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Charlie Bress
 
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Default Cleaning a stained concrete driveway

I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


Charlie


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Rein
 
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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:24:20 -0400, "Charlie Bress"
wrote:

I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


the acid solutions are really the best and cheapest ways to fix it.
Mix it with water, apply and the rust comes out, gauranteed. Just wear
safety glasses. I had a landscaping company drop ironite on my
concrete and had tons of rust specs all over it. I complained to them.
They asked if I had some pool acid left over and if they could use it.
They removed it in no-time.

Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying
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Norminn
 
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Default



Charlie Bress wrote:
I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


Charlie


I've tried rust stain removers, with no results.

........it may sound silly, and it would not likely be appropriate for a
large area....I painted concrete in our condo atrium after a neighbor
left some dark brown blotches from staining wood furniture. Cheap, easy
if you can mix paint colors with some skill. Acrylic craft paint from
local hobby store. Our concrete was old and stained anyway, and it
takes some experimenting to get the colors right. I used very little on
a flat-end stencil brush, put on two colors. First color was for the
base, or shadow, part of concrete texture - gray with a little blue and
brown. Then, the lighter part of the texture (top of gritty particles)
use gray with a bit of yellow or gold. Have to mess with it to get it
right, and it washes off easily if not dry. Can't have the brush
loaded, as you don't want the concrete to look painted, and you need to
feather it to blend with rest of concrete. Has lasted a couple of years
so far in our sheltered atrium - open but with roof over it.

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Norminn
 
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Default


clipped

the acid solutions are really the best and cheapest ways to fix it.
Mix it with water, apply and the rust comes out, gauranteed. Just wear
safety glasses. I had a landscaping company drop ironite on my
concrete and had tons of rust specs all over it. I complained to them.
They asked if I had some pool acid left over and if they could use it.
They removed it in no-time.

Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying


Only trouble with acid is that it removes the concrete.

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willshak
 
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Default

Charlie Bress wrote:

I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


Charlie

Since battery acid is suphuric acid, putting another acid (muriatic acid
aka hydrochloric acid) on the stain doesn't seem to me to be the answer.
You might try a solution of baking soda and water on the stain. Let it
sit overnight before washing off.


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willshak
 
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Default

willshak wrote:

Charlie Bress wrote:

I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion
around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and
nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly
brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that
it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that
will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I
tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the
concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the
weather.


Charlie

Since battery acid is suphuric acid, putting another acid (muriatic
acid aka hydrochloric acid) on the stain doesn't seem to me to be the
answer. You might try a solution of baking soda and water on the
stain. Let it sit overnight before washing off.


I said 'a solution', but it would be more of a paste.
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Phisherman
 
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Default

Hydrochloric acid is very strong and could easily damage concrete. I
suggest using a power washer. If you want to try some cleaners, I
suggest "Zud" or "BarKeeper's Friend."

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:24:20 -0400, "Charlie Bress"
wrote:

I was working on the car and noticed a lot of built up corrosion around the
battery terminals. No big deal, right?
I cleaned of the terminals with a wire brush, replaced the bolts and nuts
(this is a top mounted terminal battery) and then I took the hose and
rinsed of the top of the battery.

Now comes the problem. Wherever the run of went there are nice ugly brown
stains. The driveway is poured concrete and my understanding is that it is
"fiber" reinforced.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


Charlie


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mark
 
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Default

Not sure what CLR is, but is it oxalic acid? That's what Rust Out is.

What is the best way to clean these marks off? Looking at Google for
concrete cleaning I see muriatic (hydrochloric) acid or phosphoric acid.
These tend to be nasty to work with. Is there something else that will
work?
The stains look like rust, but C-L-R doesn't seem to touch it. I tried
some
full strength. It might have worked a little.

I am not sure it is rust. I don't know what has been put in the concrete.
The driveway does not show rust marks where it is exposed to the weather.


Charlie




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Rein
 
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Default

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:50:32 GMT, Norminn
wrote:


clipped

the acid solutions are really the best and cheapest ways to fix it.
Mix it with water, apply and the rust comes out, gauranteed. Just wear
safety glasses. I had a landscaping company drop ironite on my
concrete and had tons of rust specs all over it. I complained to them.
They asked if I had some pool acid left over and if they could use it.
They removed it in no-time.

Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying


Only trouble with acid is that it removes the concrete.


Not here. My guess is they mixed it with enough water to prevent that.
Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying
  #10   Report Post  
 
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Oxalic Acid is ingredient in BarKeepers. Also packaged as one of the
wood bleaches found in paint stores.

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 01:46:58 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

If you want to try some cleaners, I
suggest "Zud" or "BarKeeper's Friend."


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