How to Clean Your Garage Floor To Make It Look Like a New One

While your garage might not be the focal point of your home, providing the area with a bit of tender love and care will help elevate your property as a whole. You would probably never be content with a disastrous interior despite your exterior being immaculate, and the same goes for your garage floor!

If you've noticed that your garage floor isn't what it once was, we've got some tips here for you on how to clean it effectively.

Checklist: Before You Clean Your Garage Floor

Prior to cleaning your garage floor, there are a few things you'll want to do first to help make the process seamless.

Start With Cleaning

Remove all clutter
Sweep any obvious debris away

Ensure Safety

Ensure the area is well-ventilated to avoid excessive inhalation
Disengage the opener
Avoid contact with harmful chemicals with your clothes or skin
Avoid using harsh cleaners like muriatic acid. They can be highly toxic and are best left to a professional.

Gather Your Tools

Brush (one with soft or tough bristles depending on floor type)
Scrubber
For cleaning supplies, read below for which are necessary for your project!

General Cleaning Methods

The best cleaning method for your garage floor will depend on the material. But, if you're looking for a general form of cleaning to polish off your floors at the surface level, the process is quite easy.

Power Washing

A quick and effective mode of cleaning is power washing. If you have a power washer and an hour or so, removing caked-on dirt and debris can easily be removed. After removing vehicles, storage, and other things off the floor, work your way from the deepest part of the garage toward the opening, spraying and guiding the dirt out of the garage.

However, remember to be careful with the highly pressurized water and don't get too close to the paint, particularly on your garage door, or you run the risk of chipping off the paint. Another headache you'll want to avoid if you can!

Spot Cleaning Method

The more accessible option is to spot clean with cleaning products as needed. Aside from general maintenance, such as sweeping up dirt and debris, spot cleaning is a great way to treat problem areas without investing too much energy.

But remember, choosing your cleaning products is equally as important as the method you choose. Depending on the types of stains needing to be cleaned, you may require bleach for touch oil stains, a degreaser for tire marks, kitty litter for grease stains, or a concoction of detergent and water for transmission fluid in addition to kitty litter. For any tough issues, we've broken down the best plan of attack below!

How to Clean Concrete Garage Floor

Concrete garage floors are among the most popular garage floor materials used as they are inexpensive and easily accessible. However, despite them being so commonly used, the major detriment is that concrete floors are extremely prone to staining. Common culprits for these stains include oil leaking from a car, or workstation, dirt, grime, and debris building up over time, ultimately marking the concrete. Here are the steps to cleaning your stained concrete floor or tiles:

Prepare a mixture of detergent and warm water by adding one gallon of warm water to one cup of detergent.

Lather the mixture onto the oil stains or spread it across the garage floor and let it soak for a few minutes to permeate.

Because concrete is so durable, feel free to use a brush with stiff bristles to scrub the floor, working the detergent solution into stains

After the first round of cleaning, the garage will need to be cleared of soap and dirt. To do this, you may use a hose to flush the mixture from the deepest part of the garage out of the opening. You may also use a mop with fresh water, or pour buckets of water to help guide the excess out of the garage.

After the debris has been cleared, it should be clear whether another round of scrubbing is necessary. If not, you may leave the garage door open to help dry any residual water, mop, or squeegee the water out through the opening.

Today's Homeowner Tips

If you have tough stains not coming up with this process and you have repeated it multiple times, check out the suggestions below for dealing with rust and oil stains.

How to Clean Epoxy Garage Floor

Another common garage floor type is one with an epoxy finish. Epoxy floors act as a seal intended to help keep fluids from permeating the primary flooring and staining it. But that is not to say epoxy floors will never need to be cleaned to keep them looking excellent.

Epoxy floors are delicate, and they don't require any drastic measures to clean. Instead, you should be able to clean your epoxy floor with an ammonia and hot water mixture or a simple detergent and water mixture. You will want to avoid harsh/abrasive scrubbers on these floors to keep that seal intact. Instead, opt for mops or soft bristle brushes.

Prepare either a mixture of ammonia and warm water or detergent and warm water by mixing the two in a bucket

Lather the mixture onto oil stains or spread it across the garage floor and let it soak for a few minutes to permeate.

