Technical How to/clean grease ridden shop floor

You have to be careful with a pressure washer because it can peel some of the concrete up and leave rough areas. You might consider renting a floor scrubber (or a floor sander) and use the large scouring pad they make for them. Put some simple green on the dark spots and let it soak for a while, and use tide and bleach to scour. Might buy a cheap bag of play sand to try with the scouring pad.

 

Oh ! You mean this stuff !

 

I open all the doors, and use gas and sawdust mixture and sweep it back and forth over the greasy areas. It always removes all the grease and oil, then I burn the sawdust in the fire pit. This is best NOT done while smoking a butt or a dube.

 

I used to do a lot of tile projects. I had my own professional diamond slice-n-dice tile cutter with water recirculation.
I never tiled my shop or garage....... but there were times when I was very tempted.

 

FRESCA warm or cold

 

Back in high school auto shop class the teacher would use the old Tide powder sprinkled liberally on the floor. Wet it with the hose. Then give 30 teenagers push brooms and tell them to scrub like hell. Worked great. But finding 30 teenagers might be a challenge.

 

You mean 30 teenagers that can scrub and look at their phones at the same time, don't you?

 

I Worked at an Apparatus repair facility we repaired transformers , it was hard to keep the floor clean when removing the windings from the tank ,we used mineral spirits and oil dty or Cat litter

 

For grease/oily spots on the floor I sprinkle oil dry on it and use a piece of 2x4 to grind it off.

 

Mineral spirits,Dawn and a broom. Then rinse. Repeat if necessary.

 

https://www.amazon.com/ZALALOVA-Pre...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451671854892&psc=1I have one of these cleans the under side of your truck and flip it over and it works on floors

 

That’s pretty cool. Might be good for those who run on the salt as well

 

Cat sand and do the dance on the spots.

 

Once the floor is clean, head on down to your local NAPA and get one of the large rectangular drip pans they sell and place it under the leaky vehicle. Best $30 spent.

 

I have seen gasoline burst into flames when being rubbed on a wooden floor to remove varnish or something. I was a kid at the time, so don't remember the details.........but I never use gasoline to clean anything. Diesel Fuel sprayed on spots on your driveway (within a reasonable time period) will make the oil spot vanish into thin air as it evaporates. Have removed some pretty big puddles that way too. Sop the excess up and spray the diesel on it and it just disappears in a couple days. Been living here 43 years and don't have even one oil spot on my driveway.

 

If and when you get it cleaned enough for your liking, I use a plain clear sealer over the bare concrete. It’s basically the same stuff used on tile grout but in larger containers. It seals out future spills really well and if it gets scratched, you can just touch it up really easily.

I don’t like an epoxy floor in the shop. I’ve never met an epoxied floor that I couldn’t scratch.

 

Before they epoxy a floor they use a mild acid scrub soak and rinse to help remove grease. Ive got epoxy and I just use simple green/dawn & a scrub broom and rinse. Hit it with the leaf blower to help dry it out.

 

commercial floor stripper...i get almost empty 5 gallon buckets from a janitor i know.....best damn degreaser ive ever used

 

For small spots I use Gunk engine degreaser. It would cost too much to do the entire garage floor but for small spots it works great.

 

Finding a teenager that knows how to hold a broom let alone move it will an impossible task today. 1 hand on it to balance themselves and the other holding a personal communication device.

 

Hello,
We used to use our yellow and black home power washer. It had minimal power, but enough power with the tip that swirled the spray in a rotating, but random spurts. If something (Cleaning solution like Amway LOC) was put on the floor stain or blob of grease/oil, then the rotating spray in bursts did the job of getting the concrete clean.

Our neighbor had the model that had more horsepower and was gas powered. That took off old paint off of fences and almost acted as a sandblaster. But, he too, used a solution of his choice purchased at the local auto parts store, first.

When we were using the sprayer, the local communities did not have the stringent preservation mode for the oceans. So, those days, people just cleaned their driveways into the gutter and down the rabbit hole it went. Those were the times.

In our So Cal homes, some communities/cities have enacted rulings to preserve the ocean. Everything on the streets and roads all lead to the ocean. When it rains, it is obvious as to the color of the exiting local streams and rivers do to the blue ocean waters. Along with it, comes the bad stuff to make people sick and infectious. Warnings a long way into the inland cities all claim pollution goes into the drains and lead to the ocean have been put up all over the place.

