Part 2 of a series

Methods of removing some

specific stains from concrete:
Aluminum to Finishing discoloration
Special techniques
to be used after you’ve
identified the kind
of stain

BY W. KUENNING

Petroleum asphalt spillage can be removed. The work is tedious and time-
consuming but good results are possible with ice and scouring treatment.
Pictured here are experimental results obtained by D. Garrison at Ontario Hydro-
Electric Power Commission in the 1950s
[2, 3].

efore trying to remove want to try several and then choose Aluminum

B stains study the general

principles and methods
that make success possi-
ble, particularly the use of bandages
and poultices. Those have been dis-
one on the basis of how fast it works,
how completely it removes the
stain, whether it’s disagreeable to
handle, or whether it changes the
texture of the concrete, depending
Agents to check: Hyd ro c h l o ri c
acid.
Aluminum stains on concrete will
show up as white stains. First satu-
rate the surface with water and then
cussed in the first article in this se- on which considerations are most scrub with a solution of 1 part hy-
ries (June issue, page 539). That ar- important.
ticle also discussed important
aspects of safety in working with
the chemicals used.
This article and the ones to follow Cutback asphalt stains are almost impossible to remove completely. These
give the supplemental information pictures, also of results by D. Garrison, show average results obtainable.
necessary for removing specific
kinds of stains. A final article will
suggest sources of the agents need-
ed for the work.

