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.
Vinegar or baking soda: These natural cleaners work well to clean cement patios with stubborn charcoal or rust spots. 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.
In fact, vinegar removes mold from concrete better than bleach. Bleach will only remove the top layer of mold, causing the mold to return.
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.
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.
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.
Grab Hydrogen Peroxide
For a natural, stronger solution to tackle stubborn stains on concrete surfaces, mix flour and hydrogen peroxide into a paste the consistency of peanut butter. Spread it over the stained area, and then scrub it with a nonmetallic brush. After giving it a good scrub, let sit overnight.
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.
Alkaline concrete cleaners have powerful degreasing capabilities. They work best on petroleum-based stains such as oil, grease, soot, and tar. Our top pick for an alkaline concrete cleaner, Sunnyside 64216 TSP All Purpose Cleaner, is recommended for indoor surfaces and works quickly to remove tough stains.
White vinegar will not damage your concrete. However, leaving this solution for an extended period will damage the cement that binds the concrete together. Hence, you should be careful when using vinegar on your concrete, especially if you will use this solution on polished concrete.
Mix bleach with water and then add dishwashing detergent to the mix and put it into a spray bottle. Spray the solution onto the cement patio, let it sit for a few minutes, then scrub the mix into the concrete with a stiff brush.
Self cleaning concrete is produced by adding catalytic material to the concrete mixture. It is a new construction material that has been developed in the past three decades. The most prominent properties of the type of concrete is self cleaning ability.
Bronner's castile soap is our favorite non-specialized product for surface cleaning indoor concrete floors. Dr. Bronner's is a nearly pH-neutral cleaner that comes in a variety of natural scents. Because the soap is concentrated, a few drops in a gallon of water is plenty.
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.
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.
Pour ⅓ cup of Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach into 1 gallon of water in a plastic bucket or container. 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. Wait 6 minutes for disinfecting.
Vinegar is an all-natural solution for cleaning concrete. It kills mildew and mold, removes grime, and helps treat set-in stains. Before cleaning concrete with vinegar, it's essential to dilute it so you don't affect your sealer.
If you need to get rid of rust from concrete, your best bet is to use some WD-40 Multi-Use Product, and some elbow grease. WD-40 is specially formulated to be a penetrant, so when you spray it on a rusted surface, it gets to work right away by getting under the rust.
OxiClean is a powerful concrete cleaner that works well on various materials, including pavement and grout.
OxiClean can be used on many surfaces, indoors and out. For removing tannin stains from concrete, first sweep the surface and hose it off. Getting the concrete uniformly damp before you add a cleaner is always a good idea, because doing so will yield more even results.
'A homemade cleaning solution for your patio can be made by mixing equal parts water and white vinegar,' says Zak. 'This natural cleaner is effective in removing dirt, mildew, and algae. For stubborn stains, you can add a few drops of liquid dish soap to the mixture. '