Because epoxy finishes are sensitive to abrasion, use either a mop or a brush with soft bristles to gently scrub the floor, working the chosen solution into stains

After the debris has been cleared, it should be clear whether another round of gentle scrubbing is necessary. If not, you may leave the garage door open to help dry any residual water, mop, or squeegee the water out through the opening.

Today's Homeowner Tips

Some chemicals are incredibly harmful to your epoxy finish. Do NOT use citrus or vinegar cleaners or you risk ruining your epoxy finish. Simple green can be used as a last resort if there is a serious or tough stain, but even then, it must be diluted with hot water. As much as you don’t want to scratch the floors, you also don’t want to wear down the layer of epoxy with harsh chemicals.

How to Clean Garage Floor Tiles

Garage floor tiles are extremely versatile and come in various forms and appearances with their own set of advantages. With that being said, they are durable and luckily fairly easy to clean due to their non-porous surface. However, they require a different method to clean in order to effectively clear the grime without damaging the tiles or adding an unwanted film of leftover suds and dirt.

If you do not select a premade solution, you will need to prepare a mixture of ammonia-based concentrate and warm water. The optimal ratio is 2-to-1.

Spread the mixture across the garage floor and let it soak for a few minutes to permeate.

Your garage tiles, hard plastic ones not the soft rubber option, are relatively durable, but you won’t want to cause unnecessary abrasions if you can help it. Use a soft-bristled brush or mop to rub the mixture into the flooring.

After the first round of cleaning, the garage will need to be cleared of soap and dirt. To do this, you may use a hose to flush the mixture from the deepest part of the garage out of the opening. You may also use a mop with freshwater or pour buckets of water to help guide the excess out of the garage.

After the debris has been cleared, it should be evident whether another round of scrubbing is necessary. If not, you may leave the garage door open to help dry any residual water, mop or squeegee the water out through the opening.

Today's Homeowner Tips

If you have tough stains not coming up with this process and you have repeated it multiple times, a product like goof off may be beneficial for lifting the dirt. It is not harmful to hard tiles. If you have other tough stains that are easing up, read below for more tips on clearing spot problems.

How to Remove Rust Stains From Concrete

Though a very annoying occurrence, rust stains are prevalent throughout properties, including the garage floor. Extremely common, any metal can be the culprit as long as there is the right amount of moisture. Luckily, rust stains are extremely easy to get rid of. By simply using everyday items like lemon and vinegar, you can rid yourself of the marks within minutes.

Prepare a paste using lemon, white vinegar, and warm water. Rust stains are typically from tools, so you shouldn't require too much in quantity.

Spread a layer of paste across areas where you notice rust stains on the cement and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes to permeate the stains

Because concrete is durable, feel free to use a brush with stiff bristles to scrub the floor, working the acidic mixture into the stain. Then, let the mixture sit for a few more minutes.

Wash away the acidic paste using warm water and wiping up any excess.

After remnants have cleared, you should be able to tell whether another round of paste and scrubbing is necessary. If not, leave the area to dry completely.

Today's Homeowner Tips

If lemon and vinegar are not working after repeating the process, you can mix baking soda and detergent to the consistency of a paste. Spread the paste onto the spots using the same method listed in the steps above and continue until removed.

How to Clean Garage Floor From Oil Stains

There are a few methods to remove oil and grease stains from your garage floor. One of the most popular methods is to use oven cleaner as it was designed to remove tough cooking oil from ovens. However, if your oil stains are too tough to lift with the oven cleaner, you may think you require something more potent, like muriatic acid. But this chemical is not your only option and should only be used as a last resort. It is an extremely hazardous chemical and best left to professionals. A better and more relaxed first step to combat stubborn oil stains is none other than kitty litter!

Learn More About Garage Maintenance

Best Homemade Garage Floor Cleaner

You will find various recipes for homemade garage floor cleaners. The most common and, thankfully simple ones require everyday ingredients, including water, lemon, baking soda, detergent, and vinegar. Before using harsher, more acidic ingredients, always opt for the gentle detergent and water mixture where you can.

Nonetheless, don't panic! We know it's every homeowner's worst nightmare to have something go wrong, but it is not a significant issue in the case of a dirty garage floor. Relatively low cost and not very labor-intensive, with the perfect materials and a little dedication, you can have your garage floor sparkling like it's brand new again!