Calcium chloride is a salt, like stone salt — or sodium chloride — and it can come into your home on your own shoes, through pores at a concrete pad or in hard water. The streaks look simple to remove, but they aren’t. Scrubbing them with water and soap may function, but it requires a massive amount of energy on your part. An effective way to handle these salt deposits is to neutralize them with acid.
Winter Water Streaks
Calcium chloride pellets melt snow and ice quickly than rock salt, plus they do not do as much damage to vegetation. Since they’re more capable of colder temperatures than rock salt, slush can collect on your own shoes also in very cold weather, and it’s simple to track calcium chloride-laden water to your home. When the water evaporates, the salt stays on the ground and leaves white stripes. Your garage or basement floor may also demonstrate these stripes when water seeps through from the ground underneath, plus they have a similarly high concentration of calcium chloride.
Dissolve Calcium Chloride With Acid
Salt deposits has a high pH, which makes it caustic, and calcium chloride particularly has a propensity for pulling water. Consequently, calcium chloride deposits can harm the ground finish, plus they make the ground slippery. A neutral or alkaline detergent cleaner will not have a lot of cleaning effect; you want a low-pH cleaner to neutralize the salt deposits. Vinegar, which contains acetic acid, is acidic enough for the majority of your floors. It requires a stronger vinegar solution to handle efflorescence on concrete basement and garage floors than to remove streaks from inside floors.
Cleaning Interior Floors
As it’s acidic, vinegar can also harm your floor finish, which means you should avoid applying it full-strength; rather, use a solution of about 5 or 4 oz in a gallon of warm water to wash inside, non-concrete floors. Mop this solution liberally on vinyl or tile floors; enable it to sit for a couple of minutes, and mop with clean water. Avoid allowing water to stand on hardwood floors, since they can be damaged from excessive moisture. Wash a rag or microfiber cloth in the vinegar solution and wring it out prior to wiping the streaks. After the streaks are gone, wipe the floor dry with another cloth.
Cleaning Concrete Floors
Calcium chloride bonds more strongly to concrete compared to to other flooring materials, and it requires a stronger acid to loosen its grip. Mix a solution containing 1 part vinegar to 5 parts water or 1 part hydrochloric acid to 20 parts water. Expand the answer generously; wait several moments, and neutralize the acid by mopping with a dilute solution of household ammonia and water. To stop individuals from tracking calcium chloride in your property, place an absorbent mat from the door and encourage visitors and family to remove their shoes when they enter.