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Cleaning with Science + a Satisfying Pressure Washing Video

This post is sponsored by Zep.

Fun fact: I’ve been making extra money pressure washing things since I was a high school nerd. When I was about 16, my Dad and I struck a deal; if he bought a pressure washer and I agreed to use it to clean our back deck once every summer, the machine was basically mine to use the rest of the year. After I cleaned our deck, the next-door neighbor hired me to clean their deck. Then a friend of the family hired me to do their deck. Then another neighbor hired me to do their driveway. Before I knew it, I was raking in (what seemed like at the time) piles of money for standing around getting a little bit wet and listening to music on my rad Discman.

Oh, how the times have changed (sigh), and although I’m not making side cash to hang out with friends, there’s always something that could use a good high-pressure cleaning!

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

When we painted and organized our garage a few years ago, we made a few attempts to clean the grease and oil left behind from the previous owner’s old project car. Nothing really worked, life got in the way, and the garage filled up with stuff. As a result, we never really followed through with getting the floor truly clean. We’ve been utilizing the garage as a workshop and a place to keep all the garage-y things – like our car, bikes, tools and excess lumber – and as things began to pile up, we got a wild hair to make big changes once and for all! The time has come to reorganize and get that concrete cleaned (after which we’ll turn it into an organizational dream; mark my words). Let’s cut to the chase and check out the incredibly satisfying results in action:

Psst: You can also view this video on YouTube right here.

Getting the Garage Floor Next Level Clean

After our initial failed attempts to clean the heavily soiled floor with the pressure washer alone, we knew we needed to step our game up and clean with science! So we teamed up with our friends at Zep to utilize their Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash formula to tackle these oil stains once and for all. Their formulas feature the most effective chemistry for each type of soil and helped us get the job done right!

Most gas-powered pressure washers have a chemical injection feature and ours is no exception. Spraying the proper chemical to water concentration was a simple matter of dropping the hose into the canister and letting the pressure washer do the work:

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean
The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

We followed the simple instructions on the jug and used the pressure washer’s low pressure tip to lay down a thick foam of water and chemical. We could literally see oil and grease bubbling up out of the concrete before we even hit it with the high pressure spray!

Tip: This is serious stuff, so please wear gloves and goggles, and always follow manufacturer’s instructions for chemical use with your pressure washer.

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

After allowing the recommended 10 minutes of chemical dwell time, we switched between the medium and high pressure tips included with our pressure washer to remove all of the built up grease, oil and soil. We did discover through this portion of the process, however, that a sealer had been applied to the concrete at some point. Unfortunately, the surface wasn’t properly cleaned before it was sealed, so some of the stains were trapped under the sealer and rendered almost impossible to remove. This discovery was a bit of a bummer, but we cleaned the sealed surfaces as well as possible. The good news is that the areas that weren’t sealed cleaned up fantastically!

Once we wrapped up the garage, we gave it some time to dry and moved out to the sidewalk in our gangway. With the ridiculously wet spring we had here in Chicago, the algae buildup on this mostly shaded area of our backyard was intense! We used the Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash formula here as well. The combination of the chemical with the medium pressure tip made very short work of our little algae problem!

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

Once we were done in the backyard, we moved on to our front sidewalk which had also felt the wrath of the wet spring. It’s funny how you think it’s not so bad – until you realize, wow, it so is.

Tip: Saturate plants, shrubs and grass with water before and after pressure cleaning to avoid negative reactions with vegetation.

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

Refreshing our Front Porch

While we were at it (and I knew we’d have the pressure washer all hooked up anyway), Zep also suggested that we try their House & Siding Pressure Wash formula to remove the dinginess from the siding around our front porch. We used the same application method as in the garage and let the chemical injector draw directly from the jug of concentrate.

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

This formula also foamed up nicely and even ‘clung’ to the vertical siding surfaces. Once again, we allowed for 10 minutes of dwell time before using high pressure.

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean
The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

The Difference Zep Makes

Utilizing the right product for each surface and soil type made all the difference in the world. All of these surfaces have been pressure washed in the past, but they’ve never looked this bright and clean!

