How to Clean Your Garage Floor the Right Way

You’ve installed a quality garage door. Now it’s time to upgrade the inside of your garage, starting with its appearance. Clean your garage floor – the right way. Spills such as motor oil, paint, transmission fluid, and grease mar the appearance of a concrete garage floor. These cleaning tips from GDI Garage Doors, the garage door specialists, can keep the concrete looking great and even help prevent deterioration. Scrubbing your garage floor is also the first step if you plan on painting or coating it with epoxy.

The good news: Cleaning your garage floor the right way requires no expensive, toxic cleaning agents. You may already have the cleaning solutions you need.

What You’ll Need to Remove Stains

Items you can use to clean your garage floor include oven cleaner, baking soda, cola soft drinks, bleach, cat litter, laundry detergent, and Kool-Aid. Yes, Kool-Aid! Wearing eye protection and rubber gloves while cleaning is wise. A deck brush with stiff bristles works best for scrubbing. A push broom’s soft bristles make it a poor scrub brush.

For a general floor cleaning, mix 1/3 cup of laundry detergent with a gallon of hot water. Spread the solution onto the floor with the brush and let it sit for a few minutes. Scrub thoroughly, then rinse with a pressure washer or garden hose. Repeat for areas of the floor that still appear dirty. Cat litter will soak up oil spills that have not set deeply into the concrete. Spread the cat litter onto the stain for a few minutes. Remove the cat litter and pour cola onto the stain. Gently work the cola into the concrete with a brush, then let it set for 20 minutes. Mix a combination of 1/4 cup of laundry detergent, 1/4 cup bleach, and a gallon of warm water and pour it onto the stain, scrub again, then rinse.

Here’s how to remove particularly tough stains from your concrete garage floor:

• Rust stains can be difficult to remove. Pour a mixture of unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid and hot water onto the stain. Wait a minute or two, then scrub and rinse with water.

• Oil and grease stains typically come up after an application of oven cleaner. Wait about 10 minutes, then scrub. Rinse with a pressure washer or garden hose at high pressure. Some stains may require a second round of oven cleaner, scrubbing, and rinsing.

Removing some stubborn oil stains may take more than Kool-Aid or oven cleaner. Muriatic acid is an effective cleaner that is available at home improvement or hardware stores. Pour acid onto the stain and allow it to soak for a few seconds. Rinse with water, then apply baking soda to neutralize whatever acid remains. Rinse again.

Call Today For Quality Garage Door Installation and Maintenance

Improve the curb appeal of your home with a new door from GDI Garage Doors. Then clean your garage floor the right way to complete the upgrade.

We’re a longtime Bay Area contractor that handles garage door installation and maintenance for homeowners in the cities of Berkeley, El Cerrito, Fairfield, Hercules, Lafayette, Oakland, Vallejo, Pleasanton, and Walnut Creek.

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