Let’s face the facts. After years of abuse, your garage floor is not looking so hot. You’ve been sweeping and mopping, but all the built-up grime doesn’t wash away anymore.
Cleaning your garage floor is easy, you just need to know the tips and tricks to do it right. Whether you’re looking to find out what the best cleaner is for a garage floor or how to get a garage floor ready for a paint job, you’ll find everything detailed out below.
By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be filled with the brim with the exact knowledge you need to make that garage floor looking new.
What’re you waiting for? Let’s get into it.
Can You Power Wash a Garage Floor?
Between the junk that your car tires drag in, the grime that collects over time, and the trash that the wind brings in, a garage floor can quickly become a sticky and rather unpleasant mess. Powerwashing is a great way to make your garage floor look new without breaking the bank.
While the idea of paying for a garage power wash may seem daunting, it is actually a good idea after several seasons of neglect. Thanks to rental units and local businesses, you can finish your power washing job in literally just hours.
You can power wash a garage floor and it will rapidly get rid of all the smut and gunk that your floor has accumulated. Watching all that caked in filth wash away in only minutes is satisfying and oddly calming. Investing in an annual power wash is a procedure that I cannot recommend enough.
The best part? You’ll save an enormous amount of time and energy and get back to enjoying your garage floor. Consider using the best garage vacuum cleaner to suck up all the leftover water as well.
What is the Best Cleaner for a Garage Floor?
One of the most recommended products is this heavy-duty cleaner made by ACT Concrete. It is a multi-purpose cleaner and degreaser that battles grease and tire marks and oil and much more.
Another choice when it comes to cleaning your garage would be the industrial cleaner and degreaser from Simple Green. It’s an all-purpose cleaner that’ll make your garage floor look new. Purchasers of this product mentioned that they left it on for about 10 minutes and their 10-year-old garage floor transformed from a dingy mess to a clean, new environment.
How to Clean a Garage Floor with Muriatic Acid
A safe amount of muriatic acid can remove iron and rust, clean basement and garage floors, and even perfect dirty and aged bricks. But like all acids, you must be very careful when using them. Wear proper protection, keep little loved ones and pets far away before cleaning your garage floor with muriatic acid.
First, you’ll want to clean, sweep, mop, get it nice and clear. Then you will need to create a barrier to keep your muriatic acid away from any asphalt, drywall, or tarmac since the acid can do damage to them. Tarp, stones, plywood all make good barriers. Make sure your home is protected.
After that, you need to mix the muriatic acid straight into a watering can. 1 part acid to 4 parts water is an ideal ratio for cleaning a garage floor. It is very important that you mix the acid into water and not the water into acid.
Lay down a layer of the water on any surface you are cleaning and then try your best to dry it off. You will then be ready to strap on your protective gear and apply your acid-water mix. Once it is poured out, use a broom or mop to push the solution around and find every nook and cranny that needs cleaning.
The water will bubble and turn yellow. Once the bubbling is finished, pour ammonia onto the floor to neutralize any leftover acid. The name sounds scary, but the actual process is simple as long as you take the necessary precautions.
How to Clean Oil Off Concrete Garage Floor
Thankfully, you can clean oil off your concrete garage floor with some detergent, water, and elbow grease. If you don’t have those available, you can always use old methods like mixing vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, and water.
Or you can bust out old reliable WD-40 to remove your oil stain messes. Pour these on the oil stains, let them sit, and then wash them off with a push broom or mop.
How to Get Rust off a Garage Floor
Removing rust off a garage floor is actually as easy as squeezing a lemon. All you need to do is squeeze a lemon or pour white vinegar onto the unpleasant rust stain and let it sit for a little over 10 minutes. Then you will scrub that spot with a nylon-bristle brush and pour and rinse with water. You might have to repeat these steps multiple times but you will see progress shortly.
This is a much easier and faster process than what some rust cleaners call for. If you want, you can go to the store and buy one of the many rust cleaning products sold but who doesn’t have access to some lemons and water?
How to Clean a Garage Floor before Painting
Cleaning a garage floor before painting or sealing your concrete is an important step. These steps must be done properly so the garage floor paint or sealer adheres properly to the concrete.
First, you will need to tape a large piece of plastic over your garage floor. Wait a full day to ensure that no condensation is present. If you find any condensation during the full 24 hour period, you’re going to need to wait to ensure no humidity is present. You’ll have difficulty painting a damp garage floor.
Once everything is nice and dry, it’s time to take everything out of your garage. And I do mean everything, you’re going to want to hit every nook and cranny.
Clear the floor and then clean it with a push broom. Get your hose and get water in every nook and cranny. Make sure you use gloves and a mask to ensure proper ventilation, do not do the next step with the garage door closed.
And then fill a bucket with one gallon of water and 1 cup of muriatic acid. Sprinkle that solution all over the floor evenly and use your push broom to etch the floor. Let your muriatic-water solution sit for five minutes and catch your breath.
Next up is filling your bucket with one gallon of water and 1 cup of baking soda. You will once again pour this solution all over the floor. This is neutralizing the acid you just laid out so make sure you get the water-baking soda mix everywhere.
Finally, bust out that handy power washer and rinse the floor. Leave the floor be and, the next morning, it will be ready for your paint job once it’s dry.
How to Clean an Epoxied Garage Floor
Normal maintenance on an epoxied floor can be done with just a regular mop. You can find those at just about any store and using one on your epoxied floor will keep it looking fresh and new.
However, if you want a deeper clean you have a few options. Pour ½ cup of ammonia into a gallon of hot water in a bucket. Pour that solution onto your epoxied garage floor and use a microfiber mop to clean and soak it all up. You can also use a solution consisting of 1 part Windex to 3 parts water.
Conclusion
For something as simple as a garage floor, you would think cleaning would be a complete breeze, something you could do in your sleep. Unfortunately, you can see that it is a bit more complicated than that. But you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed because like I just showed you, it isn’t that hard.
Each of the procedures I showed definitely takes some time and preparation but they are all straightforward to do. And the results will give you a floor that is shining and new. It is worth the work.
