Grease and oil stains: Sprinkle sawdust, cornstarch, or baking soda on the stain to absorb any spills. You can also mix baking soda with a bit of water to create a cleaning paste. Scrub it gently into the stain and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. Then wash away the solution or sweep away any remaining powder.
1. Best Overall Concrete Cleaner—ZEP Purple Pressure Wash. Zep concrete cleaner has several great products, and the ZEP Purple Pressure Wash outdoor cleaner is no exception. This alkaline cleaner is low foaming and easy to rinse from the concrete surface.
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.
Most stains on concrete floors can be removed quickly and easily, but a lot depends on how old the stain is and how porous the concrete surface is. Rust, oil, grease, paint or glue stains each have a recommended stain removal technique.
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.
In fact, vinegar removes mold from concrete better than bleach. Bleach will only remove the top layer of mold, causing the mold to return.
Use a detergent such as Dawn or Ajax dishwashing liquid mixed with water to brighten a concrete patio that hasn't been cleaned in a while. Just as you would regularly vacuum the floor and dust your furniture inside your house, you should keep your patio clean so it's ready at a moment's notice to entertain.
Mix equal parts vinegar and water, scrub the patio with the mixture, then give it a good rinse. If stains don't dissolve, try undiluted vinegar. Do not use vinegar and baking soda mixture in a power washer. And be sure to protect your hands, eyes, and nose to minimize any irritation.
Whether your patio is sealed concrete or cement, or even sealed concrete pavers, a bleach and water solution makes it easy to clean away built up soil, stains from leaves and pollen, mold, mildew and algae.
There are two types of concrete stain to choose from: acid-based and water-based. Acid-based formulas for are long-lasting and resistant to fading. They react chemically with the concrete to create a permanent chemical bond. This means it will not peel or chip and will help produce a natural-looking finish.
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. Not to mention that vinegar can also remove germs and bacteria from concrete.
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.
Wash the concrete > Mix a solution of ⅓ cup powdered laundry detergent, such as Tide, per gallon of hot water; the granules will act as a mild abrasive. Working in sections, pour some solution onto the floor and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. Wait about 10 minutes for dirt to loosen, then repeat.
Use Dish Soap and Water
Ordinary household dish soap as a degreaser is extremely useful for cleaning up oily, grimy concrete stains while avoiding the use of harmful chemicals. Start with two gallons of warm water and a mere two teaspoons of dish soap in a standard bucket.
Vinegar does not dissolve concrete itself but can degrade the cement that binds concrete together. As a weak, dilute acid, vinegar will cause only minor damage to concrete but can take the shine off polished surfaces. It can, however, be used to remove small amounts of cement from tools.
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.
Cleaning concrete with bleach, water, and 1/8 cup of dishwashing liquid is an effective solution when it comes to mildly dirty patios. Does white vinegar clean concrete? Cleaning concrete with vinegar is also good for mildly soiled (equal parts vinegar and water) or heavily soiled (full-strength vinegar) patios.
But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either. Unlike the bleach-ammonia mixture, combining soda and vinegar won't hurt anyone — but don't expect the mixture to do a good job cleaning, either.
A small amount of acid added to the water will pull the stain out of the concrete without etching the concrete surface. In essence, the acidic solution reverses the reaction, allowing you to pull the color back out of the concrete.
OxiClean Outdoor Multipurpose Super Concentrated - Stain Remover - Driveway Cleaner for Concrete - Degreaser for Cement, Brick, Vinyl, and Patio Furniture (6oz Bottle = 1 Gallon)
Interior Concrete Floors:
Do Not use Dawn, Simple Green, Ammonia or harsh cleaners as they will work to damage and even strip the wax. The wax should last for several months or longer, but when it does start to dull or scuff, clean and let dry, then reapply a fresh coat of wax and let dry.