[John Gesner]

I'm going to epoxy paint my honey house floor, something I should have done before now. :doh: I just got done etching the concrete, but that didn't remove some of the wax spots. I'm concerned that the paint won't adhere properly if there's any wax residue, but I'm not sure how to get the wax off. I've scraped as much as I can, but there's still some there.

Suggestions?

 

[Fuzzy]

grinder, sandblaster

 

[NeilV]

Flamethrower.

 

[Beeslave]

steam cleaner

 

[sqkcrk]

Good luck. That spot is already sealed. And probably better than anything else you could use.

Hey, there's an idea. Wax coat your floor. Why not? It'll last forever. I'd bet.

 

[John Gesner]

Well.... Looks like I finally found a use for this emoticon:

:ws

Seriously, tho. If there's some way to salvage the floor, I'd like to know. There's two years worth of spots here and there over a 12 x 18 floor.

 

[Barry]

Take a propane torch or heat gun and heat the spots, then use paper towels to soak up any residue. Any residue left beyond that, it will be near impossible to remove it. Just like tile adhesive cutback, you can't remove it from concrete, so you end up having to prime it and pour a cement leveler over it.

 

[SiD]

Did you use a strong acid mix when you etched?

You may consider a set of stones, but take care not to get too deep into the aggregate, and feather to avoid obvious depressions.

 

[Rick 1456]

Get of the stuff they use to get gum off sidewalks...It's in a spray can and it freezes it.(get a Co2 fire extinguisher) Freeze the wax, be brittle, and then stiff brush it. If that doesn't do it,,,,,,I think you're screwed

Hope it works

rick SoMd

 

[wolfpenfarm]

I think Lye water would dissolve it. It dissolves petroleum gunk and buildup along with wax, so it should dissolve the bees wax also.

 

[John Gesner]

Unfortunately, it gets really warm in the honey house and the bits of wax have partly melted on the floor. So I don't think the freezing technique would work.

I used the muratic acid as specified on the bottle. One pint to one gallon water. I may try etching a second time. I also might try using an ammonia solution on the wax, which seems to work in getting propolis off my hive tool. Gonna call the paint shop and see how much the epoxy paint will be affected by the spots of wax.

Again, this emoticon just keeps catching my eye...

:ws :doh:

You all are being really helpful, and I do appreciate the input.

 

[Deeptime]

I'd be very careful about using a propane torch for anything more than a few seconds. You can blast a chip of concrete through a window pane if you overheat.:no:

 

[StikyBoots]

I would recommend using a test piece of concrete with the wax removed in different ways and paint the floor coating on it. Then after it has set try scraping it off to see how well the new floor paint bonded to the waxed concrete. If it is a two part mixture just mix up a small sample of it using the ratio. Also, the manufacturer may have some recommendations.

I would be very careful with using a torch on the concrete. The aggregate and cement mixtures have differing coefficients of expansion and the aggregate will pop leaving a crater in the floor. Also, if concrete has water trapped into its chemical structure and when that is driven out it turns to powder easier.

 

[pcord]

Can you gouge out the areas that are contaminated and re-fill with clean concrete?

 

[MapMan]

I'm with Barry on this one - use heat to melt the wax, and then sop up the residuals with kraft paper. I've used this technique often to get wax (from beeswax candles) from cassocks. With the dense, porous nature of concrete, you're going to have residual. Use an iron to avoid damaging the concrete. We place the iron over the Kraft paper, which is on the surface (clothing) needing wax removal. Works for clothing, worth a try on concrete.

Another product to check is to go to an art/drafting supply company and ask for a solvent to remove grease pencil markings off of chromaline (plastic) drawing sheets. Works for waxed-based products. Also, citrus-type cleaners will remove some waxes.

MM

 

[garprob]

My kids once dumped a bunch of candle wax down the bathroom sink and sealed it off completely. I went to the hardware store and got some concentrated sulfuric acid industrial drain cleaner. It dissolved the wax in seconds. I imagine it would work well on beeswax as well.

 

[Roland]

I vote with the wolfman, Sodium Hydroxide(lye) will saponify the wax. I would highly recommend NOT using heat. I had some concrete blow up on me when the moisture in it turned to steam. OK, gentle warm might be alright..

Roland

 

[beekeeper_sd]

we wash our flours with a combination of water, bleach and TSP (which you can get at most lumber yards), scrubbing with a brush on broom handle or a good stiff push broom. Works very well. Every place there is beeswax on the floor the TSP will turn it bright yellow.

 

[John Gesner]

we wash our flours with a combination of water, bleach and TSP (which you can get at most lumber yards), scrubbing with a brush on broom handle or a good stiff push broom. Works very well. Every place there is beeswax on the floor the TSP will turn it bright yellow.

TSP? And does it just turn it yellow or disolve it?

I'm also curious about lye, but I'm not sure where to get that and if it will damage the concrete....

 

[John Gesner]

I vote with the wolfman, Sodium Hydroxide(lye) will saponify the wax. I would highly recommend NOT using heat. I had some concrete blow up on me when the moisture in it turned to steam. OK, gentle warm might be alright..

Roland

Ok... Had to look that one up. Saponify, basically turn it to soap. And then scrubbing with the acid brush will release it so I can rinse it away?

Again, where do you buy lye?