Denver Decorative Concrete & Custom MasonryHow can you get an oil stain out of a concrete driveway?
Driveway is a very little over four years old. Tenant moving out of our home had a truck that leaked motor oil over an extended period and has left a stain (about four feet diameter). Tenant cleaned up the oil but an ugly stain remains. Any ideas?
About the only thing you can clean oil with is gas. and there should be some crazy hard core cleaners out there. heres one i just found
http://www.stonetechnologiesinc.com/concrete-sealers.php?gclid=CN_ywoPZqKYCFYXD7Qod2i3zaA#concretecleaner1
You can use muratic acid (dilute hydrochloric acid). Wear gloves and eye protection. Put the acid on the driveway area that has the stain. Use a stiff brush to work the area. Rinse well with water. The acid actually dissolves a very little of the concrete so it will cause an appearance change where it’s used. You may want to do a whole section/block so the effect is less noticeable.
About the only thing you can clean oil with is gas. and there should be some crazy hard core cleaners out there. heres one i just found
NOw that is a tough 1 because the oil soaks into the concrete…but I have removed it from my own driveway. Its a hard process and it may leave a permanent white or yellow stain where the oil once was…
First, get a bag of cat litter and spread it over the oil, let it soak up over night, come back, sweep up and disgard. Do this two – three times.
Next, take straight detergent (i have used Tide in the past), wet the area with water and then spread Tide detergent powder liberally over the affected area. Let it sit for an hour and then come back and scrub it with a hard bristled floor cleaning brush (on a long handle). Scrub hard and well. Let it sit there another hour.
Come back an hour later and wash it off. YOu will see the foam now has oil in it…meaning the oil is coming out of the concrete.
Do this 2 or 3 times and then let dry and see how it looks.
If this does not do it well enough, you could try opening the poors of the concrete with Hydrochloric acid, sold in cans or bottles in a hardware store. Rinse the affected area with hydrochloric acid – it will foam up right away on account of a reaction with the alkaline nature of lime. Let it foam for a while, then wash it away with water and then repeat the detergent steps.
I did this years ago and it got the oil out of the concrete, but it left a slight whitish-yellow stain where I had treated it.
There are a few things you can do to lighten the oil stain, but you will not be able to get rid of it all.
First, like others have suggested, get rid of as much of the stain as possible.
Next, spread around plenty of detergent, just laundry detergent will work, or you can purchase some of the concrete cleaner available at most hardware stores.
The next trick really lightens up the stain; let the concrete THOROUGHLY dry, then spread some paint stripper. Let the paint stripper work for a while, follow the directions… then use a wire brush and work it in, then spray it all off. Use a broom or other brush to remove all of the residue.
If the stain isn’t lightened enough, let the concrete thoroughly dry and use the paint stripper again.
The problem is…
The stain part of a vehicle oil stain is actually carbon. As automotive oil breaks down, carbon is suspended in the oil, and the carbon penetrates the porous concrete.
Even when you get the oil out, the carbon sticks to the concrete making the black stain.
Good luck, hope it works for you.
Use Simple green.( cleaning spray) Spray heavy scrub with brush. Two 3 apps will work.
Its that easy and it works