How do you remove the oil stains from a concrete driveway?

We have tried heavy duty concrete cleaner and degreaser with no luck.

9 Comments on “How do you remove the oil stains from a concrete driveway?

  1. You could try Coca Cola on the stain, let it soak a while and then scrub with dish soap.

    Muriatic acid may also do the trick.

  2. Hi Karen I’m Blake from the Home Depot, it sounds like the oil is really in there! If a degreaser and a good scrubbing don’t do the trick it usually needs to be pressure washed with a degreasing agent.

    We have a good buying guide here: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Pressure_Washers&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&locStoreNum=121&marketID=1&cm_mmc=socialmedia-_-community-_-fw43-_-cleaningwithpower

    Or you can rent 1 from 1 of our rental locations; find a location near you at: http://www.HomeDepotRents.com

    For cleaning concrete I generally recommend at LEAST a 2000PSI gas-powered pressure washer. More pressure will allow you to use a wider spray angle and get your work done faster.

    I hope this helps Karen!

    -BlakeTheDiyGuy

  3. Typically, most of the oil will dissipate with time, especially in sunny weather. Once it’s soaked into the concrete, you can’t clean it out.

    Add: If you use the recommended pressure washer, be advised that they can easily chip away concrete if you get too close – I did.

  4. I’ve tried them all and nothing works better than some powdered laundry detergent and a broom.

    Wet the spot, pour on the detergent and agitate it with the broom. Then let it sit for Five 10 minutes before washing it off.

  5. my Uncle uses a mix of muriatic acid and powdered Tide laundry soap to get the only off his shop floor. it works good, I’ve seen it, just be carefull with the acid.

  6. Powdered laundry detergent works great for soaking up oil spills. Using a scrub brush and some warm water with powdered detergent should work- and there are directions for it on the side of the larger containers usually. If you have a fresh spill, rather than an older stain, you’d just dump a bunch of laundry detergent powder straight on top of it, and then after a while sweep it up and dispose.

  7. Try pouring coarse sand on the stain. You can also try cat litter. Let it sit there for a few days then sweep it off. It won’t completely go away immediately but it will fade over time.