This is a very important step and most manufacturers and even many "acid stain professionals" don't take this next step in the concrete stain process, which is critical to a beautiful concrete acid stain application for your floor.

D. Citrus-Magic

 If the floor has some oil or grease or really anything questionable on it we recommend that you clean the floor with Citrus-Magic. Dilute with 8 parts water and scrub the floor with a black pad and a buffer. Rinse and use a shop-vac to remove residue, if possible always use a shop vac as this will pull the residue and dirt out of the pores of the concrete.

This step is only necessary if your concrete is extremely dirty. If your concrete is normal or just slightly dirty the following process is all that is normally needed.

E. Super-Blue

Next dilute Super-Blue, 2 parts water to 1 part Super-Blue. If your concrete is only slightly dirty you can dilute 3 to 1. (2 to 1-600 sq. ft. coverage-3 to1 900 sq.ft. coverage) Moisten the concrete and use a garden sprayer with all plastic inserts to spray the dilution over the entire floor and scrub lightly. Make sure to have proper ventilation. Let the mixture stand for approximately 5 minutes or until all fizzing and bubbles have ceased.

Use a buffer with a black pad and scrub the floor thoroughly. Flood the floor with water and shop vac the floor to achieve the cleanest floor possible for concrete acid stain application. The reason we recommend using a shop vac to clean up the water as opposed to just mopping the floor is the shop vac gets up all the dirt and crud out of the pores of the concrete.

The whole point of cleaning the floor is to give the acid stain the opportunity to introduce the metal salts in the stain to the free lime in the concrete. This is what causes the color change.

If you have dirt and dirty water left over from the mopping how can you achieve the best result. Quick answer, You Can't.

The buffer can be rented from your local rental shop or most Home Depots or Lowe's stores now have a rental shop (about $40.00 per day).

F. Coverage

Make sure that your concrete is completely dry. This sounds like an obvious statement but you would be very surprised to know how many folks take this for granted. When we say dry we mean that it is better to leave the floor overnight to dry unless it is summer and the AC is on and a few fans are turned on.

The reason for this precaution is that is if the concrete is wet or even slightly damp this will dilute the stain and probably require you to spray again, therefore this is essential in the concrete acid stain application process.

One coat of Perma Pro 2x Stain is all that is usually needed. You may feel that you want to go back over the area and spray a little more in some areas. Artistic Decor Stain can be applied at a rate of 1 part water to 1 part stain.

The coverage rate will be around 300 sq. ft. square feet per gallon. When applicable after you have tested the stains in an inconspicuous area, you may choose to dilute the stains more to achieve a slightly lighter color. Artistic Decor Stain are what we refer to as true color stains and will not turn towards an orange color as they are diluted as most other acid stains will.