Need help removing oil stain from garage floor


  #1  
Old 09-21-11, 01:37 PM
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Need help removing oil stain from garage floor

The garage floor is concrete and I spilled a lot of oil on it. See attached picture. How should I approach this? I was going to use a really strong cleaner like Simple Green or something, use a brush to work it in, and then use a strong oil strain remover with a steel brush.



Any other ideas? The stain is pretty old so not sure if putting cat litter on it would work that well.

Advise.

Thanks
 
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Old 09-21-11, 02:23 PM
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How old? Days, months, years?

Simple Green might work but I would not consider that a strong cleaner.
 
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Old 09-21-11, 03:58 PM
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I'd use a heavy duty degreaser and a stiff scrub brush. A wire brush might scratch the concrete finish and it's also likely to leave dark marks of it's own. A pressure washer would be handy for the rinsing. It might take several tries but you should be able to remove the majority of it.
 
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Old 09-21-11, 09:44 PM
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Buy a bag (maybe two) of pure portland cement, not mortar mix or premixed concrete. Spread it fairly thick over the entire stain and leave it alone for as long as it takes for it to absorb the oil. It's very hygroscopic (absorbs liquids) & will in time actually pull the oil out of the concrete, but may not remove all the stain. If having cement powder on the floor for so long bothers you, cover it with cardboard and tape the edges. It may take several months to work completely-the older the oil spill the longer it takes. Portland cement works much better than cat litter because there's so much more surface area. Scrubbing with a stiff brush and detergent such as Dawn may help clean the surface, but I don't think I'd use a power washer for fear of driving the oil in deeper. Good luck
 
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Old 09-22-11, 07:46 AM
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I would say months. <1 year. Thanks guys!
 
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Old 09-22-11, 07:56 AM
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What about brake cleaner?
 
 

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