Alright, let me tell you about cleaning my concrete driveway the other day. It was looking pretty grim, honestly. Stains everywhere, dirt ground in, you know how it gets.

Getting Started

First thing, I hauled out my pressure washer from the garage. Had to make sure it still worked, gave it a quick check, topped up the gas. Then I thought about what cleaner to use. You see all sorts of fancy stuff advertised, but I wanted something simple that would cut through the grease and general yuckiness.

I ended up grabbing a bottle of concentrated concrete cleaner from the hardware store. Nothing too special, just something that looked like it meant business. Read the label, seemed straightforward enough.

Mixing it Up and Getting Ready

My pressure washer has one of those little tanks for detergent. The instructions on the cleaner said to dilute it, so I grabbed a bucket, mixed it up with water – just eyeballed it mostly, maybe a bit stronger than they recommended, hoping it would work better. Poured the mix into the washer's tank.

Then I hooked up the hoses, got the water running, and put on the soap nozzle tip – the one with the bigger hole, low pressure.

The Actual Work

Okay, time to get wet. I started spraying the cleaner solution all over the concrete. Made sure to cover every square inch, especially the really nasty spots. The smell wasn't too bad, kind of chemically clean. I let that solution sit for a bit, maybe 10 or 15 minutes. The bottle said to let it soak in and do its thing, loosen up the dirt.

Then I switched the nozzle tip to a higher pressure one, I think it was the green one, for general cleaning. Fired up the washer engine again and started blasting.

This was the satisfying part. You could see the dirt and grime just lifting off in stripes where the water hit. It's amazing how much filth builds up. I worked my way across the driveway, section by section, overlapping the strokes a bit so I didn't miss any spots.

• Started from the top near the garage.
• Worked my way down towards the street.
• Paid extra attention to oil stains – they didn't come out completely, but they faded a lot.
• Had to go slow to make sure I got everything.

It took a while, maybe an hour or so of actual washing. My arms were getting tired holding that wand, but seeing the clean concrete appear kept me going.

Rinsing and Finishing Up

Once I'd blasted the whole area, I switched back to a wider, lower pressure tip (maybe the white one?) and just rinsed everything down really well. Wanted to make sure all the cleaner and loosened dirt washed away properly down into the street drain.

Stepped back and had a look. Big difference. Seriously, it looked way brighter and cleaner. Not perfect like brand new concrete, obviously, it's old. But all the surface dirt, the green mildewy stuff, gone. Even the color looked more even.

So yeah, that was my adventure with pressure washing the concrete. A bit of work, got splashed quite a bit, but the result was definitely worth it. The driveway looks respectable again.