Any tips for cleaning oil on concrete driveway?

[BigMike]

Good morning Crawler Land,

Last Wednesday my wife and I closed Escrow on our first house(!!) and we've begun a two month kitchen renovation before we offically move in.

I'm currently reduced to only my Rock Crawler as a Daily Driver (my MR2's alternator died at the track last weekend [Streets Of Willow], and my Tacoma is, umm, it's currently out of town ).

Two days ago I was over at our house removing old kitchen appliances and cabinets and had my Hilux parked in the driveway. Because I only just highway drive the truck to trails and haven't daily driven it in a while, I forgot I have a small oil leak from a prototype Crawl Box oil level sight inspection tube. We are the third owner of this house which was built in 1985 and the driveway is incredibly clean for its age. But now I have a nice silver dollar diameter oil spill which is pretty much the only oil on the entire driveway.

All I've done so far is lay some kitty litter over it. I looked around on Amazon and only saw similar remedies.

Is there any sort of chemical made to clean oil spills from concrete? If so I'm all ears!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
BigMike

[Willard]

Purple power and a large scrub brush is what I use. Works wonders!!!!


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[94Runna]

When I was young I remember watching my dad pour a little gas on the oil spots in the driveway, let them sit for a few minutes (gas will most likely be evaporated by then) then he poured a wee-bit more and then lit it on fire..

Then he pressure washed the driveway.. partly cause it was covered in pine needles and moss, but also due to the oil..

[300k]

some good ol Dawn dish soap would be my first attempt.

[redneckcustoms13]

Awesome degreaser from dollar store, a bathroom scrub brush. Rinse away. If that doesn't work, muriatic acid does a good job.

[H8PVMNT]

Pinesole.

[emsvitil]

Oil eater (I get it at Costco)

Let it soak, rinse, repeat.       

Also the spots will fade with time...........

[kneedownnate]

Coca cola

[Stocker]

All I've ever used is cat litter, let it sit a while and then grind it around a little with your boot. Works great.

Congrats on your first home! Good idea to remodel the kitchen before moving in. We have remodeled ours twice, after moving in! Not fun....

[daniresch]

When I was young I remember watching my dad pour a little gas on the oil spots in the driveway, let them sit for a few minutes (gas will most likely be evaporated by then) then he poured a wee-bit more and then lit it on fire..

Then he pressure washed the driveway.. partly cause it was covered in pine needles and moss, but also due to the oil..

First of all, congrats on the house!!!! 
Second, be careful with gas, it will eat through the concrete as well lol. I typically just rinse with water and soap and wait a few days.

[:)bestgen4runner]

I second oil eater. It works incredible.
This is your best option.
It really works.

[LittleSteve]

Paint the driveway black...
Dont light gas on it as it could cause the concrete to explode.. and youll be left with holes.
Get silt from Rubicon Springs as that seems to stick to everything and covers what it touches..
Gunk do a foaming water rinsable degreaser.. use that.
Or dig the driveway up and cover it in boulders which would be far more appropriate

[94Runna]

Paint the driveway black...
Dont light gas on it as it could cause the concrete to explode.. and youll be left with holes.
Get silt from Rubicon Springs as that seems to stick to everything and covers what it touches..
Gunk do a foaming water rinsable degreaser.. use that.
Or dig the driveway up and cover it in boulders which would be far more appropriate

Never seen that happen before, maybe a combination of how much gas you use and how porous the concrete is I would assume? 

[94Runna]

First of all, congrats on the house!!!! 
Second, be careful with gas, it will eat through the concrete as well lol. I typically just rinse with water and soap and wait a few days.

Light it on fire so it doesn't eat the concrete lol

Almost all of the options I have seen on here should work at least a little lol

[Mudder]

The lighting it on fire is the same as why you never weld directly on top of concrete. It'll heat the water up inside and cause it to expand. Which will cause the concrete to blow up.

[79coyotefrg]

When I was young I remember watching my dad pour a little gas on the oil spots in the driveway, let them sit for a few minutes (gas will most likely be evaporated by then) then he poured a wee-bit more and then lit it on fire..

Then he pressure washed the driveway.. partly cause it was covered in pine needles and moss, but also due to the oil..

  he's in Califurnia they would lock him up and condemn the entire neighborhood if he did that.

BigMike, I would say Dawn foaming dish soap.  I use it on my hands after using the hand cleaner

[emsvitil]

The lighting it on fire is the same as why you never weld directly on top of concrete. It'll heat the water up inside and cause it to expand. Which will cause the concrete to blow up.

Actually to burn, the gasoline has to evaporate.    So the gasoline evaporates out of the concrete (lowering the temp of the concrete) then the vapor burns............

[LittleSteve]

Ive come with an even better solution.....
Just move house!

[BigMike]

Thank you for the good suggestions. I'll be at the house again tonight and will be doing some dish soap scrub'n

Regards,
BigMike

[cporche]

Congrats on the house! i have found myself cleaning off many oil stains and this is the best method i have found. Get some Proforce degreaser from Sams Club (in California you can print of a one a day trial online and purchase what you need and not get charged anything extra.) I usually wait until the a very hot day it makes for an easier clean up. Get a very hard bristle broom spray some NON-Diluted degreaser on the stain scrub for a minute or so. Hit it with the hose to loosen is up some more, scrub again then rinse. If you have a power washer id suggest power washing the degreaser off. I swear by this stuff, i have used many many different degreasers and this one will run circles around everything.

Heres a link to it, https://www.samsclub.com/sams/mm-hd-degreaser-1-gallon/prod9260460.ip?pid=_CSE_Google_PLA_84715&source=ifpla&CAWELAID=730010300000318256&adid=22222222627000004798&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=79869639635&wl4=pla-44002167248&wl5=9031010&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=1247713&wl11=online&wl12=84715&wl13=&wl15=22972094435&wl17=1o1&veh=sem


P.S. I am in no way affiliated with Sams club, and really this the only thing i will purchase from there but if someone made a degreaser that worked as well as this i would buy it. Also i use this stuff on literally everything cuts down on that 30 year old grime on my 4runner in seconds.

[BigMike]

Thank you cporche for the info, appreciate it and will give it a shot!

[Dingman.]

Mike, I think your only option is to tear out the slab and place a new one. 

On a serious sugguestion, I have had decent luck with purple power and a scrub brush.

[OVRAROK]

http://www.oil-away.com/