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

Our siding is a very light grey color to begin with, but we didn’t realize just how dingy it was until it was cleaned and given time to dry. Stains that we had always assumed were permanent were easily lifted with the right combination of chemicals and pressure. Like we said – cleaning with science!

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

Our Sidewalk Before + After

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

Our Garage Floor Before + After

The power of pressure washing with the help of Zep! // Zep Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash + Zep House & Siding Pressure Wash // via Yellow Brick Home #ZepLevelClean

This project demanded the right combination of cleaning chemicals and tools. Beyond the unfortunate concrete sealer discovery, loads of oil spots that had likely been on our garage floor for over a decade vanished before our eyes! Stains that we thought had permanently penetrated our front siding washed away with almost no effort. Now that it’s had time to completely dry, our garage even smells better! It’s almost hard to believe the difference these Zep products made. We’ve started from the ground up and this is only the first step in a massive garage reorganizing project that we can’t wait to share with you! In the meantime, you can find us in the garage admiring our results!

Thank you to Zep for sponsoring this post, and thank you for supporting the ones that support us. We used and loved their Driveway & Concrete Pressure Wash and House & Siding Pressure Wash!

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  • Mara8.27.19 - 5:46 AM

    What would you recommend for brick siding? Ours has some mildew and paint streaks that don’t come out with the pressure washer. ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.27.19 - 9:01 AM

      Hi Mara! The Zep Driveway and Concrete formula states that it works on brick, too!ReplyCancel

  • Lynne8.27.19 - 7:14 AM

    I love the difference it made. When you are using the power washer on the siding, does the pressure force water through any cracks like around windows or in the corners at the ends where the siding overlaps? (also, what good dogs! They could easily jump that gate and I’m assuming they don’t. I’ve just spent $3,000 *ouch* on 6ft wrought iron paling fencing and our staffy managed to get over it. Not sure what my next step is ????)ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.27.19 - 9:12 AM

      No issues whatsoever with pressure washing the siding! And believe me, CC DOES jump. Jack has no interest, but who would’ve thought our little tootsie roll could catch so much air?! Luckily, we also have a gate around our entire home, so all jumping does is get her to the front or back yards.ReplyCancel

    • Ryan8.27.19 - 2:40 PM

      We have a staffy too and is a power jumper. Luckily he hasn’t tried jumping our perimeter fences but he easily cleared the fence that separates our food garden from the rest of the yard. It isn’t the prettiest but I attached an extra 2 feet of 14 gauge wire fencing to the top after my dad had success keeping his dog from scaling the fence. He said the key is that the fencing topper is floppy/weak so the dog doesn’t feel secure using it to propel themselves over.ReplyCancel

      • Lynne8.30.19 - 8:21 AM

        @Ryan – I’ve been looking into a roll bar which is kind of like a loose tube that is mounted above the gate (which is where she always gets over, despite the entire fence being the same height). The idea is that when she jumps up her claws just spin the tube and she can’t get a solid grip to haul herself up. Fingers crossed it works.ReplyCancel

  • Barb8.27.19 - 8:55 AM

    Looks great , I have tried other products and have gotten pretty good results but I’ll try Zap next time .. your plants were fine afterwards?ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.27.19 - 8:59 AM

      Yup! We sprayed them down with water before and after (as the instructions said), and they’re still going strong as ever.ReplyCancel

  • Paige Cassandra Flamm8.27.19 - 10:30 AM

    We totally need to do this in some areas in our home!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.comReplyCancel

  • lak8.28.19 - 7:34 AM

    I am amazed at the difference. Definitely will be pressure washing my deck next spring.  Your house looks lovely!ReplyCancel

    • Scott8.28.19 - 10:57 AM

      Thank you! We’re really happy with how everything turned out!ReplyCancel

  • andee8.28.19 - 9:29 AM

    I work in Highway Construction and we use zep to clean hot oil off vehicles; works like a charm!` ReplyCancel

  • Megan8.28.19 - 11:17 AM

    Could CC get any cuter laying on your swing?!!!!!ReplyCancel

    • Scott8.28.19 - 11:25 AM

      Definitely not! It’s her favorite place in the world.ReplyCancel

  • Deborah8.28.19 - 10:38 PM

    My neighbors have bees, and so we try to be really careful about any products we use outside.  Are these chemicals harmful to bees?ReplyCancel

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