Tips for removing rust from Concrete Driveways

Concrete Driveways can be very aesthetically pleasing and enhance the overall look of your house. The concrete driveways are easy to build and extremely cost effective. This is because the concrete material is comparatively cheap and a concrete driveway is practically zero maintenance. But zero maintenance does not mean that you’re going to be spilling oil on it and leave metallic tools, wires, beams on it to let it rust and it’ll get clean on its own! Concrete gets stained and those stains can be very obstinate!

So here are a few ways you can remove rust stains from your concrete driveway

Lemon Juice

Yep! We’re going to spill on lemon juice on the concrete surface rather than making lemonade with it! Lemon juice has its acidic stain removing properties that will at least lighten if not completely remove the stains. Spill the lemon juice on the concrete, let it stay for 5 minutes, then scrub the surface with a wire brush. Rinse the driveway with a water hose at its highest pressure after half an hour. What you can also do it cut lime into halves and rub it on the surface directly instead of squeezing the juice out.

White Vinegar and Baking Soda

A mixture of baking soda and white vinegar is a very strong stain remover. One portion of baking soda and one portion of vinegar will make a thick paste What you have to do it rub that paste on the stain and scrub it for 5 minutes. Then leave it to stay for some time but keep sprinkling water on it to avoid it from hardening as the stain removing action will then be stopped.

Detergent and a sponge

Mix a washing machine detergent with some baking soda for scrubbing effect, pour it on to a sponge and scrub the concrete surface with it. In this cleaning tip as well as the ones mentioned above, always remember to perform test cleaning on a small corner surface. If you start off spreading the cleanser from the middle of the driveway, you might end up ruining its color if the chemical is too strong.

Preventives!

To avoid rusting your concrete driveway, there are a few precautionary measures that you can take

Metal Bottomed furniture is the culprit

Metal bottomed furniture often leaves rust marks on the concrete. It is handy to either place a piece of cardboard under the feet of the furniture or to coat the metal feet with enamel. Out door mats and carpets are specially designed to prevent the furniture from marking the floor. It will be wise to remove the furniture from the concrete during a rainstorm.

Have your house inspected for leaks

Dripping water pipes can cause the concrete to remain moist and get rusted. The rust from the leaking pipes deposits on the concrete and stains it. So get your house inspected for leaking pipes to avoid rust stains.