PSA: Removing "Car" Stains from Concrete

[swanicyouth]

Everyone who does ANYTHING around cars will eventually get an oil stain of some sort on their concrete garage floor.

I guess if you have an epoxy floor or Racedeck, this doesn't apply to you. But those things aren't perfect - epoxy can peel under tires and Racedeck can dent if you jack up a car on it.

Anyway, when I was wrenching - we would just dump a bunch of solvent on oil stains and sweep it up wit some oil dry. This would make them not greasy - but the stain remained.

I had a few oil drips on my concrete garage floor I was DETERMINED to remove. Thing is, concrete is porous - so scrubbing the stain does little or nothing - the stain is below the surface.

What I tried (various techniques):

LA Tottally Awesome

Muriatic acid / Wheel Bright

Brake Kleen

bleach / kitty litter

TSP / kitty litter

Simple Green

"Enzymatic" pet stain removers

Mineral spirits

Pressure washing

IPA

....nothing above completely removed a nasty oil stain from concrete.

Then I found this stuff:





This stuff is legit. Got it at Home Depot. You pour it (white foam) on the stain, let it dry (6-24 hrs) - then sweep it up. Let the area dry - stain is gone. It soaks into the concrete and removes the stain somehow.

No before and after pics - because I was convinced it prolly wouldn't work. It worked on a stain I tried up to 7 other products on.

So, if you have some old oil stains on your concrete garage floor bothering you - check this stuff out.

[Angus]

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try it out. The previous owner of my house left the garage floor a mess.

[Setec Astronomy]

If I had a brand new floor like you, I'd definitely get it professionally diamond ground/coated, or do some sort of DIY coating. I know what you're saying about the old epoxy paints lifting under the tires (been there, done that), but there have been many examples here and on the other forum of guys that have done the floors themselves and they seem to have held up quite well.

I'm sure you've been up to your eyeballs (and wallet) with other new house stuff, though.

Anyway, thanks for the review, I'm going to look into that for a couple spots in my basement (my garage floor is too far gone to worry about that).

[swanicyouth]

If I had a brand new floor like you, I'd definitely get it professionally diamond ground/coated, or do some sort of DIY coating. I know what you're saying about the old epoxy paints lifting under the tires (been there, done that), but there have been many examples here and on the other forum of guys that have done the floors themselves and they seem to have held up quite well.

I'm sure you've been up to your eyeballs (and wallet) with other new house stuff, though.

Anyway, thanks for the review, I'm going to look into that for a couple spots in my basement (my garage floor is too far gone to worry about that).

I don't want to do epoxy - because even if it doesn't peel (and it prolly will with my luck) - it will eventually one day have to come up. And, I have no idea how one would remove an epoxy floor (sounds like a nightmare). Also, if they peel or scratch in an area, dunno if there is a way to repair them?

I don't know what "diamond ground" is?

I have an email into Racedeck now for a quote (570 sq ft). But I'm questing it's not cheap. Even if it's $3 a tile that's > $1500.

I'm not crazy about interlocking tile floors for 2 reasons:

1. They are textured / raised. So rolling tool boxes, rolling seats, carts on them is a PIA.

2. They can get dented from jacking up cars on them. But, I guess you can just buy replacement tiles. Concrete can get messed up from jacks, too. So, I'm always using cardboard under jacks and jack stands now a days.

*** The "free flow" tiles don't make a lot of sense to me, because any car liquids just seep through. So, they aren't really "protecting" the floor from any liquids - which is why I would want a floor like this in the first place. I'm wondering if car washing is OK on regular Racedeck tiles with a floor drain cut out?

Dunno. I'm a 100% novice with this stuff.


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[Setec Astronomy]

Diamond grinding is basically like a floor buffer but it's got a diamond grinding wheel, it smoothes out any brush marks, etc.

The better coatings today are not epoxy, but are polyurethane or....polyaspartic. Jeff from LI over on the other forum knows something about it, and I know Rasky is doing something for his new garage. These coatings are supposed to be more durable than the epoxies.

But your points are well taken about damage etc. to the surfaces, and I agree with the interlocking tile stuff, getting salty water under the tile isn't going to be any good for the concrete. Have you looked into one of those mats?

Diamond Deck Roll Out Flooring

I think you can get really big pieces of that stuff so perhaps 2 or three pieces for your whole garage including the bump out. At least with that you can replace it later or roll it up and wash under it if something gets through.

EDIT: There's some different ones on this page, not sure why that didn't come up in my first search:

http://www.autogeek.net/garagemats.html

I'm sure there's other stuff out there on the interwebs.

[Paul A.]

Unbelievably well timed suggestion for me, swanic. Thanks a bunch. I have one stain in my garage floor about the size of a basketball that i have tried everything on recently.