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Cleaning the Floor

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Categories: Experiences and daily life; Projects and equipment

Word count/read time: 535 words; 2-1/2 minutes

Most of us have cleaned a floor at some point. If a maid or someone else has done it for you then I would hope that most would at least know how to sweep or mop a floor.

That doesn't include my former boss's twenty-something daughter. The natural question is how is she supposed to do any work among her ten daily drug breaks, naps (even brought in her pillow), walking the dog, and fluffing around?

Her father specifically told me to teach her how to sweep a floor. Maybe it's a learning thing, not a teaching thing, I'm not the first to try? (Don't bring in popsicles because she binged on 17 in less than three hours.)

Where was I going? Oh yeah, cleaning. I needed clinical clean for my garage floors to ensure the epoxy would stick. After 15 years there were countless stains of all sorts, gouges, corrosion from jacuzzi chemicals, scuff marks, and mystery stains.

I thoroughly researched cleaning products.

Six different cleaners bolstered my arsenal not including natural or DIY ones like lemon juice, soap, vinegar, acetone/thinner poultices, and the like. Two were microbial cleaners. I was expecting several handfuls of washing and rinsing cycles but never considered the cleaning products wouldn't work.

After scraping two of the three floors with a metal blade, I used the first cleaner which did absolutely nothing. Since I couldn't resurface them (so I thought), I used a wire wheel. Many, many hours of slow work. Burnt out the first grinder in 15 minutes. The second lasted nearly three weeks.

What I didn't research was professional resurfacing methods. A friend suggested a diamond cup attachment to scuff up the calcitrant stains. I ended up doing the entire floor. The previous steps were wasted time and materials.

Zep Concrete and Driveway Cleaner - I used it three times in increasing concentrations. It didn't even touch the stains. Hot water, power washer, scrubbing on hands and knees didn't matter. For more than a week, "fuzzy" crystals continued to grow from the floor. There's no way epoxy would stick! Were people paid to leave positive reviews?
CLR - To help with the rust stains, it was no better than lemon juice.
Krud Kutter-Oil Grabber & Oil Stain Remover - At least I could see this lifted some of the oil. Better, but not good enough.
BT200 Microbe Oil Cleaner - Expensive! $250 for five gallons. I did two concentrated applications with lots of supplemental water and scrubbing, letting it sit for 24 hours each time. I have to believe it did something though it left some stains which may be something other than hydrocarbon-based liquids.
Covertec Microbe Oil Cleaner - Affordable at $100 for a five gallon pail. Like the other one, I had to babysit it for several hours ensuring the floor stayed wet. Every time I added water I scrubbed to oxygenate the microbes. Swab the decks is an understatement! Still, the stains I wanted to remove remained.

Some helpful professionals were optimistic that it would all work out in the end. Just a lot more preparation; grinding was suggested. It is what it is and I'm going for it.

Posted by M: August 20, 2022

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