How To Clean a Concrete Garage Floor Like a Pro

Do you want to learn how to clean your concrete garage floor correctly?

Believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to clean them. Due to concrete’s porous nature, you’ll especially want to get it right the first time if you are prepping the floor for epoxy, sealers, or paint.

If you want to have an immaculate floor, keep reading. This article covers the steps for cleaning your concrete garage floor like a pro.

Safety First

When it comes to cleaning a concrete garage floor, safety needs to be your priority. Consider purchasing these items before you start cleaning.

Chemical-resistant safety mechanic gloves
Knee pads
Protective eyewear
Ear plugs
Rubber boots
Respirator Mask

You will be using chemicals, degreasers, and a lot of water. Utilizing safety gear is essential to keep yourself in good health and comfort.

Gather your Materials

Next, you’ll want to gather your materials. The good thing is most of these items are readily available at your local hardware store.

Wide push broom
Power washer and scrub brush
Concrete cleaner solution
Paint stripper
Paint Scraper
Trisodium Phosphate (TSP)
Degreaser
Oxalic acid, lemon, or vinegar
Plastic covers

Just a heads up, not all of these items are necessary. Some of these items are only necessary if you are dealing with oil stains, rust, or removing efflorescence from your floor. Keep reading until the end to see which materials you’ll need.

Remove Everything

The next step is removing everything from the garage. To give your concrete floor a professionally clean look, it needs to look uniform. In other words, don’t try to cut corners by cleaning around boxes or carpets in the area.

This is also an excellent time to get rid of any junk or unused items out of your garage. This will ensure a cleaner look when remodeling your garage.

Prep the Area

If your garage walls are painted, they need to be covered with a plastic covering. If you have anything hanging on the walls, remove them or cover them with a cover.

You will be using heavy degreasers and paint stripper chemicals. You don’t want that splashing on sensitive items, so make sure you do some necessary prep work.

Sweep

Once you’re done prepping, it’s time to use your push broom. Brush out as much dust, dirt, and dander off of your concrete garage floor. Doing this ensures you don’t have dirt mixing with your concrete garage floor cleaner.

If you skip this step, dust and dirt can end up staining your garage floor, leaving it with unwanted marks.

Soak

After You’re done sweeping, apply your preferred garage cleaner degreaser. We suggest an alkaline cleaner such as TSP or any other concrete garage floor cleaner you find at your local hardware store. Check the instructions to see how much water you’ll need to mix with your cleaning agent.

You can also use laundry detergent. You heard that right! Laundry detergent is a PH-neutral cleaning agent and will work well on concrete that needs a minor refresher with moderate stains. If you have laundry detergent, use 1/4 cup of detergent to one gallon of warm water and let the solution soak for 15 minutes.

Scrub and Pressure Wash

After you let your degreaser/cleaner solution sit for 15 minutes, it’s time to scrub with a soft bristle scrub brush to loosen the dirt on your concrete garage floor. Scrub in circular motions until the entire floor has been scrubbed.

After scrubbing the entire floor, use a pressure washer with a rating of at least 3,000 psi and a flow rating of 4 gallons per minute. This will ensure the water pressure will penetrate the concrete safely and effectively. You can rent these power washing units for a reasonable price at your local hardware store.

Spot Clean

You are almost done! Pressure washing the floor will get rid of most of the dirt embedded in the floor. The last thing you’ll need to do is spot-clean any stubborn spots left on the floor. Here are some ways to eliminate the most common reason for spot cleaning. This part is essential when cleaning concrete garage floors.

Oil and Grease

Lawnmowers, cars, and other power equipment can leak and leave oil stains on your floor. The best way to clean a fresh spill is by covering the spill with an absorbing agent. Cat litter or sawdust will do the trick. All you’ll need to do is sweep it up once the oil is absorbed.

For older stains, try an oil degreaser and scrub the area for several minutes. Powerwash the area and let it dry. YOu may need to repeat this process a few times until the stain is gone.

Rust

Forgotten or lost tools like hammers or screwdrivers can wind up on the ground. When these are left on the floor for long periods, the tool can leave rust stains.

An all-natural approach is to apply a moderate amount of white vinegar or lemon juice to the area. You can also use oxalic acid. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then scrub it with a nylon bristle brush. Rinse the area, and that should do the trick.

Paint

There are a few things you can do when it comes to removing paint spots. First, try scraping the paint off with a scraper. If you are lucky and the paint didn’t adhere, you can pop the spot right off.

If the paint does adhere to the floor, you’ll need to use a commercial paint stripper solution. You can find this at your local hardware store. Mix the solution with water according to the instructions and let it soak for several hours. After it’s been sitting, scrub the area until the paint is gone.