Garage Flooring]

You may never remove the stain. You need to remove the component that rejects coatings.
Keep working on it until the floor won't bead water. If you can't quite get there oil stop epoxy primers are available.

OP: Reading Legacy's comments I must have misread your post. I thought you were not coating the floor. DO NOT follow my original suggestion if your are coating as I have never tested epoxy over Pour N Restore.

 

[somedumbname]

You may never remove the stain. You need to remove the component that rejects coatings.
Keep working on it until the floor won't bead water. If you can't quite get there oil stop epoxy primers are available.

I'm not actually coating the concrete or using epoxy. My question was that most of the cleaning solutions I found searching were specifically for prepping for epoxy. Since I'm not going to epoxy, I'm just trying to figure out what I should use that won't damage the concrete or it's finish.

 

[Edger]

It is probably impossible to remove the stains, I tried most methods over many years because I came from pressure water blast cleaning to concrete floor coating.

If you do make a big difference you usually clean the good concrete too and the contrast between the lighter stain and the lighter clean concrete remains about the same.

Old engine oil has two components that stain - first is the oil and second is the dirt or carbon, both go down into the concrete.

You need to **** it back up which is highly improbable. If you soak it in a solvent and use diatomaceous earth (clay, kitty litter, etc. are other names) on top and cover it with plastic it will wick up some of the oil, but the dirt stain usually remains.

Detergents and alkaline cleaners will only act on the top surface which some of them remove stains from completely, however after a couple of days the stain begins to soak back up again.