Slab to warehouse floor

Concrete Cleaning

Concrete looks indestructible and behaves like a sponge. Oil, rust, tannin and tyre rubber all sit inside the surface rather than on it, which is why a plain water blast lifts the grey film and leaves every stain exactly where it was.

Think Brick accredited
Fully insured
20+ years experience

Think Brick accredited

Fully insured

20+ years experience

Illawarra to the Highlands

Quick answer

How do you get oil stains out of concrete?

Oil must be drawn out of the concrete, not blasted off it. The standard approach is an alkaline degreaser applied to the dry stain and allowed to dwell so it emulsifies the oil within the pores, agitated, then flushed with hot water or high pressure. Deep or old stains usually need repeat applications or a poultice. Pressure washing alone typically removes only the surface film and leaves the stain visible.

At a glance

Oil & grease: Alkaline degreaser + dwell, then flush
Rust: Oxalic or reducing treatment, never HCl
Surface types: Plain, exposed aggregate, stencil, honed
Optional: Re-seal after cleaning

Different stains, different chemistry

Getting concrete genuinely clean means treating what is actually on it, and that is rarely just one thing.

Oil and grease — alkaline degreaser with proper dwell time, agitated and flushed. Repeat applications on old stains.
Rust — from reo, furniture, garden tools or bore water. Needs an oxalic or reducing treatment. Hydrochloric acid sets rust rather than removing it.
Tannin and leaf stain — from overhanging gums and jacarandas. Alkaline chemistry, not acid.
Mould, algae and lichen — biocide treatment, or the black returns within a season.
Tyre marks and rubber — solvent-based treatment before pressure.
Efflorescence and lime bloom — the white haze on newer slabs; a mild acid treatment, correctly neutralised.

Exposed aggregate and decorative finishes

Exposed aggregate, stencilled and coloured concrete all need care. The colour hardener and sealer on stencilled work is only a few millimetres deep and a turbo nozzle removes it in one pass. We drop pressure, use a surface cleaner and treat these as a chemistry job with a rinse rather than a blasting job.

Sealing after cleaning

Sealing a driveway after a clean stops the next round of oil and tannin soaking straight back in, and it makes decorative finishes hold their colour. It has to go onto a genuinely clean, genuinely dry slab or it locks the staining in permanently under a glossy layer.

Coverage

Where we do concrete cleaning

Illawarra

Wollongong · Shellharbour · Albion Park · Dapto · Kiama · Shell Cove

Shoalhaven

Nowra · Bomaderry · Vincentia · Huskisson · Berry · Culburra Beach · Ulladulla

Southern Highlands

Bowral · Mittagong · Moss Vale · Bundanoon

Sutherland Shire

Helensburgh · Engadine · Sutherland · Cronulla

Based at Warilla. Everything from Helensburgh to Ulladulla and inland to the Southern Highlands is inside our normal working area.

FAQ

Concrete Cleaning — questions we get asked

Can old oil stains be removed completely?

Often they can be brought back most of the way. Fresh spills usually come out entirely. Oil that has been soaking into an unsealed slab for years has penetrated deeply and generally lightens substantially rather than disappearing, and we will tell you which one you have before you commit.

Why did my driveway look worse after it dried?

Usually uneven cleaning. Wet concrete hides variation; as it dries, the difference between cleaned and missed areas shows up sharply. It is fixed by cleaning the whole slab consistently rather than spot-treating the obvious marks.

Do you clean warehouse and factory floors?

Yes — hardstand, loading docks, workshop floors, wash bays and car parks, including degreasing and line-marking-safe methods, scheduled outside operating hours where needed.

Keep reading

Need concrete cleaning quoted?

Call 0448 882 780 or send photos through the quote form. We will tell you what the job needs and what it will cost, including when the honest answer is that you do not need us.

0448 882 780 Free quote