grinder, sandblaster

 

Flamethrower.

 

steam cleaner

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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:

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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?

 

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....

 

>>Again, where do you buy lye?<<

One used to be able to find it in the household cleaning department of most stores, but now it is tough to find because of the crackdown on manufacturing chemicals/raw materials for meth production. I haven't checked my neighborhood Ma and Pa hardware store lately, but it used to carry the Red Devil brand. Otherwise check on soap making internet sites for possible locations to purchase.

MM

 

weedburner. go light they put out some heat.... melt/burn it off easly then follow up with detergent wash.

 

Hi: I'd recommend the lye. It can be bought by us from Wal-Mart as drain cleaner in cans. Concrete is a basic mixture, and compatible with lye. Using an acid will eat into the "cream" layer of the concrete with a bit of fizzing as the two compounds react, and in my opinion will not help break down the wax so that it can be removed. Remember to add the lye to water not the water to lye. I'd start with a cup of water and add some lye to it stirring with a stick - it may look "syrupy" which means that it is pretty strong. Use it carefully and if it looks like a weaker solution will work, go for that.

As already said, the lye will help the wax turn to soap which can be scrub brushed off, flushed, squeegeed, and shop vacuumed or wiped up. Using the iron and towel method in advance of the lye may get the bulk of it making the second step easier/quicker. You'll have to judge the texture of your floor; the heat may just drive the wax deeper into the surface making it harder to scrub off.

When working with the lye, wear sturdy rubber gloves and preferably a face shield to protect your skin/eyes in case of a splash. Have plenty of water available to dilute, and a bottle of vinegar nearby could be useful as a neutralizer if you get too much on your skin.

Good luck. This has worked for me, but your floor may be different. What have you got to lose? The lye is cheap, and appropriate care is not that hard to achieve. Paul

 

Other options - xylene or methylene chloride (Furniture Stripper).

 

As a painting contractor If you can find someone that rents floor grinders and regrind the floor. Check with the main Sherwin William store contractor one. In floor prep the poorest to the best floor prep goes like this Acid grinding shoot blasting.
David

 

We recently repainted our garage floor. I went through 3 dissolving solvents before I found this one. http://www.lmcc.com/products/citrex.asp
It's called CITREX. And it literally dissolves anything. Look at the info and what it's used for. believe me, this will work.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend lye. I make soap and have spilled lye water on my front step and I think, in time, it will destroy the concrete in that spot.

Besides, do you really want to wade around in lye water to clean your floors? Lye water is VERY caustic and can burn you very badly, not too mention the fumes! Get a whif of lye water once and you'll see what I'm talking about. This is not the kind of stuff you want to mess around with!

The concentration of caustic soda that you need to make soap is much greater than what you need to remove a film of wax. I think that using drain cleaner you're in the 3 - 10 % range so not as noxious or dangerous - still recommend face shield and gloves; SD is correct, strong solutions will be noticed, but if concerned, a vinegar final wash will neutralize the caustic and a water rinse and dry will prepare for paint. BTW, NaOh crystals may be available through a pharmacy or chemical supply source. Drain cleaner may be KOH (Potasium Hydroxide) which works too. Lab grade NaOh is just more expensive and allows you to control the mixing concentration better/easier.
The citrus cleaner has piqued my interest - smells nice and may be less of a hassle. Good luck. Paul

 

Probably true that the mix for soap is much stronger but you are still going to get dangerous gas coming off the lye water. I use lye for my kitchen drains when they plug up but, again, gas. I'm just thinking the amount of lye water you would need to clean a floor is going to be pretty noxious. There are much safer cleaner.