Cleaning an oil leak from the driveway

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
616
Location
Texas
Does anyone have any suggestions for a good solvent or cleaning solution to clean up a minor oil leak on a concrete driveway?
dunno.gif
 
Dawn dish detergent with a stiff brush and let the detergent sit on it for a couple hrs at a time.

Doesn't get it all out but with a couple weeks of weathering it then always has disappeared for me.
 
Kitty litter is just OK. Get some of the light oil adsorbant powder at your local well stocked auto parts place. Sprinkle on, allow to sit, sweep up. Repeat if necessary. I wouldn't go liquid attack unless you need to cut some thicker build-up - then I'd use Simple Green or Purple power, neat. (and repeat)
 
Allsorbent. I bought a bag of it years ago... it does not go bad, and is really good at cleaning up oil spills.

You just sprinkle it on the oil spill and then sweep it up a couple of days later.
 
I have used wd-40 to clean up paint when I spilled a quart of white primer on the concrete floor in our warehouse. Could not tell paint was even on the floor after I was done. Don't know how well it would work on an oil spot.
 
Quote:


Quote:


Kitty litter, crush it in with your feet then wipe it up a few hours later.




thumbsup.gif





I use the oil absorber stuff, which is just like kitty litter.
thumbsup.gif


I sprinkle it on, then crush it into the concrete with a piece of particle board. It doesn't remove all traces of the spill, but it's better than nothing.
 
Last edited:
I've had extremely good results with Castrol Super Clean. Cleans my concrete garage floor after oil changes (I always seem to spill some). When I use it on my asphalt driveway, it actually removes some of the asphalt sealer.
 
I'm a cabinet maker and tried lacquer thinner brushed around then toss on some sawdust to suck it up. It works AMAZING!! The lacquer thinner sucks the oil from deep inside. Actually, it's about time to clean it again! I'll take some pics this time.

Mark
 
I have an agrigate driveway. Not sure if I spelled that right. But it's not the smooth concrete, it's the type with the gravel exposed...How do I clean oil off that?
 
If it has been on there for more than an hour, forget it. It'll never come out completely.

I heard that you can buy some kind of acid to bleach out the oil stain, but I've never researched it.
 
I've had excellent results by dumping lacquer thinner on the affected area and then extracting the attacked oil with a dry 100% cotton towel. After two applications of said procedure, oil stained concrete has given way to white spotless concrete.
 
I agree with THE Critic. If the stain has been there hours,days, weeks,or years,it's now part of your driveway! Your permanent fix is NEW concrete or asphalt.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top