Large oil stain on drive

cr4d

Hi,
I have a large oil stain on my drive the size of about 4 car parking spaces. The accident happened over the weekend and since I've tried to scrub with fair liquid and absorb the result with cat litter. Unfortunately it doesn't look to have worked and I'm concerned the tarmac is now stained. Does anyone have any suggestions as how best to proceed? I'm happy to pay for someone to clean it but I've been quoted £2,000 for what looks to be a much smaller job. Any suggestions would be very helpful!

Ebe_Scrooge

4 car parking spaces ????  That's a big oil spill !  You've done the right thing in the short term, scrubbing with washing-up liquid and rinsing off as soon as possible will go some way to removing it.  But once it soaks in, you're going to have a job getting rid of it completely.  You can try sprinkling salt on it, leave it for a while, brush it off, repeat several times.  This can sometimes draw a lot of it out.

If it's still noticeable after repeated attempts with washing-up liquid and salt, I'm wondering whether it would be viable to cut out the affected section and get some new tarmac laid in its place?  Won't be cheap, but shouldn't be anything like £2000.

But assuming the tarmac is black, it may be worth leaving it for a while after you've cleaned up the worst of it, you may well find that it becomes barely noticeable after a few months.

cr4d

Ebe_Scrooge said:

4 car parking spaces ????  That's a big oil spill !  You've done the right thing in the short term, scrubbing with washing-up liquid and rinsing off as soon as possible will go some way to removing it.  But once it soaks in, you're going to have a job getting rid of it completely.  You can try sprinkling salt on it, leave it for a while, brush it off, repeat several times.  This can sometimes draw a lot of it out.

If it's still noticeable after repeated attempts with washing-up liquid and salt, I'm wondering whether it would be viable to cut out the affected section and get some new tarmac laid in its place?  Won't be cheap, but shouldn't be anything like £2000.

But assuming the tarmac is black, it may be worth leaving it for a while after you've cleaned up the worst of it, you may well find that it becomes barely noticeable after a few months.

Thank you. I'll continue to use the products mentioned above. The tarmac is already black and so I imagine it will fade in time. I just don't want to miss out on an opportunity to improve it whilst it's still relatively fresh.

Ebe_Scrooge

cr4d said:

Thank you. I'll continue to use the products mentioned above. The tarmac is already black and so I imagine it will fade in time. I just don't want to miss out on an opportunity to improve it whilst it's still relatively fresh.

That's a very sensible approach - you'll have more chance when it's fresh, for sure.  Oil is a right bu&&er to shift, and in practice you'll never get rid of it completely.  But plenty of detergent, elbow grease and hosing off, repeated plenty of times, will likely do a "near-enough" job, for the cost of a couple of quid's worth of washing-up liquid and/or salt, and odds on it'll fade to almost invisible in a few months.  To get a "perfect" result will need a professional, and that's going to cost.

Slinky

We had success with this stuff when a brand new oil filter leaked oil onto our brand new block paved drive (only been down a couple of weeks).  https://www.biotechnics.co.uk/products/surfaces/ot8/  Doesn't mention tarmac, but could be worth giving them a call.

FreeBear

I found Clarke Traffic Film Remover to be good stuff for shifting oil stains. Been a while since I last bought any. But if the oil has soaked in, it will be a pig to remove and there will always be a stain there.

grumbler

cr4d said:

 I'm concerned the tarmac is now stained. Does anyone have any suggestions as how best to proceed?

Paint the entire driveway with oil.

Rosa_Damascena

grumbler said:

cr4d said:

 I'm concerned the tarmac is now stained. Does anyone have any suggestions as how best to proceed?

Paint the entire driveway with oil.

Pragmatic if not a little slippery!

Ganga

Slinky said:

We had success with this stuff when a brand new oil filter leaked oil onto our brand new block paved drive (only been down a couple of weeks).  https://www.biotechnics.co.uk/products/surfaces/ot8/  Doesn't mention tarmac, but could be worth giving them a call.

Just Googled it and nearly fell off the chair when i saw the price ,one company wanted £120 for a 5 litre can 

twopenny

An but Ganga, what price do you put on beauty?

I haven't tried this on oil but I noticed my neighbour, not the brightest button in the box, had been pressure washing paving slabs and while running the washer must have had the wand face down on the tarmac.

That tarmac his now much paler than its surroundings.

That must be one fierce washer though not the cheapo one I've got.

Slinky

Ganga said:

Slinky said:

We had success with this stuff when a brand new oil filter leaked oil onto our brand new block paved drive (only been down a couple of weeks).  https://www.biotechnics.co.uk/products/surfaces/ot8/  Doesn't mention tarmac, but could be worth giving them a call.

Just Googled it and nearly fell off the chair when i saw the price ,one company wanted £120 for a 5 litre can 

It wasn't cheap, but then neither was the two week old drive!  I recall buying about half a litre for around £20 15 years ago.  It did work, but fortunately the oil was very clean as the car had just been serviced (hence the leaky filter) and fortunately the patch wasn't too big