Methods differ for cleaning stains on garage floor

Your garage floor doesn't need to be clean enough to eat off of, but if it's got grease spots and other messes, you probably could spend a little more effort getting it in shape. Here are some quick tips and hints on taking care of some common messes we all get on our garage floors.

Start off by just sweeping the floor to see what kinds of spots and stains you need to concentrate on.

We mentioned grease and/or oil because it is the most common stain on a garage floor. It's actually pretty simple to get off, too. Just pour a little mineral-spirits paint thinner on top of the spot and let it soak in. Use a scrub brush to loosen the surface oil. The paint thinner dilutes the oil so that when you place an absorbent material on top, it will soak the oil up. You can use clay cat litter, cornmeal or even sawdust. Do this with the door open for extra ventilation. Just let it soak up the liquid for a few hours and sweep it away. Repeat if necessary.

Rust is another common stain for garage floors. It can be caused by leaks from your car or even from fertilizers used on your yard. Oxalic acid will work to dissolve and remove rust stains. You can find it at your hardware store, home center or in grocery-store products like Zud or Barkeeper's Friend. Just follow the package directions. Again, use a scrub brush for some extra muscle if you need it.

Soapy water will work on most other stains. Use a powdered laundry detergent or dishwashing soap mixed with warm water. The scrub brush also will help. If you don't want to get down on your knees, you can use a push broom to scrub with.

Laundry bleach mixed with water in a 50/50 solution will attack stubborn stains and get most of them out.

Once you have the floor clean, maybe you should think about putting a protective sealer on it to keep it from absorbing some of these stains. You could apply a water seal to prevent water-soluble liquids from being absorbed. Another option would be garage-floor paint -- probably an epoxy, because it has the toughest finish. There are also some pretty neat flooring options you can install. Special mats are available, as well as snap-together tiles. It doesn't have to be clean enough to eat off of, but with these treatments, the "five-second rule" could at least be considered!

Handy holes

Pencils and pens often get lost in a busy workshop. But if you have a wooden workbench, you easily can keep them handy by just drilling a hole or two right into the bench top. Just pick an out-of-the-way spot, like near the back wall or off to the side, and drill a hole that is just a little larger than the pencil or pen. The hole only needs to be about 1 inch deep. You can keep screwdrivers in these type of holes, too. A whole row of them along the back of your bench top will accommodate lots of your tools. Now that's handy!

Hooks from scrap

If you need a storage hook in a hurry, you can make one from a small scrap of PVC plastic pipe. All you need is a piece of plastic pipe that is about 3 inches long. Use a hacksaw to cut two slits halfway through the pipe. The slits should be parallel to each other and spaced about 1 inch apart. Cut them at an angle. Then cut out the part between the two slits and you will be left with a slanted C-shaped piece of pipe. You can drill through the back of this pipe and mount it directly on a wall, and it will make a super hook for all sorts of things. If you use a large-diameter pipe you could make a super place to store your extension cord or even a garden hose. Not bad for a scrap of plastic pipe!

Super hints

• All of those leftover fast-food eating utensils can sure come in handy in a workshop. Save all of the plastic ware and napkins in a bin to use for your projects in the shop. They can be tossed after doing the mixing, spreading and whatever else they are used for.

• Old sanding belts might not work well in your belt sander, but you can cut them up and use them for smaller projects. They usually cost quite a bit of money, and being able to use them again can save you big bucks.

• You can make some super storage bins from PVC plastic pipe. Use really big pipe -- 6-inch is great. Then cut it into sections that are about 10 inches in length. Stack the sections on their sides, gluing as you go, to create a wall of round cubby holes in which to collect craft supplies, toys and other household items.

Q. I've sealed around my doors and windows pretty well, but I'm feeling drafts coming from under the baseboards in my hallway. How would I go about sealing this?

M.H.

A. You can caulk along the edge of the wall to seal that area. If you have baseboards, you can caulk between them and the floor, or pull them back, apply the caulk and then replace them.

Q. I have what seems to be moss growing on part of my roof. I want to clean it, but I don't want to damage the shingles. What is the best way to clean it off of the shingles without ruining them?

V.N.

A. You can kill the moss by spraying it with a mixture of laundry bleach and water (50/50). Gently pull it away from the roof and then see if you can cut some branches back somewhere to let some sun get to this part of the roof. The moss is telling you that you have too much moisture in the area, so see if you can take care of that -- then maybe the moss won't come back.

Q. I plan to paint my kitchen cabinets and am wondering if I have to use a glossy paint. I would rather use a paint that is less shiny. My old cabinets are super shiny now, and I don't like it. What do you say?

H.E.

A. The shinier the paint, the easier it is to clean, in most cases. That's why people like to use it in a kitchen. Airborne grease will collect and is easier to clean from a glossier paint. But, no, you don't have to use a glossy paint. Make sure to scuff-sand your current painted surface before applying more paint. Then use a semi-gloss or even eggshell paint. You will still be able to clean it, and it won't be as shiny.

Reader tips

• I had some leftover metal from a birdhouse that I made. I decided to turn it into a magnetic note pad. I hung it on my garage wall and put some old refrigerator magnets on it to keep notes, receipts and other papers that I might need. My wife now wants one for her office.

D.C.

• I use petroleum jelly on the tracks for my sliding-glass patio door. The door would stick sometimes and was hard to pull open and closed. A little petroleum jelly spread in the track makes it run smooth and glide again. I've also used it on my windows.

J.I.

• I have come up with a super-simple place to store papers in my workshop. I simply placed a large rubber band around one of my cabinet doors. The door still works properly, but the rubber stretches all the way around it. I put papers against the door under the rubber band, which holds them there where I can get to them when I need to. You can use this paper-holder in your kitchen or home office, too.

S.T.

• Our community is now required to have our address numbers on the front and back of our home. We have never had one on the back, so we created a very clever one. We replaced the plain light on our garage to a larger, rectangular model. Then we cut out some peel-and-stick numbers and stuck them on the front of the lamp. Now it's easy to see our address numbers from the street, and yet we still have plenty of light in the driveway.

T.W.

• We have a pool cover. It's great because the leaves stay on top of it rather than getting in the pool. But they just sit there, all winter if we let them. We made an extension for the shop vacuum from a piece of PVC pipe and can now vacuum them off of the pool cover. The piece of pipe is about 8 feet long and still works great. I guess we could blow them off, too.

L.P.

Shop talk

• Ryobi recently came out with a new laser level called the ProCross Self-Leveling Laser Level with AIRgrip. Several features make it quite an improvement over similar units. The vacuum technology allows it to sit on a wall or other surface without leaving marks or other damage behind. The laser level works horizontally, vertically and in every other direction up to 50 feet. The fine adjustment knob allows pinpoint accuracy. It uses four AA batteries, and even includes a tripod adapter. It costs less than $20, too. If you would like to know more about the product or about Ryobi, visit its Web site, www.ryobitools.com. You can find this tool and the rest of the Ryobi line at your hardware store or home center.

• The RapidSlide Wrench is an adjustable wrench with a difference. A sliding jaw adjustment is located right on the handle, where you can use it easily with just one hand. Once adjusted, the jaws automatically lock securely in place so you don't have to hold it like the older, rotating type of adjustment. It's made by the Crescent folks, so you know it's a quality tool that will last a long time. Look for it at your hardware store or home center. To learn more, visit www.cooperhandtools.com.

© 2007, Cowles Syndicate Inc.