How to Remove Oil Stains on Driveways
Oil stains on driveways look awful, and tarnish your home exterior, even if the stains are fairly new. Avoid oil stains on your home’s driveway and in your garage when possible, and attempt to get rid of those stains fast, before they really set in.
If the stain has been there for a long time, like from before you purchased the home, you may need the help of a local driveway cleaning service in Fayetteville that can get rid of the most set-in stains.
Where Do Concrete Oil Stains Come From?
Mainly, oil from automobiles is the cause for stains on concrete. This might be oil, gasoline or transmission fluids – or a combination. Some of the typical ways your concrete gets stained are from:
- Fixing your own car
- Filling up the lawn mower
- A leak that needs to be checked out by a auto mechanic
But, of course, there are countless other things that can leave an ugly oil stain on your concrete. So let’s review some of the best DIY methods to remove those stains!
DIY Oil Stain Removal Tips
CAT LITTER FOR OIL STAINS
Cat litter is a easy first step for fresh oil stains where there is a lot of oil that needs to be dried up.
Sprinkle the cat litter over the oil, really getting it down into the stain by crushing it with your feet. It’s a good idea to leave the litter on the stain for 24 hours so it absorbs as much as possible. Scrape it up or sweep it off the next day and repeat if necessary.
Throw away used litter so your pets and nearby wildlife don’t eat it and get sick.
Next you can follow up with one of the following do-it-yourself concrete cleaning tips.
COCA-COLA FOR OIL STAINS
You might have heard urban legends about accident clean-up crews using Coke to clean up the roads, but, rest assured, that is not true. That said, Coke does have strong cleaning properties when it comes to oily stains, in part due to its carbonated bubbles, but mainly because of the phosphoric acid in the soda.
Pour a generous amount of Coke on the oil stain, then cover it with dishwashing liquid (Blue Dawn is widely accepted as the most effective). Scrub hard with a stiff brush, using circular motions.
Rinse and repeat if you have to.
BAKING SODA FOR OIL STAINS
Baking soda is a popular home cleaning remedy ingredient.
To get rid of an oil stain on a driveway, you’ll first want to coat the stain with the baking soda and let it sit for a while, somewhere from 20 minutes to a few hours. This should absorb some of the oil and allow the baking soda to penetrate the porous concrete.
Then, add that famous blue dishwashing liquid and some water and scrub hard until there is a thick paste. Again, you can let this sit for the best penetration, or you can continue to scrub in a circular motion, then rinse.
Just like the Coke method, you might need to repeat the process one or two times.
LAUNDRY DETERGENT FOR OIL STAINS
Many homeowners already use this to wash off tough stains on clothing. It’s actually a great product for getting rid of bad oil stains from concrete as well!
Mix powdered laundry detergent and borax in equal parts based on the size of the stain. You want to cover it entirely. Let this mixture sit on the oil stain for an hour or more, then add some water to create a paste, scrub and rinse.
This is a gentle cleaning method, so it might be necessary to repeat the process one or two times. But there is a good chance it will work!
DRIVEWAY CLEANING IN Fayetteville
Some concrete oil stains on a driveway are just too difficult for DIY home remedies to remove. That’s when it may be time to call a professional pressure washing company to clean your home’s concrete surfaces.
We don’t recommend pressure washing your driveway yourself to save a few dollars. You can cause significant harm that is extremely complicated to repair if you don’t know how to properly pressure wash concrete. The high pressure water can break and loosen concrete, and it can create streaks on a driveway that look just as bad as the oil stains.
Calling Fayetteville Pressure Washing is definitely the smart choice. We know the best ways to clean concrete without harming it, such as:
- The right PSI and GPM settings to use to remove stains
- Which nozzle tip will penetrate concrete without damaging it
- The correct distance to spray the concrete from
- Products that can help lighten stains
Fayetteville Pressure Washing also follows all of the steps to clean the concrete little by little – the most effective method. