A little OT but related...what do you use to clean spilled oil?

[Darrin]

Please forgive this post if it is too far OT for here, but this didn't seem to go in the detail area, so the next best place was this forum. What have you found that does a good job at cleaning recently spilled used oil from your driveway or garage? I've heard that some folks like Simply Green. Thoughts?

 

[DeeJay815]

Cat litter works well to soak it up!

 

[Pablo]

For wet oil use one of the fine powder magic absorbers available at almost all auto parts places. Cat litter doesn't hold a candle to this stuff unless you need to make a big containment dike. Simple Green is OK for stains.

 

[Rev320]

I'm assuming it's already soaked into the concrete. If it's just a small area, I'll squirt it with liquid dish washing detergent,(no water) scrub it in with a scrub brush or broom, let it soak for a few minutes, and blast it away with the garden hose. Gunk Engine Brite works OK too. The cleaner the oil, the easier the spot goes away.

 

[Al]

In addition try Greased Lightening. Even if it doesn't work in this application its worth having arounf.

 

[Jim 5]

I wipe up as much as I can, then nothing beats brake cleaner for cleaning up spilled oil/grease.

 

[Truck&Cycle]

Good ole' toxic waist is the best as in carb cleaner, degreaser of any sorts, or engine starting fluid (either). It desolves the oil and makes it easy to blast away with the hose or pick it up with a towel or rag.

 

[michaelc80]

I put an epoxy coating on the floor of my shop a couple of years ago. Now I use a paper towel to wipe it up. One of the best investments I've made in keeping it clean.

 

[bulwnkl]

Cat litter or shop floor dry; whichever is cheaper. This is turned into the fine powder magic absorber by the application of a shoe-ed (that's early modern English) foot in a grinding motion. Then sweep it up and dispose according to local ordinance(s).

 

[W.T.McGlynn]

Pull up as much as you can with a rag and kitty Litter,then hit it with Gunk Engine Spray works good for me. Then blast with garden hose.

 

[Bret Chase]

What works best for me is to use "pig pads" aka oil absorbing mats from New Pig. I discovered them while putting up a building at a hydro dam.. they had some extremely stringent rules regarding spills of any type, so they gave us a case to use while we were there and I've got a couple left. they're pricy but they flat out work.

 

[Shannow]

my Dad's most successful oil cleaning was to use his teenage son's elbow grease, with a fast break caustic based cleaner.

 

[davidfarming]

For those times that I spill oil when changing oil, which is all the time, I keep a can of WD-40 handy. I wipe up what I can with paper towels and then spray WD-40 on the spill. It comes off concrete real good.