how can i rmove old oil stains off my driveway?

Question

there are old car oil stains on my driveway and it looks really ugly. Is there anything that gets rid of these stains?

Answer 1

engine degreaser, splash on, wait a few minutes, then hose off.

Answer 2

When I was a kid, it was my job to clean stuff. Our friends old cars leaked, so I had to clean it up. First, use some kitty litter to get up as much of the oil as possible. Then I used Tide. Sprinkled thickly on a wet driveway over the stain. Take an old broom and brush it thoroughly. Then let it dry. Rinse thoroughly. It may take a few applications to get it all up, but it does work. Then once its all up, use the kitty litter to absorb any more and you will only have to occassionally do this if you still have the leaking car. My Dad used a piece of cardboard under his car to keep this from making a spot. When it got bad, he'd toss it and put another one down. Hope these ideas help you! Good luck!

Answer 3

I would recommend a two step process to clean your driveway.
1. Strong soap,
2. a good washing with power water sprayer

First, mix up a batch of soap

5 .oz borax,
5.oz clothing detergent
mix with 1 gallon of HOT water ( to allow the soap to fully dissolve)
Let the soapy mix sit cool for a bit so that the detergents can fully activate, then add another 1/2 gallon of hot water.

Then spray the entire area around the oil stain with the soap,(so the oil -water wont simply roll down and bond to a dry part of the driveway and leave a dark streak) until it is well drenched;save some soap for later. Let the soap sit on the oil for about 15 minutes, then power spray the entire square, starting at the highest point and working your way down.

After the soap has had time to work, the force of the power sprayed water hitting the driveway at 1,300-1,800 psi literally tears the oil/stains/gum right off of the surface of the concrete.

You'll want to spray the entire driveway, because this combination cleans so well, you'll have a big LIGHT spot where you've cleaned, instead of a dark oil stain.

After you have cleaned the driveway and given it a chance to dry, I would suggest that you apply a clear 'concrete protector'. This is basically a specially formulated 'varnish' for your concrete. It fills in the small and microscopic gaps in the concrete and rock, and prevents things like oils, and stains from penetrating the surface of your driveway in the first place, and it even protects your driveway against the corrosive and damaging effects of rock salt. For the first couple of weeks, the driveway will have a slight 'wet' look to it, but this fades after a while. You can buy it in one to five gallon cans, and apply if with a paint roller, paint sprayer, or even just a brush if you have some time on your hands. Put a double coat on the spots that had the oil stains on them.

You can buy a small electric power sprayer for about $60-$100US at various hardware stores. They are well worth it. Power sprayers are the closest thing to a magic wand as you can get for cleaning. you can clean the siding of your house, windows, trashcans, the soot off of the front of fireplaces, muddy boots, wash your car as many times as you want without having to pay $1.25 at those drive in bay car washes.. you can even refinish wood with them, they are so powerful. If you have old wicker lawn furniture, or wood fences, the jet of a power sprayer will remove all the dead and weathered wood to restore it to its original coloring. anyway, they are damn nice to have.

Just repeat the soap and spray steps until you are happy, and you driveway will quickly look as good as the day it was poured.

Hope that helps.

-Mike

Answer 4

TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) - TSP is a cheap and powerful cleaner. Cuts grease and oil really well. Just dilute it in water, take a stiff push broom and scrub away. Make sure you wear gloves and rinse well as TSP is corrosive.

This stuff is great and can be used for dozens of cleaning jobs. I usually use it to clean walls after removing wallpaper.

Anything that will get 30 old glue off the wall will have no problem with a bit of motor oil. :)

Answer 5

The local oil change shop here uses Tide with bleach for basic clean up. They also use muratic acid sometimes on the unfinished concrete. A little bit of that goes a long ways. Use extreme caution if you decide to use an acid. There are also concrete cleaners available at most auto part and home improvement stores.

Answer 6

I use Tide powder. Cover the stain and spray it with a water bottle. Let it there and as it wears away so will the stain. You may have to repeat this a couple of times, but Tide is cheaper and probably safer than some of the other chemicals that you could use.

Answer 7

i just cleaned my driveway from oil stains and i bought some cheap cat litter ($2.00-$3.00) and you srinkle it on the stain and with some pressure rub your foot onto it so in a way your dissolving the litter into the concrete and its a miracle it just lifts up and the same thing for stains in the car carpet i had an oil spill in my car and i put the cat litter down and applied pressure with m foot and just rubbed and it came right out

Answer 8

first make sure all of the oil on the surface is removed, use kitty litter, then try a power washer to spray the grease, it will really help. then if there is anything remaining, try pure white vinegar. let it sit, then it should wash away the oil.

Answer 9

Wet it with a hose and put a cheap (store brand) granular automatic dishwashing detergent (not liquid) on it and let it sit for a day or two and hose it off.

Answer 10

Tide detergent works great