REALLY helped clean the Garage Floor

**richy** · 06-22-2016, 07:46 AM

4 years ago I had my garage floor coated. For anyone interested, here was that thread:

Rich's Garage Makeover

On another note, due to Mike`s recommendation and great results he was getting using Malco Brake Off, I bought some and did a review. Here is that review:

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Malco Brake Off Review

(I have no idea why some the pics have disappeared from Photobucket...sorry for that).

Anyway, what does the one have to do with the other? Well, my cleaning regimen for the garage floor has been to:

1) Rinse with Power Washer
2) Spray with LATA
3) Scrub (HARD) with a very stiff long-handled scrub brush
4) Rinse again
5) Squeegee and mop dry

Doing it that way leaves me exhausted and in a sweaty heap (I`m so sorry to put that mental image of me in your head right now...forgive me, will you??)

Last night I needed to clean the garage floor again. The 90 degree temps we were getting here dropped down to a merciful low 80`s. It was just as dirty as ever. I snapped a few shots:

I was going to start my usual scrub/sweat routine when a thought occurred to me...why not try some wheel acid on this nasty floor? Indeed, why not. Being the quintessential geek, I then thought I`d split the floor in 2 and try my Car Brite wheel acid on one side (only cut 2:1) and Malco Brake Off on the other side. I sprayed each side on the wet and rinsed floor and let it dwell. The acid side was done first and the alkaline side (MBO) was done 2nd. There was some noxious fumes coming off the floor from spraying it I noticed... so I made damn sure I had a cigar going, LOL. I did not agitate the floor whatsoever. I wanted to see what these bad boys would do on their own.

My findings? The wheel acid was pretty much useless. Very little of the dirt came up from the surface and it looked like I`d need to revert to my old method. Well, that is until I started to rinse (with my powerful gas power washer which I had also used on the acid side) the MBO side. OMG, it was doing it! It was removing I`d say 85-90% of the dirt. After my initial use of MBO, I keep a spray bottle of vinegar in my cabinet to neutralize the MBO if some gets onto my skin (I didn`t put that in my initial review, but I HIGHLY recommend you do so if you`re gonna use this product). So, winner winner chicken dinner. In much less time and hardly any sweat, here`s how it came out after I squeegee`d it out and mopped it dry:

The floor is starting to show its age and hopefully I`ll coat it again this fall/early winter. The bottom line is that an acid based wheel cleaner was completely ineffective to clean the floor whereas the alkaline based cleaner did a fantastic job. I ended up going over the acid side with MBO and it cleaned it very well, in spite of the floor being somewhat wet from being squeegee`d. I thought some of you may have been interested in what I found.
Cheers,
Rich

**Jomax** · 06-22-2016, 08:58 AM

Nice! Where do you buy it from?

**richy** · 06-22-2016, 09:04 AM

I had found a Malco distributor in Michigan, but I still had to have it shipped, so next time I think I'm just going to order it directly from them. They're in Ohio.

**11B250** · 06-22-2016, 09:59 AM

I have the same floors as you do. I did it myself when we moved in. THe house was brand new, so I didn't have anything to remove and had an empty garage (thank god).

this is what I use to clean my floors... You should consider it.

FloorMate® Deluxe Hard Floor Cleaner

I use it on my hard floors inside the house too. We have the hardwood tile stuff. You won't BELIEVE the color water turns when it's cleaning. I highly recommend it for your floors.

**richy** · 06-22-2016, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by 11B250

I have the same floors as you do. I did it myself when we moved in. THe house was brand new, so I didn't have anything to remove and had an empty garage (thank god).

this is what I use to clean my floors... You should consider it.

FloorMate® Deluxe Hard Floor Cleaner

I use it on my hard floors inside the house too. We have the hardwood tile stuff. You won't BELIEVE the color water turns when it's cleaning. I highly recommend it for your floors.

You know, I had one of those for doing carpets and I got rid of it, but it's got me thinking...I wonder whether the Mytee Lite would work?? That'll be my next experiment.

**BillE** · 06-23-2016, 07:16 AM

Renting a "floor scrubber" from your favorite rental store can really save you body. You don't need one of those big 22+ inch models, just a nice little one low sped 16" will do the trick.

Those with 'coated' floors can use different pads that won't cut through the finish, whereas those with pure concrete can get by using an actual scrubbing pad (usually black).

Bill

**richy** · 06-23-2016, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by BillE

Renting a "floor scrubber" from your favorite rental store can really save you body. You don't need one of those big 22+ inch models, just a nice little one low sped 16" will do the trick.

Those with 'coated' floors can use different pads that won't cut through the finish, whereas those with pure concrete can get by using an actual scrubbing pad (usually black).

Bill

You really think they're aggressive enough? I have to scrub really hard with a very stiff brush to get it like I want it.

And by the way, you've got my favourite signature on AG!

**BillE** · 06-24-2016, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by richy

You really think they're aggressive enough? I have to scrub really hard with a very stiff brush to get it like I want it.

And by the way, you've got my favourite signature on AG!

Yup! Stop by a janitorial supply store and talk with them about the various pads, especially 3M's line (they have a BUNCH!). Being that your floor is 'finished', it may be recommended to actually treat it like vinyl floor. BTW-I hear ya when it comes to using a 'deck brush'...back breaking is the understatement!

RE Sig: Thanx! Back in the day buddy (another Bill) and I were trying to walk back to 'the ship' after spending some time at 'the club'. Shore Patrol stopped us and asked us where we were heading. We told him we just wanted to 'go home.' He said hop in and I'll give ya a ride. He then asked, "How much have you guys had?" Bill says, "Well in dog beers, only a couple." That statement has stuck in my head for better part of 50 years.

Bill

**Paul A.** · 06-24-2016, 04:09 PM

Great line! Thanks for the story, Bill.

**Paul A.** · 06-24-2016, 04:11 PM

Nice find Richy! I was gifted 5 gallons of an Ardex product a few years ago that is still doing wonders to clean my pool deck. I wouldn't use it on the wife's car nevermind mine. Funny how we "cross utilize" some things.

(i hope that's not breaking the rules here. I doubt people are buying a product to clean their garages or pool decks.)