Vinegar and Baking Soda
Simply fill a spray bottle with equal parts water and vinegar (or water and baking soda), and add a little bit of liquid dish detergent. Spray the mixture on your concrete surface and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then scrub and rinse your concrete.
Use bleach for heavy-stained slabs
Dilute half a bucket of bleach with equal parts water, applying evenly to your green-tinged patio. You should leave the solution to work for ten minutes before rinsing thoroughly with clean water, repeating the method for stubborn algae.
A quick answer is yes! White vinegar can clean concrete and remove stains. It may not be as powerful as concrete cleaners, but it can clean up concrete stains on a budget.
As a gentler cleaner, bleach can't harm concrete's durable material.
Add 2 ⅔ cups Clorox® Outdoor Bleach to the pump sprayer and then add 13 ⅓ cups water to make 1 gallon of bleach solution. Wear gloves, safety glasses and clothing that you don't mind accidentally splashing with bleach solution.
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.
Liquid peroxide formulas clean and brighten grout lines without harsh acids and chlorine bleaches that can damage the grout and surrounding flooring materials. The Liquid peroxide cleans, refreshes, and brightens concrete, tile, and grout without leaving watermarks or residue in contrast to other cleaning chemicals.
Although bleach is great at the whitening effect, you can use peroxide to achieve this. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxygenated bleach. It is safe for plants, so when you rinse this solution, it won't harm anything. It works together with the dish soap and baking soda to remove dirt and whiten dirty concrete.
Brightens concrete.
When cleaning with basic pH chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite, you remove dirt, mold, and algae from surfaces easily, but do not get the brightening effects acidic pH chemicals, such as muriatic acid, provide. Muriatic acid can provide that bright white look that new concrete often has.
Concrete paint is a remarkably effective way of making tired concrete patios look as good as new. These come in a range of colours and can make cleaning and maintenance much easier. To apply concrete paint make sure your patio has been cleaned thoroughly as described in the previous section.
To clean smaller surfaces areas, pH-neutral soap, a little water, and a brush are suitable. If you want to clean larger areas of natural stone efficiently, you can reach for the electric patio cleaner or work with the pressure washer and a surface cleaner.
In fact, vinegar removes mold from concrete better than bleach. Bleach will only remove the top layer of mold, causing the mold to return.
OxiClean is a powerful concrete cleaner that works well on various materials, including pavement and grout. This concentrated solution provides excellent cleaning without leaving residue. OxiClean is the cleaner for your toughest cleaning jobs. Clean your home, patio, driveway, and more.
Bleach is commonly used to whiten concrete and is very effective at doing so if the initial stain is removed beforehand. Bleaching stained concrete white prepares it for any additional coloring treatments that you may wish to apply in the future.
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.
Mix equal parts water and vinegar and apply it to concrete. If this stain removal technique doesn't work, use 100% vinegar and scrub stains out. This solution can work on many surfaces, including car seats and hardwood floors.
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.
For most concrete floors, you can use a mixture of flour and hydrogen peroxide or water and trisodium phosphate. But for stamped concrete floors or polished concrete floors, you'll want to use a gentler solution. If your indoor concrete flooring is stamped, use a mop and mix water and a mild cleaner in a bucket.
Although the concrete is disinfected after just 5 minutes, lightening it will take a little longer. Leave the bleach solution on the concrete for about 20 minutes, then sweep briskly with the stiff broom to dislodge the softened grime. Use the scrub brush to tackle stubborn areas. Rinse off the patio.
After disinfection with bleach solutions, surfaces should be rinsed and dried. Bleach can be irritating to skin and mucous membranes, so any residue should be removed prior to returning animals to the environment.
Mixing vinegar and bleach together releases a poisonous chlorine gas, which can be fatal if inhaled at high enough concentrations.
In a plastic bucket or container, add ⅓ cup of Clorox® Outdoor Bleach to 15⅔ cups of water to make 1 gallon of solution. Apply bleach solution using a brush or broom on horizontal surfaces, and a sponge or mop on vertical surfaces. Heavily soiled surfaces may require additional scrubbing.