How to Deal with Stubborn Stains on Garage Flooring

Acquiring stains on a concrete garage floor is inevitable. There are so many items in the room and so much that can be done in it, exposing the floor to various damaging elements. Not only are stains an eyesore, these could also be detrimental to the health of the concrete slab itself. Color pigments penetrate past the surface, embedding itself in the pores of the concrete. To help you deal with stubborn stains, here are a few things you could try:

Don’t Scrub

One mistake garage owners do is when trying to remove a stain, they scrub like crazy to get it out. Scrubbing will only worsen it by spreading the stain. The proper thing to do is to use an absorbent material to remove the excess. One highly recommended solution is concocting a mixture of Trisodium Phosphate (TSP), a little water, and some baby powder. Apply the paste on the stain and leave it there for a few hours. If the paste has dried, sweep it off. Some stains are so stubborn that you might need to redo the whole procedure.

Use Chemical Remedies

Whether you like it or not, sometimes, you have to resort to chemical products. Just make sure that you follow the instructions to a T and that you wear proper safety gear. For paint, a paste made of a methylene chloride-based paint stripper and baby powder is applied to the stain, left to dry, and then swept off. For rust, which causes one of the most difficult stains to remove, a mixture of muriatic acid and water is applied to the stain, left for a few minutes, and then rinsed repeatedly.

Resurface the Garage Flooring

If all else fails, then covering the stain is the best thing to do. The traditional method of doing so was to apply paint. While this will cover it up, paint does not adhere much and could peel or flake off over time. The most durable solution is to install an epoxy floor coating. More and more homeowners are trusting a garage epoxy flooring because of the many benefits it provides, such as:

• Extreme durability. Epoxy is a two-part material that can withstand almost any type of concrete damage, including stubborn stains.
• Seamless surface. The material is non-porous, smooth, and shiny, keeping dirt and spilled liquids on the surface, ready to be swept away or wiped off.
• Easier to clean and maintain. It does not need any special kind of cleaning product.