Oil stains are almost inevitable on garage floors. Here are a few easy methods for soaking up these concrete blemishes.
There are good reasons for getting rid of oil on your garage floor. It not only looks messy, but the oil can get tracked into the house by you, your family members and pets. And if you're striving to create and maintain a healthy home, oil and its toxins are the last thing you want coating your floors, especially if you have small children.
Luckily, you can use these three everyday materials to soak up oil on your garage floor.
1. Kitty Litter
If you have unused kitty litter on hand, you're in luck. If you need to go out and buy some, even the cheapest brand will do.
To begin, cover the oil or oil stain with a heavy coating of litter. (How much depends on the amount of oil present.) A thick coating takes more; a slight sheen takes less.
Once there is enough material down to absorb the oil, do a dance on top of the area. That's right: Use the bottom of your sturdy shoes (not expensive Italian sandals; old sneakers are more like it!) to ground the litter into the floor.
When you're done, sweep up the litter. The oil stain just be gone -- or at least much more subtle.
2. Baking Soda
Is there anything this
miracle product cannot do?
For oil stains, wet the area a little first, and then sprinkle it liberally with baking soda. Let it sit for a while while you get a pot of water up to a boil.
Being careful not to burn or scald yourself, pour some hot water onto the baking soda. Let it cool a little, and then scrub the area with a
stiff bristle brush (not a wire brush, it will scratch the concrete). Repeat as necessary, and rinse until the oil stain is a dim memory.
3. Dawn Dishwashing Soap
Dawn dish soap is what many wildlife experts use to
remove oil from birds and turtles who fall victim to disasters like the
Gulf oil spill. That says a lot about its grease-cutting properties.
For your garage floor, wet the oiled area just a bit, squirt on some Dawn and use a stiff brush to work the soap into the floor. Rinse with water.
Truth be told, there are dozens of other tricks people try to remove oil from concrete. Here are a few:
• Some people swear by spraying WD-40 lubricant on the floor and then wiping it up.
• Many commercial chemical products are available.
•
Oven cleaner is said to work. And this does make sense as grease is what oven cleaners clean best.
•
Carburetor cleaner is a product said to remove stains after the oil is lifted.
•
Carpet cleaner and hot water work for some.
But what we really want to know is -- what's your secret for getting oil out of concrete?
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Reader comments (Page 1 of 2)
It would seem to me that if these products work on getting oil out of cement floors, they would also work on getting the grease out of grout on floors. Or...is there a special product for this?
ReplyI like to pull up a chair, cold drink in hand, and watch the little twit whose junker car MADE the oil spill sweat over it, sweeping and scraping and brushing and boiling water - it's great to see the young lad learn what a mess he makes every time he parks his crusher-ready prize in my garage!
ReplyBut will it work for getting oil off of the beach?
ReplyW D 40 Spray on oil spots let set 30 sec, wipe up, works for me.
Replywhat will get rust stains out of concrete pavement,(Driveway),thanks for any help with this problem.
ReplyNaval jelly or oxalic acid should do the job.
-Roberto
Just use CRC Lectra clean on oil stains. They clean right up.
ReplyTo clean concrete PERFECTLY, Just get a gallon of gasoline, a bag of cat litter (not the scoopable kind) Pour the gas onto the oil stain just enough to soak in and cover the stain liberally. Then pour the cat litter on top about 2" thick and 6" around. Let it set for 1 min. and then get a broom and brush it around mixing the dirty cat litter with the clean on top. Keep doing that and the brush the litterv up and "NO STAIN" for deep stain it may take twice but this works eveytime Guaranteed
ReplyHey, listen up guys....NEVER, EVER do this. It's dangerous to the nth power. Even if the gas doesn't ignite, you could be overcome by the alkene fumes, pass out, and die right there while everyone is inside watching Rocky 17. New refinery technology uses long chain molecule methods that yield two thirds of a barrel of oil into gasoline. Unfortunately, this new gas is toxic. Use one of those infomercial products.....Al-
This blog brought to you by Purina, Arm & Hammer and Dawn
ReplySHOUT also works wonderfully.
ReplyTRY WD-40 IT WORKS ON OIL STAINS . $15< a gal @lowes . SOAK THE SLAB AND CLEAN USING CHEAP COTTON TERRY PAINTERS TOWLS . WD-40 OVER 2000 USES AND COUNTING :)
ReplyThe best I found is cascade (dishwashing soap) and a little water.
ReplyI understand product placement in films helps to defray the huge cost of movie making. However, product placement in a helpful hint blog is just annoying.
Replybreak open a full vacuum bag--rub it in w/ broom-the dust absorbs the oil quite well.
ReplyAsk BP what they would recommend!
ReplyIf the oil stain is outside in the driveway just sprinkle the dry powder Tide over the area and let it be.
ReplyIt will take up the oil and the next time it rains it will be gone. Best part no scraping and brushing or hot water.
I use kitty litter and then use a brick to grind it in. It really does work well. I suppose a flat piece of wood would also serve the purpose. Since I used to have my car oil undercoated, I had lots of oils spots to clean up. It only took a few minutes to do the job.
Reply2 things I have learned that work great to get rid of any grease or
Replyoil. For grout, smear some Goop hand cleaner on it and let it sit for
a few minutes and rinse it away. Goop is the best thing that I know of
to get oil and grease stains out of cloths too.
Another good product that works best on concrete is gunk engine
cleaner. You can buy it at wal-mart for around $3.00 a can. Spray it
on the oil spill or stain, wait a few minutes and spray it off with a
water hose
Once my husband made a huge mess on our driveway by changing the oil in his car--a mess he expected ME to clean up! I made up a solution of OxyClean and Dawn and rubbed it into the stains well. Then I hosed it off. When the pavement dried, the oil stains were nowhere to be seen!
Reply