REMOVING SPECIFIC STAINS

Sometimes there are several indi-
vidual chemicals or several mixtures
that are useful for a specific stain. It
may be most practical to simply use
the stain remover that’s most readily
a va i l a b l e. In other cases you may
drochloric acid in 4 to 9 parts water.
For colored concrete, the acid
should be diluted with more water
to avoid changing the color. Start by
testing with 1 part acid to 19 parts
water, and make stronger or weaker
as necessary. As soon as the stain
has been removed, flush thorough-
ly with water.
Asphalt
Agents (or equipment) to check:
Benzene; carbon tetrachloride; di-
methyl sulfoxide; ice; kerosene,
toluene; trichloroethylene; poultice
materials. Scouring powder. (Flame
cleaning equipment).
Cutback asphalt is one of the
most difficult stains to remove be-
cause the product is likely to have
penetrated deeply. Molten or emul-
sified asphalt stains are easier.
Methods are described below for
removing stains with chemical or
f re ezing agents. If it is a coating that
must be removed, flame cleaning
may be the best method. Follow the
instructions of the equipment man-
ufacturer or those given in an arti-
cle published earlier in CONCRETE
CONSTRUCTION [1].*
Molten asphalt—This usually
doesn’t penetrate the surface. Chill
the asphalt with ice (if it’s summer-
time) and then scrape, chip or sand-
blast it while it’s cold and brittle. Dry
ice is reported to be less effective
than regular ice. Scrub the surface
with scouring or abrasive powder to
remove whatever color remains and
rinse thoroughly with water.
Emulsified asphalt—Asphalt
emulsions are minute droplets of
asphalt in water. They don’t pene-
trate concrete deeply. Don’t apply
solvents because they carry the
emulsions deeper into the concrete
and make it almost impossible to re-
move the stain. Scrub the stain with
scouring powder and water and
rinse thoroughly. If, howe ve r, there
happen to be any blobs on the sur-
face, remove these first by chilling
and scraping, as for molten asphalt.
Cutback asphalt—To remove cut-
back asphalt it’s usually necessary to
use a poultice made with a material
such as diatomaceous earth or talc
and a solvent such as kerosene, car-
bon tetra c h l o ri d e, tri c h l o ro e t h y l-
ene, benzene or toluene. When the
poultice has dried, brush it off. More
than one application will probably
be needed. Then the surface should
be scrubbed with scouring powder
and water and rinsed.
Another method is to apply a
bandage of undyed cloth or cotton
batting and dimethyl sulfoxide held
in place for an hour. After one or
more applications the stain is
scrubbed with a stiff brush with
scouring powder and water, then
rinsed.
Sandblasting will re m ove cut-
back asphalt that’s penetra t e d
deeply if the sandblasting goes
deep enough to take out all the
asphalt and not leave a salt-
and-pepper appeara n c e.
Beverages (tea, coffee, soft
drinks, beer, wine and liquor)
Agents to check: Gl yc e rol; iso-
p ro pyl alcohol; job-pre p a re d
hypochlorite; * * Javelle water; sodi-
um hypochlorite; trichloroethylene;
bandage or poultice materials.
Try scrubbing with hot soapy wa-
ter and rinsing. Follow if necessary
by scrubbing with either sodium
hypochlorite solution or Javelle wa-
ter. Before use, dilute 1 part of the
commercial solution of laundry
bleach (5 percent sodium hypochlo-
rite) or 1 part of Javelle water with 6
parts of water. Rinse thoroughly
with water.
Another method is to apply a
bandage soaked with a solution of 1
part glycerol in 4 parts water. A
faster-acting solution is 1 part glyc-
erol, 2 parts isopropyl alcohol and 4
parts water.
For very difficult stains a poultice
made with powdered talc and
trichloroethylene can be applied.
Blood
Agents to check: Acetic acid, hy-
drogen peroxide; sodium peroxide;
sodium orthophosphate; sodium
thiosulfate; a vinegar; bandaging or
poultice materials.
Saturate the surface with clear
cold water. Carefully sprinkle sodi-
um peroxide powder over the sur-
face in a thin layer. It’s wise to wear
a cloth mask over the nose and avoid
breathing the sodium peroxide dust
which is highly caustic. Also keep all
areas of the skin protected from the
dust. Then sprinkle the surface with
a fine mist of water or apply a water-
saturated bandage. After a few min-
utes, wash with clear water and
scrub vigorously. Solids that can be
used instead of sodium peroxide,
without identical effect, are sodium
thiosulfate or sodium orthophos-
phate. Sodium thiosulfate shouldn’t
be used in confined areas, howe ve r,
because it generates acrid fumes of
sulfur dioxide. Altern a t i ve l y, a liq-
uid, a 3 percent solution of hydro-
gen peroxide, could be substituted.
To neutralize any remaining alka-
li, (not necessary if hydrogen perox-
ide is used), brush either vinegar or
a solution of 1 part glacial acetic
acid and 19 parts water on the sur-
face, and then rinse again with clear
water.
Bronze and copper
Agents to check: Aluminum chlo-
ride; ammonium chloride; ammo-
nium hydroxide; poultice materials.
Scouring powder.
Green stains on concrete, and
sometimes brown, are common
where water has flowed over copper
or bronze. They can be removed by
a poultice made by dry mixing 1
part by weight of ammonium chlo-
ride or aluminum chloride with 4
parts by weight of fine-powdered in-
ert material such as diatomaceous
earth or talc. Form a smooth paste
with ammonium hydroxide (1 part
of concentrated ammonium hy-
droxide diluted with 2 to 9 parts of
water). If the concentrated solution
is not available, use household am-
monia without diluting. Apply this
over the stain to a thickness of l⁄8 to 1⁄4
inch and leave until dry. Then scrub
the surface with scouring powder
*Numbers in brackets designate refer-
ences at the end of this article.
** The job-preparation method is to be
given in the last article in this series.
and water. Three applications
should remove even severe stains.
Candy and confectionery
Agents to check: Ammonium hy-
