Concrete cleaner in Mexico

What are the ingredients in the degreaser. The usual cleaners, easily found in the US are not available here.

We have tried detergents, pinesol, but the oil slick is still there.

Spray the area with an aerosol brake parts cleaner and let it sit for 10-15 seconds. Then cover with a sorbent such as OilDri or kitty litter and sweep this back and forth over the stain. Repeat until the stain is removed.

Tester

There is a type of acid that is used to etch concrete (I bought some at Fleet and Farm so it wasn’t to special) you must be careful it will remove any sealer type product on the concrete also.

TSP is the stuff.  It was outlawed in the US 10 or 15 years ago.  The stuff they sell now with the letters TSP on the label is not TSP.  (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) 

I find Simple Green and cat littler work well.

I think you’re referring to muriatic acid which is really hydrochloric acid. Very effective at cleaning concrete but you must also be very careful using it to avoid skin or eye contact and use a respirator for the fumes.

You can still get TSP but not in its most pure form. It comes as a major ingredient in other products like chimney (creosote) cleaners in powder form. I found some once that was like 25% TSP and 75% substitute TSP. I remember when they stopped adding it to laundry detergent. It took awhile for them to find a decent substitute…

I wasn’t sure if it was muratic or phosphoric acid (the phosphoric acid is good to prep bare metal for priming)

Wet the spot to be cleaned. Sprinkle it with dry powdered laundry detergent. Scrub it in with a broom. By now, you should have 3 or 4 Mexicans standing around offering advice. Give one of THEM the broom and tell them when it’s clean, come and get you and you will give them 50 Pesos. A half-hour later, your driveway will be SPOTLESS.

And FORGET the Muriatic acid! It will NOT touch the oil but it will damage the surface of concrete slabs…