Help! Oil Stains, Cleaning off Oil from Concrete

[kurtbarker]

Hey guyz, ill tell you the story... I drove home last night and drove under the garages to fill the transmission, I opened the boot and realised my oil containter [no not the transmission oil], had been hit with something and caused a hole, so my entire boot was full of oil, as this was happening I had oil leaking from either side of the boot onto the concrete... Now i've got 2 massive streaks of oil, about 2 meters by 1 meter...

What would be the best way to get rid of these 'streaks'

Thanks guyz

[Frenzal]

Concentrated degreaser and a steel brush. Oh and lots of elbow grease.

[vkberlina]

I suggest against using a steel brush it will damage the surface of the concrete.

I use at home Degreaser on it first, I have used petrol before when I was desparate which worked well. After I give it a scrub with a broom or a brush (stiff bristled)

Next mix up a caustic based detergent (Drive, Cold power etc) and boiling hot water I boil the jug several times to fill the bucket. (If its a big area I get someone to just keep filling bucket for me)
I tip the caustic mixture on the greasy areas and scrub, then rinse & broom the water away. Sometimes a little stain may be left if so I repeat the process.

cheers
Scott

[HDT_aero]

acid works nicley used it for oil and rubber just dont drive over it cause if you flick any on your paint..... well you can guess the rest

ill get the name of the acid i used tonight, it worked a treat

or if you have a compressor get a sandblasting kit

[Indy_387]

I would use some degreaser & brush.

I don't recommend using petrol.

[VpV6]

I would use some degreaser & brush.

I don't recommend using petrol.

I dont recommend fuel either. You will be high as a kite after your finished.

[Bax]

Compressor + Hose + Kerro

I found even soaking with degreaser then blasting with a gurny worked well.. Spelt great and all

[Julie]

Just last weekend we used industrial type degreaser, let it soak in, scrubbed the crap outta it with a stiff bristled broom and hosed it off, come up good.

[UNEQVN]

hey i say go nail polish remover nah seriously, thhe acitone in it take the shit right off. get some cheap bottles (or a chick ya Know to) from coles, say 4 bottles should do it. make sure its acitone not acitone free, and poor it over the oil.

leave it for hour and scrub and hose off.

i had same thing happen to me a month ago, and it was all i could find in the house, worked good

[vkberlina]

If your going to buy acetone based nail polish remover you might as well go to a local auto paint supplier and buy some gun wash, pretty much the same stuff but way cheaper

cheers
Scott

[Rinn_P]

Or you could just get pure/straight acetone from your chemical supplies store...
Ajax and bleach works pretty well...put on the ajax and a bit of bleach, let it soak, then scrubb with a stiff brush then hose (but not down the drain cos think of all the fish :-( )

[Julie]

LOL I just had a thought, please don't try using all these chemical concoctions at once. I can see the headlines now "Man dies in freak garage chemical explosion after following advice on commodore forum".

[Bucket]

If its fresh oil, degreaser should work fine, dirty oil will prolly require some Acid mate. I have spilt tranny and engine oil plenty of times on my driveway and the streak left after degreasing will eventually go away in the rain. Dirty oil on the other hand will stick there.

I work at Bunnings and we sell Acid, just dilute it atleast 1 to 1 with water and have some water close by in case you get it on your skin. Hydrochloric or sulphuric are fine.