droxide solution; carbon disulfide;
carbon tetrachloride; chloro f o rm ;
denatured alcohol; bandage or
poultice materials.
Stains of candy and confectionery
are removed by scrubbing with a de-
tergent and water. If stains contain
chocolate, scrub with ammoniacal
alcohol. This is made by mixing 1
part of ammonium hydroxide solu-
tion (containing 26 percent ammo-
nia) with 9 parts denatured alcohol.
If the stain is badly colored due to
artificial food colorings, it may be
necessary to use bandages or poul-
tices holding solvents, such as car-
bon disulfide, carbon tetrachloride,
or chloroform.
Caulking compound
Agents to check: Denatured alco-
hol; detergent; ice; sodium or-
thophosphate; poultice materials.
Scrape off as much as possible.
Apply a poultice made with dena-
tured alcohol. When this has dried it
should have made the caulking
compound brittle so it can be
brushed off easily with a stiff brush.
Finish by washing the surface thor-
oughly with hot water containing
sodium orthophosphate or a strong
detergent.
Chewing gum
Agents to check: Carbon disulfide;
chloroform; denatured alcohol; ice;
poultice materials. Also commercial
aerosol freezing agents.
One method is the same as that
for caulking compound. Another is
to scrape off as much gum as possi-
ble and then remove residual artifi-
cial coloring with chloroform, car-
bon disulfide, or carbon
tetrachloride alone or in poultices.
Se ve ral manufacturers of com-
pounds for cleaning concrete offer
f re ezing agents packaged in aerosol
cans that are said to make the chew-
ing gum brittle and easy to remove
by scraping. Strong residual stains
may be left which may require treat-
ment with chloroform, carbon
disulfide or carbon tetrachloride or
poultices containing them. Some
manufacturers also offer propri-
etary solvents for the purpose.
Clay
Agents to check: Detergent; sodi-
um orthophosphate.
Scrape off encrusted material and
scrub off the remainder with hot
water containing sodium or-
thophosphate or strong detergent,
and rinse thoroughly.
Coal tar, such as roofing tar
(see also asphalt, which is sim-
ilar in appearance but with
some different characteristics)
Agents (and equipment) to check:
Benzene; ice; talc; poultice materi-
als. Scouring powder. (Flame clean-
ing equipment).
Hot-applied coal tar—Roofing tar
may be the coal tar most likely to be
splashed onto concrete. Like molten
asphalt, hot-applied coal tar usually
doesn’t penetrate concrete deeply.
Consequently most of it can usually
be removed by chilling it with ice (if
the weather is warm) and scraping,
chipping or sandblasting while the
material is brittle. Scrubbing with
scouring powder and water, then
rinsing thoroughly, should remove
the remainder.
If the coal tar has been purposely
applied over a large area as a coat-
ing, it may be best to remove it with
flame cleaning equipment, follow-
ing the manufacturer’s instructions.
Methods have been described in an
article in CONCRETE CONSTRUC-
TION [1].
Cutback coal tar—This is likely to
penetrate deeply. After re m ov i n g
anything that’s possible by chilling
and chipping, apply a paste of ben-
zene and talc. The treatment may
leave a brown stain, even after sev-
eral applications.
Creosote
Agents to check: Benzene; poultice
materials. Scouring powder.
A poultice of benzene in hyd ra t-
ed lime, powdered talc or whiting is
effective. Then scrub with scouring
powder and water.
Curing compound
Agents to check: Be n zene; car-
bon tetra c h l o ride; chloro f o rm ;
denatured alcohol; ethylene chlo-
ride; methyl acetone; toluene;
t ri c h l o roethylene; xylene; poul-
tice materi a l s. Scouring powd e r;
d e t e rg e n t .
O rd i n a rily curing compounds
wear off concrete in a short time
from abrasion or natural weather-
ing, but if this doesn’t happen as
soon as necessary, stain removal
agents can be used. It’s necessary to
know what kind of curing agent was
applied.
Curing compounds made basi-
cally of sodium silicate can be re-
moved by vigorous scrubbing with
clear water and scouring powder.
Those based on wax, resin, or
chlorinated rubber usually require a
poultice of carbon tetra c h l o ri d e,
c h l o ro f o rm, ethylene chloride,
trichloroethylene, toluene or xylene.
An effective mixture of solvents for
use in a poultice is 10 parts methyl
acetone, 25 parts benzene, 18 parts
denatured alcohol and 8 parts ethyl-
ene chloride. Leave the poultice in
place for 30 to 50 minutes, then re-
move it and scrub with a detergent
in clear water.
If the stains are old it may be best
to remove by light grinding or sand-
blasting.
Dirt (see also Rainwater Runoff
in next installment)
Agents (and equipment) to check:
Hyd ro c h l o ric acid. De t e rg e n t .
(Steam cleaning equipment and
materials).
Dirt encompasses deposits of al-
most any material in a location
where it’s not wanted, but it usually
includes fine, dark-colored solid
particles, often surrounded by some
kind of oily film. It can be particular-
ly troublesome on architectural and
d e c o ra t i ve concrete, including ex-
posed aggregate surfaces. It may be
enough to brush vigorously with
water and strong detergent. A
stronger measure, but one that
roughens the concrete, is to scrub
with a solution of 1 part hydrochlo-
ric acid in 19 parts water. Steam
cleaning is generally effective. Pro-
p ri e t a ry materials made for use in
combination with the steam can be
helpful.
If there is obviously a lot of oil in
the dirt, the methods described for
removing lubricating oil may be
needed.
After cleaning, it may be desirable
to apply some kind of nonglossy, in-
conspicuous clear coating to pre-
vent further buildup [4].
Efflorescence
Agents to check: Acetic acid; hy-
d ro c h l o ric acid; phosphoric acid;
paper pulp poultices.
Deposits of white compounds on
a concrete surface, known as efflo-
rescence, are not usually thought of
as stains but are equally unsightly.
These deposits often contain calci-
um, sodium and potassium hydrox-
