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  1. #1
    Member RealtorRob's Avatar
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    I need a good concrete driveway cleaner

    Experts say not to use a pressure washer though I know it is common to do so. I'm wanting to use a cleaner that doesn't require a pressure washer. Hoping to apply a cleaner and maybe some type of sweeping but that may be hopeful thinking. I would like an enzymatic cleaner for the concrete but that is just from reading and listening to youtube videos. You guys always have great suggestions.
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  2. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #2
    Which experts say that? If you have a pressure washer, get yourself a turbo nozzle and go to town. You'll get the technique down quickly. Seal it afterwards if you want. There's absolutely zero reason not to use a pressure washer unless you're stupid with it (stupid meaning try to clean it with a 0 degree nozzle at 4000 PSI). Cleaners are much more difficult to use to get something that looks halfway decent - you'll almost assuredly end up with streaks - and they're not friendly to mess around with. You need acid to legitimately clean concrete. At best it's hazardous. At worst it's an insurance claim waiting to happen when the wind gets hold of it and gets it on your car windows, house windows, or worst of all your neighbor's windows. And no matter how careful you are, the slightest breeze will take it and do with it whatever it pleases. After years and years working for my dad as a professional in the power washing industry, acid is still something you leave as a last resort.

    Bricks on the other hand...yes, you can mess up bricks with a pressure washer pretty easily.
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  3. Member Imavol's Avatar
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    #3
    Hard to beat a pressure washer. Been doing mine for over 20 years
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  4. Member
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    #4
    The turbo nozzle don't play!! It will cover a much larger area vs. a 0 degree nozzle and cut your job time way down. Word of advice is hold it as far away from the surface as you can because when I did my drive this fall it knocked off a ton of material, I mean my street looked like a pea gravel creek bed when I was finished. Then cleaned my front porch which is smooth concrete and it was knocking chunks out so I had to go to the 0 degree nozzle for that.

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    #5
    You guys are doing it the hard way. The day before a thunder storm. Use this is in powder form. Take spic & span and cheer or tide with bleach and mix 50/50. You want a strong mix not too much water, then just use a string mop and mop a heavy coat on. Let it sit all day and night. Walk away and let mother nature wash it off.
    I do this to my concrete every other year.
    Did that pressure washer stuff once.

  6. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Cestratton View Post
    The turbo nozzle don't play!! It will cover a much larger area vs. a 0 degree nozzle and cut your job time way down. Word of advice is hold it as far away from the surface as you can because when I did my drive this fall it knocked off a ton of material, I mean my street looked like a pea gravel creek bed when I was finished. Then cleaned my front porch which is smooth concrete and it was knocking chunks out so I had to go to the 0 degree nozzle for that.
    You must have a hell of a pressure washer, or some messed up concrete! A turbo nozzle will remove some material, but it's more like sand and less like chunks unless the concrete is in a very bad state of repair. I've turbo nozzled vast swaths of concrete many times in my day. Never once have I removed more material than would fill say, a 5 gallon bucket, from a given job. Could've been a faulty nozzle, perhaps?

    I don't think you went to a 0 degree nozzle and had better luck with it not destroying concrete. A 0 degree nozzle shoots out a single stream of water concentrated in a small area - this means that all the pressure is concentrated at a single spot that may reach a diameter of 3 inches if you hold the wand way, way back. More realistically we're talking a half inch diameter stream of water where the water meets its target. The most common use is in removing gum that has been ground into concrete over time (hot water helps a LOT), and you can't help but leave a mark where some of the concrete material has been removed. You could legitimately destroy a concrete pad with one with the right pressure washer pushing it in a surprisingly short amount of time. For this reason, commercial customers will often opt out of gum removal for the sake of preserving the concrete surface as best they can. More likely you used a fan tip, either in a 30, 45, or 60 degree pattern.
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  7. Member Dando's Avatar
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    #7
    Laundry detergent and a push broom to scrub it with.
    I think the new secret color is "A-Rig"..........

  8. Member LTZ25's Avatar
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    #8
    Get a good pressure washer and a 15 degree tip .

  9. Member CigarBasser's Avatar
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    #9
    Why not use the "surface cleaner" attachment when using your pressure washer?
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  10. Member LTZ25's Avatar
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by CigarBasser View Post
    Why not use the "surface cleaner" attachment when using your pressure washer?
    If you got one YES.

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    #11
    Quote Originally Posted by SkeeterDD22 View Post
    Laundry detergent and a push broom to scrub it with.
    This. Or Simple Green for oil and grease.
    Hi Mike.

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    #12
    I know a lot if concrete guys and no one says that. Must have read it in the internet

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    #13
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  14. Member
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    #14
    Quote Originally Posted by DrewFlu33 View Post
    You must have a hell of a pressure washer, or some messed up concrete! A turbo nozzle will remove some material, but it's more like sand and less like chunks unless the concrete is in a very bad state of repair. I've turbo nozzled vast swaths of concrete many times in my day. Never once have I removed more material than would fill say, a 5 gallon bucket, from a given job. Could've been a faulty nozzle, perhaps?

    I don't think you went to a 0 degree nozzle and had better luck with it not destroying concrete. A 0 degree nozzle shoots out a single stream of water concentrated in a small area - this means that all the pressure is concentrated at a single spot that may reach a diameter of 3 inches if you hold the wand way, way back. More realistically we're talking a half inch diameter stream of water where the water meets its target. The most common use is in removing gum that has been ground into concrete over time (hot water helps a LOT), and you can't help but leave a mark where some of the concrete material has been removed. You could legitimately destroy a concrete pad with one with the right pressure washer pushing it in a surprisingly short amount of time. For this reason, commercial customers will often opt out of gum removal for the sake of preserving the concrete surface as best they can. More likely you used a fan tip, either in a 30, 45, or 60 degree pattern.
    Exaggerating a bit yes, but I was very surprised at the amount of material it removed. On the smooth concrete on my front porch it did blow chunks (nothing major) and I was doing a "gum removal" technique trying to get some stains out, strictly my fault. I went from turbo to 0 then to 45 on the front now that I think about it. My point really is to be careful and get comfortable with the turbo nozzle as it is pretty impressive. My washer is a Simpson with GX200 Honda motor and Cat triplex pump.