To clean oil stains off concrete using borax: Make a paste of 1/2 cup borax with hot tap water. The water must be hot enough to dissolve the borax crystals. Apply the paste over the oil stain and scrub with a stiff nylon bristle brush, and allow it to sit there for at least an hour.
The pH of boric acid solution at 95 °C is less than 3 [1], and it is relatively corrosive at a high temperature [2], with the ability to corrode stainless steel and concrete.
Alkaline cleaners, like chlorine bleach, ammonia, borax, and baking soda should also be avoided as sealed concrete floor cleaners. For nonporous surfaces, OdoBan can even sanitize and disinfect concrete when used as directed to clean sealed concrete floors.
Dish soap and water: Dish soap is a degreaser, and it works well to clean oily and grimy concrete. Create a cleaning solution of warm water and few drops of dish soap and apply it to the surface. Let it sit for a while, then mop the patio and rinse it with fresh water. Repeat the process as many times as needed.
dish soap, 1 cup white vinegar and 1 gallon warm water in a bucket. Recipe #2 – Make a solution of 1 part all-purpose cleaner, 2 parts warm water and 4 parts ammonia. Recipe #3 – Mix 1/3 cup Tide to 1 gallon of warm water. Any of these should work well for cleaning unsealed cement garage floors.
To clean oil stains off concrete using borax: Make a paste of 1/2 cup borax with hot tap water. The water must be hot enough to dissolve the borax crystals. Apply the paste over the oil stain and scrub with a stiff nylon bristle brush, and allow it to sit there for at least an hour.
Another relatively safe and environmentally friendly solution for cleaning concrete is an oxygen bleach product, such as OxiClean. Just be sure to wear rubber gloves, as bleach products can be tough on skin. Sprinkle the powerful solution over the entire patio and scrub it with an ordinary push broom.
Use a mild grease-cutting detergent such as Dawn or Ajax dishwashing liquid mixed with water and a natural or synthetic bristle scrub brush to help brighten the patio surface. NOTE: Never use a wire brush as it can leave rust stains and scratch the concrete surface.
In fact, vinegar removes mold from concrete better than bleach. Bleach will only remove the top layer of mold, causing the mold to return.
[15] found that adding an appropriate amount of borax could significantly prolong the setting time of magnesium phosphate cement. With an increase in borax content, the setting time of MPC was significantly prolonged, and the construction performance was significantly improved, but the early strength was reduced.
Surprise! No more streaks and harsh chemicals being wiped all over your floor. Mix 1/4 cup Borax, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1 squirt of dish detergent into a bucket full of hot water.
What Is Borax? Borax is a powdery white substance, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. It's widely used as a household cleaner and a booster for laundry detergent. It's a combination of boron, sodium, and oxygen.
Keep fertilizers away from concrete
Fertilizers often contain ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate which are harmful chemicals that can disintegrate concrete. Avoid using these on our near your concrete during its first year.
6. Keep pests away from your house. Keep pesky bugs away by sprinkling Borax around your home. Borax can be an effective way to keep pests away from your house because it acts as a natural insecticide.
The inorganic compounds which are useful as concrete dissolvers generally include inorganic acids such as hydrochloric, phosphoric, hypochlorous and carbonic acid. Salts of these acids and alkalies such as sodium-hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate and ammoniumsulfate are also eifective.
Spraying a vinegar solution (1 cup of vinegar per gallon of water) onto the surface, saturating it fully, should kill most strains of mold. Vinegar spray can be followed by power washing or manual hand scrubbing to remove the dead mold.
Combine 1/4 cup of liquid bleach with 1 gallon of hot water in a large bucket. To avoid damaging your lawn or walkways, always dilute your bleach and control your runoff when rinsing. Soak your brush in the solution and scrub the entire area until it's fully saturated.
Use Bleach
But that's not all; chlorine bleach can also be used for cleaning the concrete driveway. Of course, you should dilute it with equal parts of water or a 1:1 ratio. With the mixture ready, spray it on the driveway, allowing it to sit for 10 minutes. Then, use a stiff brush before rinsing with clean water.
Scrub the concrete with a nylon-bristled brush and then rinse thoroughly with the garden hose. For extremely heavy stains, a power washer provides a much stronger stream of water to blast away the grime. Use a hose to rinse greenery after the patio is clean.
Cleaning concrete with muriatic acid can be a highly effective solution if used correctly, providing ultra-bright white concrete and removal of many types of stains. In one application, you can remove rust stains, oil stains, algae, and paint splatter with a quick chemical application followed by pressure washing.
The Liquid peroxide cleans, refreshes, and brightens concrete, tile, and grout without leaving watermarks or residue in contrast to other cleaning chemicals.
If it ends up in lakes and streams, the phosphates trigger an overgrowth of algae that results in a depletion of oxygen levels in the water, which can endanger fish and other aquatic life. You can use Simple Green Oxy Solve Concrete and Driveway Cleaner to clean a concrete patio with or without a pressure washer.
Some good cleaners include Castile soap, liquid dish detergent, stone cleaners and mild floor cleaners.