How do you clean concrete with muriatic acid?

Answer 1

That depends on what you're trying to clean off. Technically, muratic acid removes some of the chemicals that make up the surface of the concete. If the stain is deep you'll need to use a stronger concentration of the muratic acid. If it's just a weak surface stain, you can dilute the acid. The muratic acid will destroy any clothing, especially cotton, that it touches. Even a drop will disolve the cotton where it touches. Concentrated muratic acid that gets in your eyes can cause blindness, so make sure you wear something to protect your eyes. It burns if you get the acid on your skin, so wear gloves and have plenty of water nearby. Beyond that, just put water in a plastic pail then add muratic acid to get to the concentration that you want. I use an automotive wheel cleaning brush to clean with muratic acid, I also wear rubber gloves when I'm using the stronger concentrations. Brush it on, work it a little then rinse it off with water. It takes a small amount of concrete off the surface and changes the appearance of the concrete, but it also removes the stain.


For cleaning concrete, I would recommend using a citrus degreaser instead of muriatic acid. It is much more environmentally friendly, and you don't have to be a chemist to use it. You can purchase it at any professional construction material supply store. Available in 1 gallon and 5 gallon. It also smells a lot better than muriatic acid!!