BBY2KS2K

Oops! I mean off concrete, not of concrete. Yeah, I screwed up. I dripped approx. 1/2 quart of oil on my driveway and need advice to get it out. Of course, I don't expect to get it all out because of the porous nature of concrete, but Iam open to any advice. I've so far used a stiff bristle brush, dish wash soap and simple green but there is still plenty left. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

redleader

ok, I saw this on some home improvement type program ages ago, I've never tried it but I think it will work.

Take some coke and pour it on the stain and start scrubbing. yeah, coke is very acdic (imagine what its doing to your stomach!), after you've scrubbed it well, pour kitty litter all over it and let it sit over night. Next day, sweep up all the kitty litter and it should be good.

The kitty litter is meant to absorb all the coke, which hopefully, would have dissolved or "loosened up" all the oil in the concrete.

ccarnel

there is stuff like this at lowes that is designed to soak up the oil... little granules... as i have had the same problem. I took the granules and ground them into the stain (actually used the face of an old hammer to crush the pebbles into even smaller little bits)and let it sit for a long long time... also used some concrete cleaner i.e. muratic acid... i.e. HCl i.e. hydrochloric acid to scrub in between. About five or six cycles like this and i could barely tell the stain was there! Oh and the sooner you get to it the better.

coquinn

If you put kittie litter down when the oil is fresh, then you won't need to scrub.

If you do use muratic acid, be sure to wear chemical gloves. Even though it is only a small percentage of acid, it is still enough to eat through your skin.

speed4tu

I use Oil Dry, I get it from Sam's Club. It is little granules like mentioned above, that you just pour down there a couple of days, and stir it around with your foot. Sweep it away and the oil is all gone. You can also get it at auto parts stores, or something of the like.

PWRMKR

Dilution is the solution. I just put a little gas on the spot and wipe it up with paper towel...done deal.

slalom44

All of the above methods work. There's another one that is good for the residual stain:
Mix paint thinner with some dry concrete mix. Scrub it into the stain, let it dry, then sweep it off. Paint thinner is a solvent that soaks into the concrete just like the oil did. Even by itself, it works well. The dry concrete (quickrete or something similar) tends to bleach the stain, and soaks up the oil.

Although gasoline works like paint thinner, it is too volatile, and there is a risk of an explosion, especially if the stain is in a garage.

BBY2KS2K

thanks for the reply's, I will give um a shot.

Bill@setel.com

You may have your mess up by now. But kitty litter is the best way. I work construction (concrete from time to time) and a buddy of mine had his oil changed at one of those quick changes (I won't mention that it was a jiffy lube), and they apparantly put his oil filter on too tight, that evening it cracked; thus, spilling all of the oil out onto his concrete driveway. The oil ran all the way down his driveway - when complaining about this the next day at work, one of the older men who works for our company said kitty litter would take it out. Sure enough, if you didn't know the stain was ever there, you wouldn't even see it.

Just remember, most of the aforementioned chemicals that everyone is telling you to put on the spot will shorten the life of your driveway. Concrete, while very strong can also break down very easily. (I work construction and have a degree in biochemistry...go figure)

Goodluck!

ccarnel

I used to work construction in concrete as well. We used muratic acid (in a spray bottle) with a brush and never had a problem with it, in fact often used it to clean the concrete surfaces. I thought the HCL attacked the calcium carbonate in the concrete and small amounts only removed a little of the surface, but not enough to matter.