How Do You Clean a Concrete Driveway or Patio? A Step-by-Step Guide

Searching “how to clean a driveway” or “how to get oil stains off concrete”? Here’s the professional process, step by step — the same way we clean everything from a back patio to a full driveway or concrete job.

1. It starts with your instant, flat quote

Every job begins with a price — and you don’t wait on us for it. Pull an instant quote online, or send your address and we’ll run it. Either way it’s measured from satellite imagery of your property, so the number is based on your real square footage — a flat price, and the estimate is what you pay.

2. Chemistry first — always

We never just blast concrete with water. Every job starts with the right cleaning solution worked into the surface first — a brightening wash for general grime, or a heavy-duty degreaser where there’s oil and grease. We let the chemistry do the hard part before the equipment ever touches it.

3. The surface-clean — an even finish, no wand stripes

Then we bring the surface cleaner: a flat spinning head that applies even pressure across the whole slab for one uniform finish — no wand lines or “zebra stripes” that a handheld wand leaves behind. That even, professional finish is the single biggest reason a pro clean looks different from a rented-machine job.

4. Long driveway? We bring the Beast

Long rural and country driveways stump most companies — a standard wand and hose can’t reach the whole length. We bring “The Beast,” our ride-on surface cleaner, and a setup built for distance, so we clean the entire run, end to end, with an even finish no matter how far it stretches out. See the Beast in action →

5. We cut in the edges

Surface cleaners handle the open concrete but can’t reach the corners, so we cut in around the edges by hand — expansion joints, borders, transitions — so it’s cleaned right to the line with no dirty border framing a clean slab.

6. The final rinse

Once it’s cleaned and the edges are cut in, we do a full final rinse to carry off every trace of loosened grime and spent cleaner — because a surface that isn’t fully rinsed grabs dirt and re-soils faster than before.

7. The honest truth about oil stains

We carry hot water and several degreasers for motor oil, hydraulic fluid and more. But here’s the straight truth most companies won’t tell you: once oil has soaked down into concrete, it can’t be fully removed. Unless a stain is brand new, we can dress it and improve it dramatically — but we won’t promise it’ll vanish 100%, because that’s not honest.

8. What clean concrete actually looks like

Concrete is concrete. You’ll see a real, obvious difference where we clean — but old concrete comes back clean, not bright-white-new. Anyone promising to make years-old concrete look brand new isn’t being straight with you. We’ll get it as clean as it can honestly get.

9. Sealing your concrete & pavers

Cleaning gets it looking new — sealing keeps it that way. A quality sealer locks out oil and stains, brings out a richer, deeper color, makes the surface easier to keep clean, and adds years of life (on pavers it also locks the joint sand and slows weeds). It’s an add-on we can do right after cleaning, while the concrete is fresh — just ask and we’ll fold it into your quote.

Water beads right off a freshly sealed surface — that’s the protection at work. Watch our concrete sealing in action →

10. How often to clean it

For most driveways, patios and walkways, once a year keeps the concrete looking new and stops grime, mildew and algae from getting ahead of you. High-traffic spots — entryways, pool decks, trash-can areas — do best a little more often.

11. The walk-through & our guarantee

When we’re done, we walk it with you before we leave. If an area needs another pass, it gets one — we work it until it’s as clean as it’ll honestly get, not until a clock runs out. Every job is backed by our written satisfaction guarantee: we don’t leave until you’re happy, and if something isn’t right, we make it right.

12. What it costs

Driveway and concrete cleaning is $0.25 per square foot, measured from satellite — so most driveways run about $250 to $350, and on larger driveways we’ll work out a better rate. Sealing is a separate add-on ($1/sq ft, cleaning and sealing both included). It’s priced upfront and flat — the estimate is what you pay. A lot of homeowners bundle concrete with a house wash or gutter cleaning for an additional discount.

Keep reading: oil is the stain that needs its own treatment, not just more pressure — here is how oil stains actually come out of concrete.