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Used Oil Spill on bare concrete

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MikeYC

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Da' Burg Virginia
Came home last night to find MiniMe had pulled his car into garage to change oil. I never pull car into garage to change oil due to possibility of spills. well, lets just say that he missed the oil pan and had a large spill which he tracked throughout the garage and into the house. :mad:

Wiped up what he could but still left a residue.


Concrete is 12 years old unsealed?

What is the best way to clean it up and get it ready for paint/epoxy this spring? Brake clean? :headscrat

BTW he is now banned from anywork in the garage unless I am there.

R,
Mike
 
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BillK

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MikeYC said:
I never pull car into garage to change oil due to possibility of spills.
Click to expand...

Then why have a garage ???? :)


MikeYC said:
BTW he is now banned from anywork in the garage unless I am there.
Click to expand...


That's a bit much, he learned his lesson.

I am glad I have never worried about painting or sealing either one of my two garages. If I make a mess I clean it up as best I can and go to the next project.

Brake clean will probably help along with grinding some oil absorbent into it as soon as possible.
 
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FJ4FUN

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NorCal
Wolverine Coatings' OilEater 939 is amazing stuff for removing petroleum based spills/stains. As a microbial degreaser it doesn't just break up hydrocarbons it actually digests them! Once all the food (oil) is consumed the microbes basically go to sleep and are rinsed away. Same environmentally safe technology used for oil spill remediation around the world.

OilEater 939
 
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Shea

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Microbial enzyme oil eating degreasers are very effective. You just need to give them time to work. They sometimes require more than one treatment, but they are one of the few ways to restore the concrete close to it's original state.
 
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kTHREE

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As odd as it sounds, I've used a giant glob of drywall mud to pull an oil stain out of concrete before.
 
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theoldwizard1

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SE MI
I spilled most of a gallon of used oil on my driveway when the container cracked.

I used Greased Lightning, straight. Spray it on, lightly brush it in and let sit over night. Rinse with a garden hose and let dry (over night would be best). Repeat.

3 time and you can barely tell there was anything there.
 
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redragoon

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Greenville SC
I have been able to get mine out by soaking it in WD-40 and letting sit. That seems to break down the stain from the surface. It is more effective on my driveway with the rough surface, than the smooth garage floor, but it has worked for me.
 
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38 Dodge Coupe

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Wow, that brings back memories of when I was his age. I not only missed the oil pan but when I tried to slide the oil collection pan further under the the car to catch the oil it would not go all of the way which then caused the draining oil to hit the side of the pan which then splashed oil back on my face and hair as well as the floor. Fortunately the oil was only warm or it could have added more insult to injury. Dad heard me yell and came out into the garage. Once he determined that I wasn't hurt, he just pointed me to the bag of rags and oil dry that was in the corner. That was 47 years ago and I don't recall my garage privileges being restricted and for what it's worth that was only time I had that type of mishap on car repairs. (oh yes there have been many others, but that's for another time). If you are going to do things yourself, you are going to make mistakes. It's all part of the learning curve.Tell him to hang in there.
 
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hangfirew8

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Mike,

I understand your anger, but I agree you should be happy the kid wants to be handy.

Have him help with the cleanup and the epoxy seal.

-HF
 
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Fixed

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Ontario, Canada
Yeah, I don't think I know anyone that hasn't spilled some oil at some point, that's why they make absorb-all!

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk
 
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MikeYC

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Da' Burg Virginia
Ok. He off his restrictions. Came home last night to find him degreasing the floor. He says he realized that it was a mistake and recognized that is the reason why we do oil changes either in the gravel driveway or the auto hobby shop.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The Garage Journal mobile app
 
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hangfirew8

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Got a teenager too... I'm proud as can be one minute, and mad as hell the next! Lol

Great that the kid is pitching in, and you're cooling off.

-HF
 
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Lassen Forge

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I used to have access to a supply of Carbon Tet, which is death to stains, but also causes nerve damage and cancer, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all... :wtf::puke::yikes::Kodos:

The stuff we did as kids...

Anyway, he stepped up and did the right thing... looks like he was raised right! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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Shiftless

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East Bay SFO
Yeah...Carbon Tetrachloride was the BEST! I used it back in the day.

Not so long ago it was even used in fire extinguishers. Spraying it all around everywhere sounds like a GREAT idea, huh?
 
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crewchief888

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NW indiana
dump some mineral spirits on the floor,
scrub it in with a stiff broom
cover the whole area with an inch or so of oil dry

leave it for a while until it soaks up all the oil and mineral spirits/oil

sweep it up and it will be reusable


:beer:
 
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CJDave

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Apr 10, 2014
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Fairfield, Ohio
I've never used this trick on the garage floor but on the driveway I put a glob of gel type waterless hand cleaner on the spot. A little wire brushing and leave it alone. The spot and hand cleaner disappear in a couple of days. CJDave.
 
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Armorpoxy

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NJ
Make sure once you clean it up to dribble water droplets on the spill. If they bead up there is still oil in the concrete, and very hard to clean it sometimes. If this happens you will need an Oil Stop Primer which we carry for our Epoxy systems.
 
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