Can you recommend a product to remove oil stains from concrete?
I'll be moving in a few months & I think my landlord will be less-than-pleased with how my NA Miata has 'marked its territory' in the garage.
Let me know your ideas & suggestions!
Thanks!
-- Pete
Nothing that I've found works. Part of the problem is that it has to penetrate into the concrete in order to lift it up and everything seems to evaporate or drain away before it can.
I've often thought of making a play-doh (or similar composition) dam and pouring undilluted Purple Power concentrate into the well that's been created to see how that works.
Also, Harbor Freight has a really good de-greaser/parts cleaner concentrate that I've been quite happy using. I'm planning on trying it on some of my stains soonish.
Things that I have heard work...
Things that I have actually tried...
The toilet bleach gells work but not completely. They don't dry out like others and have more time to stay active and break down the oil.
Brake/carb cleaner actually works decently well, spray then scrub off what it loosens up with a cloth. I'd follow that up with Oil-Dri, grind it into the remaining stain with your shoe, leave for a couple days, then sweep up.
Put a towel or rag over the stain. Keep it wet with your solvent of choice for a few days. This may work.
I have had success with just putting Oil Dri on stains but if the stain is deep soaked that probably won't work.
I just went through with prep work for epoxy floors on my (very) oil stained garage. What worked for me was a lot of undiluted Purple Power degreaser. The key is not to let it dry out. I lightly sprayed areas with a hose, dumped degreaser on it, scrubbed with an acid brush, let it sit for a few minutes while keeping it wet. Then I sprayed it out and repeated the process.
It won't be 100%, but they came out pretty well. You could see oil lifting up and coming out with each scrub session. Harsher products like muriatic acid will eat away and etch at the concrete and leave a noticeably stained patch. It also doesn't really do much to oil & paints.
jharry3 said:I have had success with just putting Oil Dri on stains but if the stain is deep soaked that probably won't work.
I think at least half of the effectiveness of the Oil-Dri is that it leaves fine lighter-colored particles in the pores of the concrete that make the stain a lot less visible :)
Just wondering ,
Has anyone cut thru concrete when doing rehab work to see how far the oil seeps down ?
I would think you need to pull up the oil out of the concrete , or it will come back up later .
Two products I have had readable luck with is dawn dish soap and Oil eater. Apply the oil eater strait and scrub. Rinse with hot water and wet vac up. Same for the dawn but cut with hot water. Repeat a coupe times the scuff in your oil dry sand stuff of choice and sweep clean. Not 100 percent but darn good.
Tide
Era + mineral spirits works really, really well.
80:20 mix, scrub it in, then soak up with a paper towel. Will probably takes multiple passes but I've verified that it significantly lightens up the stains
I've used purple power, and put a fine clay based oil-dry over the wet stain. After it dries, add some more oil dri for a day or two. Then scrub some, and repeat.
Hey, it's slow - and - not as effective as we'd like !
In reply to PeteD :
Years ago when I worked in a service station (you might be too young to remember them) we used powdered Tide laundry soap. Wet the floor, shook powder and broom it around and sprayed it off. Did a good job for us.
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