Cleaning up cement dust from sanding of concrete floor

A. My son did some concrete cutting this week, fortunately in the backyard, but I see the problem: the dust clumps almost like a plaster. If your vacuum cleaner has a HEPA filter, so you won't blow the dust back into the room, I think you can vacuum it with a brush attachment, although you may need to break up clumps with something stiffer like a toothbrush.

A. Hi. All I can warn of is that if you do not have a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, you should not vacuum it because you'll just scatter the dust ... perhaps into your lungs. If you have a built-in vacuum that discharges outside, or very long hoses so your vacuum cleaner can be outside, then I think you can safely try to vacuum it.

Regards,

A. Hi Dick. I'm just the administrator of a metal finishing site which wandered into concrete dust cleanup. I'm disappointed that after 10 years of substantial traffic here, nobody has volunteered info about what they successfully did :-(

But if it must be removed and it can't be washed up, I guess your only alternative is what the people in the tiling business often do for grout haze -- dissolve it with dilute acid. I guess you could go to the hardware store and get some grout remover and see how it goes: remembering that the acid will attack the concrete if left long enough, being careful not to slosh it on any metal work, neutralizing it with a baking soda wash, and maintaining good ventilation while doing it.

I'd suggest trying a small and inconspicuous area first, remembering that cabinets and concrete floors may react differently. Then come back and tell us how it worked :-)

Regards,