What's a cheap & easy way to get oil stains out of concrete?

My flathead has marked its territory in my garage.

I don't mind so much, but it's right where my wife will be loading and unloading my toddler son in the wet winter months.

I've heard tale that everything from kitty litter to powdered detergent will lift the oil from the concrete. But before I go out to the garage and start throwing household products on the floor, I tought I'd check with you guys first.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

 

I usually use dawn liquid dish soap. Works good on oil. I usaully squirt some on add a little water and scrub the area a bit with an old brush. I let it sit and then rinse and scrub it away. maybe not the easiest but it has proved to be the most effective.

 

I use the cheapest Kitty Liter i can find at costco. Put it on oil let set and sweep up, works like a charm.

 

Kitty litter, sweep it back and forth for a few days, then powdered laundry detergent, just enough water to make a nice paste, sweep back and forth for a few minutes, don't use your hands, it burns, rinse.

 

sop up the excess with some oil dry and to take the stain out the concrete with plain old turpentine.

 

To contain any more oil loss. Drip pans real cheap and easy to clean.I use brake or carb cleaner on spills .Years ago you could go in a Harley shop and all the new bikes had drip pans under them. Good Luck..Bobby.

 

kitty litter and a brick. Works every time.

 

[ QUOTE ]
kitty litter and a brick. Works every time.

[/ QUOTE ]

...a brick - I just make the kids dance around on it and "twist" it in. They think it's fun that they can do that in the garage.

 

[ QUOTE ]
kitty litter and a brick. Works every time.

[/ QUOTE ] If you haven't a brick, a 2x4 work's. For another tip: Soak stain w/ Super Clean, boil some water, pour over stain, rip into it with a tire scrubber! Rinse.

 

Switch to 25 watt lightbulbs.

 

I've used all those 'cept for the light bulb.That was a good one!!!LOL!!!

 

i've done it with a paper bag, instead of the brick or twoby do the twist until the liter is powder.

Jon

 

Muriatic acid. Apply with towel. NEVER use towel again, unless it's the ex-wife's...then return promptly.
You see, I have a diesel, I NEED the napalm approach to stain removal.
BTW, Muriatic acid also works great for cleaning out toilet tanks, but do not use too much, about 1/4 gallon per tank, let it sit about 15 minutes and flush. Still might take out some of the plastic valves, but they're fair cheap.
Did I mention I like the napalm approach??
I use oven cleaner on my tub, too. Open windows first, kiddies
There's no kill like overkill

Cosmo

 

hotrod show had a big drywall piece, just crunch it into dust and put it on the stain , couple of applications and it worked

 

on Chevy stains, I use oil dry and a broom.
On Ford or Mercury flathead stains it is laquer thinner, then the brick and oil dry and broom.

 

"There's no kill like overkill"
Right on! My research lab is the "non food" section of the grocery and the cleaning aisle at Home Depot--anything I find with a really scary warning label is immediately purchased for experiments on rust, grease, and paint. Anything that can kill you is likely more useful than anything safe...

 

Just cover them with a car. Its still there but it will bug you a lot less.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Just cover them with a car. Its still there but it will bug you a lot less.

[/ QUOTE ]

Meaning my family?
I suppose you're right, but they don't bug me that much.

What's "Oil Dry" and where do I get it?

 

Muriatic acid???? That will pit the concrete FAST


Best method I've tried is gasoline first, then a follow-up rinse with brake cleaner or B12 Chem-tool.

 

gasoline, scrub it with a stiff bristle brush, then hose with LOTS of water so the neighbor's dog doesn't die. Then I pee on it, just to show that ex-stain whos boss, followed by more water. Never failed me.

 

..........I just tell people that I had a Studebaker parked there for 10 years. "Them that knows, knows....."

 

I leave my alone. It keeps the dust down.

 

The shop I used to work at made a cinderblock tool for grinding the oil dry into the offending stain. A 4x8 solid cinder block on it's side with a broom handle attatched with expantion anchors. Simply push and pull. It saves the back and the knees.

 

Don't use gas. Ever. Gas fumes settle to the floor.
In a garage attached to a house, the floor is supposed to slope out toward the door, so fumes roll out. Even so, I spilled some in the garage when I was a kid, and my dad came up out of the basement wonder what the hell I was doing--the fumes went down between the floor and the house foundation, and he was smelling it in the basement.

I know another guy who spilled some gas on his floor in the shop, right next to an open garage door. He kept a power washer there, and would simply blast the gasoline out the door when this happened. Now this wasn't a ton of tas, just half a gallon or so. Flipped on the power washer, and the spark ignited the gas on the floor. Which ran up the vapor trail coming out of the gas tank. Which blew up the gas tank. On a just finished, concours '69 Shelby GT500. By the time it was done, the Shelby was beyond salvage, except for the long block, trans and rear end, the customer cars next to, in front of and behind were totaled, and the shop was closed for 3 months. Plus he burned his arms and face real bad.

I have a lot of stories like this--friend caught his face on fire...nother guy broke the fuel filter on a Jag XKE and ignited it with the drop cord bulb when he broke it and burned down the whole house... I could go on.

Don't ever use gas to clean shit.

Absorb-all, oil dry, etc. $5 a bag at most places. I've always just ground it in with my foot, but I like the brick idea.

Keep your absorb-all in a rubber-maid garbage can, or a couple of 5-gallon buckets spaced around the shop, with a cup or scoop in it. This keeps you from tipping over the bag or ripping it, which always makes a mess.
-Brad

 

You know, when I posted that, I thought "nahhh, they'll kmow I meant outside in the driveway and not inside the garage"...

Guys, only use something with lots of fumes/vapors outside. And not where you'll be welding or using a torch or grinder in the next week or so after that.

But by then I would think the vapors would have dissipated on outdoors concrete.

 

has anyone ever tried wd-40?

it's non-flammable, so hey, you're covered there.



lemme know if it works.



tred.

 

[ QUOTE ]
has anyone ever tried wd-40?

it's non-flammable, so hey, you're covered there.



lemme know if it works.



tred.


[/ QUOTE ] NON FLAMMABLE??? I have used WD-40 as starting fluid for years. It is definitely flammable!

 

you can't ignite a puddle of WD-40 (with a match or lighter), you can however ignite a mist of it (flamethrower style)

 

Simple green concentrate is a really good de-greaser if you don't cut it with too much water. Don't use too much or you will have bubbles forever. I have used kerosene to soften thick grease then wash with simple green. Works really well.

 

Nice shop GoKatGo.
Anyway, My dogs (2) are getting pretty old, they are both 13 yrs. The older they get, the more wussy they become. In other words, when it rains outside, like the last few days, they just crap and piss all over the garage floor and with the humid, heavy air, it freakin' stinks, come on by sometime!! What can I do while waiting for the day that they go to doggy heaven?! J.K. dog lovers....