Golf courses have tons of fertilizers and weed abatement materials, but, people must just think the rain runoff on the grass does nothing but soak up the solutions. NOT... it goes down the same drain, but the golf industry has strong lobby in every city and most folks just ignore the nice green grass rolling over the hillsides. But, they are huge polluters.

So, with that in mind, what we used to use with our scrub mops and brushes, using concrete cleaners, acetone, lacquer thinner and stuff like caustic Tide detergent, all got shoved out to the street and who knows how long it sits until the next rain or sprinkler systems get everything moving to the blue ocean.

Now, the neighborhood garage doors are still there and when a hot rod is seen being worked on in or outside, caution is taken for spills and street drainage. I have seen those guys that still work on their cars in the garage, but there is not a drop of stuff going into the drains when they are finished. It is a city ordinance in most So Cal cities. Even the hard core hot rod builders with long driveways still take care of what is heading for the street drains. Spraying a simple non caustic/eco friendly/wipe or using a scrub brush with a rag clean up seems to take care of the oil stains on the garage floors.

Products that are biodegradable are ok to use, but kept at a minimum as far as intrusion on the whole drain system. There are products that do not require a hosing off to finish the clean up. And those that do have some moisture to get rid of are using wet dry vacuums to get little to none going into the local gutters and drains. Our So Cal communities even have a free deposit area to get rid of polluting electronics, gas, oil, old paints and other city polluting items. So, that is a step in the right direction.

Jnaki

Surfers, travelers and beach goers are given the warnings of polluted beaches and are given the suggestions for the Hepatitis shots, which we all got painfully in the arms...

As a person that loves the ocean and its offerings, that is a good way to treat it for all of the pleasure we all get from looking at the pristine blue water and waves. The commercial industrial venues that do custom work or just any car repairs have their own non-polluting ways to keep the concrete clean without running a stream of water into the gutters. It is all of our responsibilities to keep the environment clean. YRMV

Note: These days commercial power wash places have catch basins and no runoff goes to the oceans...hopefully.

 

I have a few small spots (from a leak on my engine hoist) on a relatively new floor so I am watching this. I have tried brake cleaner and it does not seem to work but I do remember that we used something at the gas station in the early 1970's that was a powder mixed with water so there are things that work. As for those that like to use gasoline.... It probably will work but it is one of the more dangerous ways to go. I just finished a 45 year career in the safety manufacturing business and a good part of my sales were gas monitors. Unfortunately, I heard too many stories of people getting burned or dying due to an explosion. I remember a safety manager at one of my refineries telling me that gas vapors travel at over 800 feet per second (so you won't outrun it). So be careful!

 

Could it have been Zep powder?

 

Get the rotary head attachment for it.

 

That might have been it. Thanks!

 

Granulated laundry soap and a brush. Pressure washers and concrete don't mix in my opinion, wrecks it a little at a time. Scrub like hell and squeegee it out the door.

 

I run an auto shop here in Lafayette. I hired a commercial cleaning company to clean the floors, and they come once a month to do it. They use a floor burnisher paired with Simple Green concrete cleaner. I pay them around $400 per visit, and honestly, it's a small price to pay for a clean and professional-looking shop floor.
The company is Going Green Commercial Cleaning, and I recommend their service to anyone here in Lafayette or nearby areas. They've been consistent with their quality of work, and I've been nothing but satisfied with the results.

 

Just move! That’s what I do.

 

Some years ago I won a small bottle of Purple Power at a car show, and it's a water soluble concentrated cleaner. I used it to clean gunked up engines and read on the instructions that it worked to clean oil stains on concrete.
I mixed some up in a spray bottle and after spraying down a dark oil stain, I let is work awhile, and then used a stiff bristle push broom to scrub it a bit more. Got out my pressure washer and sprayed it down with clear cold water and most of the old stain was gone! I repeated with one more application, and it was all gone. That stain had been there building up over a decade!
I went online and bought a 2.5 gal. container of it and have been using it all around my shop ever since. Very reasonably priced, and easy to work with. I even spray my hands before washing grease off instead of using hand cleaner.

 

Purple Power is good stuff. I use it, too. Just don't let it set it on polished aluminum!