How to choose concrete cleaners to remove grease, oil, efflorescence, and graffiti

Concrete cleaners: There is a large number of concrete cleaners on the market that are specifically designed to remove dirt, grease, grime, graffiti and other contaminants from concrete surfaces.

Depending on whether you need to remove mild stains, efflorescence, oil, heavy dirt & grime, or graffiti; depends on what concrete cleaner you should use.

Understanding what your choices are and how they work can save you time and money for your next concrete cleaning project.

The basics to understand about concrete cleaners

Today there are 100s of different modern concrete cleaners and degreasers to choose from. With the best will in the world, most of them aren’t going to work to remove those tough concrete stains, but some of them will.

Even for those concrete cleaners and concrete degreasers that will work, you need a hefty amount of good old-fashioned elbow grease, hard work and patience to really make any sort of difference when removing a stubborn stain from concrete.

This is because concrete is a porous substance. It holds dirt well and can be a tough surface to clean properly. It’s worth doing some research and trying a few different systems. Once you find the cleaner that really works, you can cut the time it takes to clean your stubborn surfaces.  We’ve summarised concrete cleaners into 4 different types below.

 We specialise in concrete cleaning.

Call us anytime on 07 5609 6698 for your FREE professional and economical Gold Coast Concrete Cleaning or Concrete degreasing quote.

1. Basic concrete cleaners for very mild cleaning

These are the basic cleaners you find in Bunnings, Masters or your local hardware store. For example this Chemtech product. They are not particularly environmentally friendly and will do the very basic job. They say they are degreasers, but it will take an awful lot of elbow grease and patience to get it off using this basic cleaner.

When to use them: These mild cleaners are for the basic concrete cleaning jobs such as cleaning interior, sealed concrete. This sort of sealed concrete surface generally does not have a lot of dirt, grease or grime embedded in it. You can also use this on outdoor concrete that only needs very mild cleaning. We do not recommend this kind of cleaner for anything that has a decent amount of dirt and grime, mould or major stains on it.

2. Acidic concrete cleaners for removing Efflorescence on concrete

Example of Efflorescence before concrete cleaning

Example of Efflorescence after concrete cleaning

Acidic concrete cleaners

These are best removing stains, dirt, and contamination that are soluble in acidic solution. For example graffiti, or efflorescence on concrete. Efflorescence on concrete is an insoluble metallic salt that appears as a white powder or crystalline residue on the concrete surface. It will not wash away in water.

3. Alkaline concrete cleaners for removing oil stains 

These types of cleaners are known as concrete degreasers. They get rid of oil, grease, or other hydrocarbon-based stains in concrete.

If you are doing this yourself, you will need LOTS of elbow grease and perhaps repetitive work (and patience) to properly remove the grease or oil stain.

You must also leave enough time for the alkaline concrete cleaner to work.

Depending on how deep the stain is, and what it is, will depend on how much time you need. Also, multiple applications of the concrete cleaner may be needed. This may be up to a few hours.

Once the stain has been emulsified with the cleaner, we recommend using an industrial machine to ‘lift’ the oil stain out of the concrete.

We recommend the SoSafe® range of chemicals as they’re environmentally friendly and specific to your surface. See here for more.

3. Enzymatic or bacterial concrete cleaners for removing pet urine concrete stains, oil or petrol stains

These are some of the newer types of concrete cleaners on the market. They are designed with active enzymes that break down and digest starch and protein based stains like pet urine; as well as hydrocarbon stains like petrol and oil.  These cleaners use bacteria that feed on oil, grease, or hydrocarbons.

Unlike the cleaners above, you won’t need an additional process to lift the stain with water once the cleaner is applied. However, you will need to factor in these types of cleaners need a lot of time to work – sometimes days or weeks.

Most of these types of cleaners are applied directly to the stain, and no scrubbing is required.

For large stains you may need to apply more than once.

4. Other specialty concrete cleaners

There are many other types of speciality cleaners for example for removing graffiti on concrete and removing other stains.

There are also specialty concrete cleaners for example for removing rust. Please feel free to call us anytime on 0488 488 414 for help on this subject.

 We specialise in concrete cleaning.

Call us anytime on 07 5609 6698 for your FREE professional and economical Gold Coast Concrete Cleaning or Concrete degreasing quote.

See here for more on concrete cleaners

• Concrete Cleaning Gold Coast – our professional and economical services here at Astute Asset Management
• DIY Concrete Cleaning – how to do it like a professional
• Factory and industrial concrete cleaning
• How to get your home exterior ready for summer entertaining without breaking the bank
• House washing 101: 6 Mistakes home owners make and how to avoid them
• Driveway Cleaning and Mould Removal
• Factory Cleaning Gold Coast

Testimonials for Concrete Cleaning Gold Coast

We are thrilled to consistently get 5 star testimonials for our high pressure cleaning work including Concrete Cleaning Gold Coast, Driveway Cleaning Gold Coast , High Pressure House Washing, and other high pressure cleaning jobs. Here are just some of the many we receive:

“Completely Transformed the look of our home”

“Astute Asset Management completely transformed the look of our home from the outside. Ben and the team conducted a full cleaning service of all our concrete surfaces. Their professionalism and workmanship were just as we expected. Our exterior surfaces now look fresh and clean thanks to Astute Asset Management.”

Luke Ripper

Dane Orchard

“Pricing, workmanship and customer service was outstanding… highly recommend”

“We had Astute Asset come and clean up some graffiti and general tidy up around the hard face of our yard. I have to say by far a better finished result that I could ever imagine! They brought the yard back up to brand new. Pricing, workmanship and customer service was outstanding. Would highly recommend these guys in a heart beat . Cheers for the top service”

Lewis Auto-hire

“Highly recommend!”

“Cannot praise Ben enough. He was always willing to answer any questions in the lead up and is extremely knowledgable. I am over the moon with my finished product. Highly recommend!“

Billie Ciappara

“Professional … Highly recommend”

“AAM are professional and truly know all there is about surface cleaning, not just your average pressure cleaner, would highly recommend to others. Thanks again guys.”

Bindi McKenzie

 We specialise in concrete cleaning.

Call us anytime on 07 5609 6698  for your FREE professional and economical Gold Coast Concrete Cleaning or Concrete degreasing quote.

Concrete Cleaning Gold Coast: Areas we serve