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Don't know exactly where to stick this question, but here goes:
Over the years, my lawn 'food' and/or blood meal have/has left ugly orangish, iron-looking stains on the sidewalk leading towards the gutter.....I can't get them off.
Ace Hardware sold me CLR, which bubbled when I put it on for the first few seconds but ended up doing zip.....I hated to use this since we are near the ocean, (gutters run to the ocean), but my house is on the market and I am trying to spiff up the place and at this point, will try whatever I can.... I scrubbed and scrubbed, but nada....
I have also thrown a bit of bleach on the area......no help.
I have tried high pressure water using my Karcher.....nope.
I also have cement cleaner, but it is for oil drips from cars, etc... so I haven't bothered trying it.
Save your money. Nothing on store shelves will work despite all the posts that will come after me saying so.
Go buy yourself a soft wire brush. Brush the stain, you are actually scratching the surface off the concrete. Most modern driveways and side walks are no longer finished with a smooth surface. They are broomed during curing. You will see the lines. You want to brush WITH the direction of the lines/broom marks.
When you get the stains out the area that you just brushed, it will appear real clean and new looking as opposed to around it. In other words it will stand out like a sore thumb. Dont worry, it will darken up in just a few days and you will never know where you brushed it after that.
Cost of a wire brush? Maybe $2.00
Cost of trying every junk item on the store shelf? Who knows? A whole lot is a good answer.
Save your money. Nothing on store shelves will work despite all the posts that will come after me saying so.
Go buy yourself a soft wire brush. Brush the stain, you are actually scratching the surface off the concrete. Most modern driveways and side walks are no longer finished with a smooth surface. They are broomed during curing. You will see the lines. You want to brush WITH the direction of the lines/broom marks.
When you get the stains out the area that you just brushed, it will appear real clean and new looking as opposed to around it. In other words it will stand out like a sore thumb. Dont worry, it will darken up in just a few days and you will never know where you brushed it after that.
Cost of a wire brush? Maybe $2.00
Cost of trying every junk item on the store shelf? Who knows? A whole lot is a good answer.
Good luck and let us know how it works for you.
Well, the brush cost more than $2.00, but I did give it a try with a lot of elbow greese. I'm fairly strong for a female, but it didn't make a dent......
Thanks for trying to help......if anybody else has any ideas, please let me know....
Well, the brush cost more than $2.00, but I did give it a try with a lot of elbow greese. I'm fairly strong for a female, but it didn't make a dent......
Thanks for trying to help......if anybody else has any ideas, please let me know....
It has to work. No stain can penetrate through the surface of concrete. Im not quite sure what else to do different. My method works for oil and rust stains all the time.
It has to work. No stain can penetrate through the surface of concrete. Im not quite sure what else to do different. My method works for oil and rust stains all the time.
I hope it works out for you...
We took a walk a few hours later and I glanced at it when we passed by...it MIGHT be a little bit lighter.....soooooooo, tomorrow, I am going to make another attempt.....
Acid would work, by actually affecting the concrete itself. In other words, if the concrete holding the stain is no longer there, neither is the stain.
The first time I scrubbed it with the wire brush, it was wet.......the 2nd time I scrubbed it, it was dry.... Does anybody know if it makes a difference? It seems to be a bit lighter...but it is far from gone, so I will try again soon....
A repairman's truck dropped something on the driveway one time....my driveway is stamped concrete, two different colors.... It wasn't oil, but I can't remember what it was....maybe tranny fluid, I dunno. It was a mess... I made them come back and clean it....I wasn't home when they did...they must have used some type of acid cleaning material, because the top part is gone and it's etched......doesn't look good at all....so even though the stains are on the sidewalk area, I don't want to mess with any type of acid......
I'd second the muriatic acid approach. It's just to quick and easy. A gallon of muriatic is about $5.00 in my neck of the woods. Use an old push broom to apply(QUICKLY, as the broom will begin disintegrating as soon you start the job)) and hose off. Wear gloves, and have the hose turned on and handy near by before you start. It's all over in a matter of minutes. Common sense says keep the acid off of any turf areas directly adjacent to the sidewalk.
Contrary to popular belief, concrete is actually porous, and stains will penetrate, just as easily as oil does. Unless of course you have it sealed, like it sounds you did to your driveway. If the stain has been there for a very long time, it may be set in deep enough that even a quick acid treatment wont get it all out. If the acid fails, it's time to hire a sandblaster....that's right... sandblaster. I've had to do that in the past at an apartment complex I managed in another lifetime, long ago. It's the same concept as using the wire brush, just more effective.
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