To clean old grease from concrete, saturate first with paint thinner or engine degreaser, then use the kitty litter or corn starch treatment. Sprinkle corn starch or kitty litter over the area and sweep up after the oil is absorbed.
By Monica from Cortez, CO
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I know some people have used kitty litter to clean up oil leaks. In my experience it's been worth investing in a full-out absorbent product, although I work with cars on a regular basis so I deal with a lot of oil leaks. Stuff like SpillFix works really well
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
How do I remove a car oil stain on a cement driveway?
By Peggy B from Philadelphia, PA
I think I remember that you can sprinkle baking soda on it (a lot of it). Let it sit a while and then sweep it up.
If they are not very deep stains, they do tend to fade over time. My son drives an old Toyota (85) which off and on, leaks fluids. These disappear in the wind, rain, snow, and sun over time. In shops, for substantial spills, they use floor dry, which is cheap kitty litter. They leave it for awhile (hours, days) to absorb the oil, and then sweep it up.
Cover the oily spots with clay cat litter, which will soak up a lot of the oil. The rest will disappear over time as nature evaporates it.
We use gasoline, lighter fluid or paint thinner and it removes oil stain very quickly after evaporation. Let us know what worked for you.
Cat litter is good to start with then buy some cheap detergent and pour on the stain, using a stiff broom to work it in. For discoloration separately use household bleach.
"Behr" Cleaner/Degreaser sold Home Depot best ever, removes anything off the driveway, sold in silver bottle/green label, strong stuff will eat your hands but not your driveway, you will need rubber gloves, light scrubbing with a bristle brush. Try diluting but I use full strength. Great Stuff!
How do you clean oil from concrete?
Bill
Try Coca Cola it cleans up blood on tarmac so it might work on oil
Oven cleaner works. Rinse it off after you are done and follow label cautions. Also cat litter or oil dry will get quite a bit off.
Husband is shop foreman at an Automobile Diagnostic company and they use concrete cleaner from Napa Auto Parts.
I have used "Carburetor Cleaner", on smooth surfaced concrete. For stubborn spots,or un-even areas, saturate an old wash cloth with the cleaner, place on top of the soil and top off with a brick, or two.
Kitty litter is supposed to be good for absorbing oil from concrete and brick. Good luck and God bless you.
My neighbor has a concrete driveway and found that pouring some gasoline on the oil and scrubbing it has helped her to remove the oil. I myself never tried it so I am only passing along what I have heard. Hope it helps you out. Good Luck!
I just used Gunk concentrated powder on my concrete driveway minutes ago and I am more than happy with the results. The oil stain has lightened considerably and is not so noticeable. The oil spill was 24 hrs old.
Best product for this is called Eximo. My local Safeway Gas Station uses and sells this stuff - just a powder you sprinkle on the oil stains that makes them dissapear.
How do I remove motor oil from my concrete porch? My son left a bag of motor oil on the porch, not realizing that the bag was leaking, and the spot is about 12 by 12 inches.
My son removed oil spots from his garage floor with spray oven cleaner!
Try cat litter or TSP.
I've used kitty-litter, the granulated type. Cover the motor oil with a generous amount of the litter and leave overnight. The next day just sweep away. You may need to repeat the process.
Kitty Litter works great but if you want it out right away just rub the litter in the cement with your foot. This is what i do, cause i don't like oil on my drive way.
I used a product called Eximo concrete cleaner - I just sweeped it on, and within a week the entire stain was gone!
P.S. The product claims to be a "GREEN" alternative to other methods out there!
How can I remove a bad oil stain from my concrete patio floor?
By Alex from Surrey, England
I'm not sure you can remove the entire stain but here is how I cleaned my driveway where our car leaked oil.
Get a wide blade putty knife and scrape up whatever you can. Next, get some Pine Sol and pour it directly onto the stain. Scrub with a wire brush. Rinse with water and let dry. When the area is completely dry, you can spray some brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner on the area.
Home Depot and Lowe's also sell something that is supposed to work to get the stains off but we have never used it so I don't know if it works.
Hope this helps!
Use clay kitty litter, be generous, walk on to make contact, leave for how ever long it take.
How can I get oil stains off the concrete outside? My car leaked and I can't remove it.
By Keely
Try using cat litter on it.Then put baking soda and vinegar on it and scrub it.
How do I remove peanut oil from concrete?
By roxann from Chicago
Pour some kitty litter on it and let it set overnight, then sweep or vaccum.
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Clean oil stains from a concrete drive or garage by covering with mineral spirits and allowing to soak for thirty minutes to one hour. Scrub with a stiff brush, adding more mineral spirits if necessary.