ides or carbonates, bicarbonates,
chlorides and sulfates of calcium
and magnesium, though this does
not exhaust the list of possibilities.
Sometimes the material originates
as a soluble compound within the
concrete that gradually moves in so-
lution to the surface, where it re-
mains when the water eva p o ra t e s.
In other cases it may originate in the
soil, as a free material on a deck, or
as a tank-contained solution that
moves through the tank wall.
A few of the materials on the sur-
face are soluble and can be removed
by scrubbing with water alone or
hosing with water under high pres-
sure. But calcium acid carbonate
and magnesium acid carbonate
from the soil, as well as calcium hy-
droxide, remain soluble for only a
brief time after reaching the atmos-
phere. Then carbon dioxide con-
verts them to the water-insoluble
calcium carbonate and magnesium
carbonate. Consequently, when
there is any chance that efflores-
cence is made up mainly of these
soluble compounds, it pays to try to
remove them promptly while they
can still be washed off with water
alone. This avoids working with
acids that can etch the concrete and
damage adjacent materials.
Any of several dilute solutions of
acids are effective in removing efflo-
rescence:
• 1 part of hydrochloric acid in 9 to
19 parts water
• 1 part phosphoric acid in 9 parts
water
• 1 part phosphoric acid plus 1 part
acetic acid in 19 parts water
The concrete should first be
hosed to saturate it with water and
thereby minimize the acid attack on
the concrete itself. The acid should
be tried out first on an inconspicu-
ous area to develop a good tech-
nique. As soon as the efflorescence
has been removed from an area the
concrete should be thoroughly
rinsed with water. Contrary to a rec-
ommendation commonly pub-
lished, there’s then no need to neu-
tralize the surface with ammonium
h yd roxide or other alkali; no traces
of acid will be left on the concrete
after rinsing.
Efflorescence often appears on
exterior wall surfaces after a rainy
season. If the source of the efflores-
cence has been the concrete itself
and not the soil or other continuing
supply, the deposits are likely to
cease appearing after efflorescence
has been removed several years in a
row. If, howe ve r, the concrete is
heavily laden with potential efflo-
rescence it may be desirable to re-
move the efflorescence that shows,
then apply a poultice of paper pulp
and water, remove when dry, and re-
peat several times.
Epoxy coatings and
epoxy adhesives
Agents (and equipment) to check:
Scouring powder. (Butane or
propane torches and flame clean-
ers; abrasive blasting equipment.)
Butane or propane torches will
remove epoxies from small areas,
but good ventilation is needed be -
cause they produce black, acrid
smoke. If the torches leave a black
stain it can be removed by the meth-
ods described below for fire and
smoke. Flame cleaners burning oxy-
gen and acetylene should burn the
material cleanly.
For large areas sandblasting is an
effective method.
Finishing-and-curing
discolorations
Agents to check: Acetic acid; am-
monium citrate; phosphoric acid;
sodium hydroxide; vinegar.
The causes of several kinds of dis-
coloration that can develop on con-
crete flatwork during the finishing
and curing operations have been
explained by Greening and Land-
gren [5, 6] and they describe con-
struction practices to prevent it. The
kinds of discoloration discussed in-
clude dark discoloration, light dis-
coloration and mottling. If discov-
ered early, dark discoloration
caused by inadequate curing can
sometimes be overcome by washing
for a half hour at a time with hot wa-
ter, allowing to dry, and repeating as
necessary.
Dark discoloration caused by
trowel burns is much harder to get
off, and may require treatment with
a solution of 1 part hyd ro c h l o ri c
acid in 49 to 99 parts of water. A so-
lution of 25 to 35 ounces by weight
of di-ammonium citrate in 1 gallon
of water is more effective. It should
be scrubbed on, and the white gel
that forms in the process should be
diluted with water and continuous-
ly agitated during the treatment to
avoid having it bond tightly to the
concrete. After the treatment the gel
should be scrubbed off with water. It
may be necessary to treat the con-
crete two or three times. It also ap-
pears to help if the concrete is cured
with water between treatments.
The same kinds of treatment used
for dark discoloration may be effec-
tive on white discoloration.
Nonacidic treatments should be
tried first.
Other acids that can be useful for
removing dark or light stains from
flatwork are:
• 1 part acetic acid in 19 parts water
• undiluted vinegar
• 1 part phosphoric acid in 19
parts water
Light spots on a dark back-
ground may be removed or dimin-
ished by applying a solution of 12
ounces of sodium hyd roxide by
weight in 1 gallon of water. This so-
lution should be left on the surface
for a day before rinsing the surface
thoroughly.
References “Surface Discoloration of Concrete
1. Sedlenieks, Maris, “Flame Treat- Flatwork, Journal of the PCA Research
ment of Concrete for Finishing or and Development Laboratories, Sep-
tember 1966, pages 34-50. Also
Cleaning,” Concrete Construction,
May 1978, pages 275-277. reprinted as Research Department
Bulletin 203, Portland Cement Associ-
2. Harrison, D., “The Removal of ation, Skokie, Illinois 60077.
Stains from Concrete,” Ontario Hydro
Research News, July-September 6. Greening, N. R., and Landgren, R.,
“Discolored Concrete Flatwork,” Con-
1959, pages 19-24.
crete Construction, November 1967,
3. “Removing Stains from Concrete,” pages 417-420. This is a condensed
Concrete Construction, May 1961, version of Reference 4.
pages 132-135.
4. Litvin, Albert, “Clear Coatings for
Exposed Architectural Concrete,”
Concrete Construction, May 1969,
pages 169-173.
5. Greening, N. R., and Landgren, R.,
PUBLICATION #C860655
Copyright © 1986, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved