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Removing oil from concrete

arcon5
arcon5 Posts: 14,099
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Just wondering if anybody has ever had the joy of cleaning oil from concrete? Long after it's been spilt and dried that is!

Looking for product recommendations of youd be so kind

Comments

  • trailingspouse
    trailingspouse Posts: 4,046
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    Watching and waiting with interest.
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • SailorSam
    SailorSam Posts: 22,754
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    You need to scrub hard with 'Gunk' and then hot water and bleach.
    Plenty of elbow grease.
    Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain,
    What it may grow to in time, I know not what.

    Daniel Defoe: 1725.
  • I have had a lot of success with Swarfega oil and grease remover.

    What I do is pour some on the oil patch and scrub with a brush, leave it for a few minutes and wash it down with a hose or buckets of water.
  • *j*
    *j* Posts: 328
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    I've had success with a paste made from biological washing powder, spread over the stain, scrubbed in and then covered with polythene sheet to stop it drying out.

    Leave for a day then scrub again and hose off.

    The longer you can keep the paste damp the better.
  • Richard53
    Richard53 Posts: 3,173
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    Gunk or Jizer, pour it on, scrub it in and leave overnight. Then hose off with a high-pressure hose. This will leave you with a lighter stain but spread over a bigger area :) Seriously, if it's used engine oil on pale concrete, you will never get it looking like new. It's not the oil, but the black stuff in it, which gets into the pores in the concrete.

    I change my oil over a gravel drive. Kick it about a bit afterwards and you can't see it. My wife believes I never spill a drop.
    If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not a nice person.
  • Just leave it long enough and the sun will fade it :)
  • worried_jim
    worried_jim Posts: 11,631
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    I've used Oxy Clean laundry detergent and brush. Bucket of hot water, a few scoops and mix it up, pour on the area and scrub away. The only downside is that it leaves the patch cleaner than the rest so it stands out!
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 36,611
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    All of the above plus I also use washing up liquid, scrub in, leave for a few hours then add a small amount water, scrub and wash off.

    Never associate with idiots on their own level, because, being an intelligent man, you'll try to deal with them on their level - and on their level they'll beat you every time.

    Being hated by idiots is the price you pay for not being one of them.

    Jean Cocteau 1889-1963

  • cover the whole driveway in black oil and then call it tarmac?

    On a more serious note, I would just put quite a bit of elbow grease into it along with some 'Gunk'
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