How to Clean Concrete with Vinegar

This is a video geared towards homeowners and DIY'ers, not the wider professional community that pressure wash homes. The methods and results here should therefore be assessed under that context.

Cleaning concrete is apart of homeownership.

Whether it's your back patio area, driveway, front porch, or other exterior area, you are most likely going to have to clean concrete at some point during your ownership of a home. In this video I give you an outline of how I have cleaned my concrete in the past using readily available household cleaning products - specifically, regular dish soap and distilled vinegar.

I use (and have chosen to highlight) these products because they are readily available in every store in America, and most likely occupy every home at the time of this recording (whether you're interested in cleaning concrete or not).

So in terms of accessibility you can't really compete with dish soap and vinegar. Another aspect that I appreciate is that neither product is dangerous or toxic to the end user. Distilled vinegar (5%) is considered as food-grade and is consumed accordingly - unless you despise the smell and would like a mask to dodge it, then you don't need to worry about PPE.

I hardly need to explain why dish soap falls under the same low-risk category.

In addition to the low-risk nature of these products is the minimal environmental impact that they pose. Vinegar (anything 5% or under) is simply a natural product created from fermentation. It does work as a solid pesticide, so you have to be a tad careful around plants you care about, but beyond this there really is no long-term effects to soil, wildlife, or ground water from introducing it.

The same of course cannot be said for alternatives like bleach or sodium hypo.

However, these methods require graft. So yes, it takes more time because you will be scrubbing the concrete with a brush. I don't consider that a problem for me vs. pouring bleach into the ground.

You will have to evaluate that choice for yourself though.

In any event all the best.

#pressurewashing
#concrete

[nangan]

The best video I have watched for DIY cleaning of concrete. Thanks!

[mack]

This is what you call keep it real I appreciate the video 👍🏾

[scottmiller]

I would like to see the pressure washer alone, because vinegar and soap didn’t seem like it did anything at all?

[skamravec]

I have bought several 55 gallon barrels from FB marketplace to use them as rain water barrels. They are food grade and they had leftover vinegar in them. As I was rinsing them, I spilled it on my sloped driveway. I didn't want to pour it out on my grass because I knew vinegar would kill the grass. It has been several years from then, but that spot where I poured out the vinegar, is now clean, while everywhere else is moldy. So, it seems like if you pour vinegar on your driveway, just let it sit, you don't even have to scrub it. Now I'm thinking, if I have to rent pressure washer every year, which cost around $100 per day at Home Depot, I might as well spend that money on vinegar and do the whole driveway.

[PatoniSinsi]

I pressure washed my driveway for the first time in ten years today. Afterwards I sprayed vinegar on top of the clean concrete. I didn’t scrub or rinse. Will this still keep the moss and mildew at bay?

[Albumcorvus-xii]

What if you don't have a pressure washer? Can the vinegar and soap be good enough

[JJ-grth]

Could you have gotten the same results using sh? Without having to scrub

[fredericocorrea]

If I wanted to read I would have bought a book. Please use your words

[mattmccarty]

How to clean concrete with everything including the kitchen sink 😂

[stuarthepburn]

Same results with the pressure washer and not even having to use the vinegar

[thomasbolton]

just buy a karcher HP sprayer, job done in 5 minits.

[Proliyfic]

Maybe try 30 percent vinegar next time.

[df-hrgj]

All you needed was the pressure washer.

[geoffbailey]

What a loa of rubbish and waste of time, power wash would have done it first time round, glad I only watched it til that point, will go and watch paint dry, more interesting.

[jeffdicesare]

Just wasted a gallon of vinegar and the time it took to scrub😂. Pressure washer is all you need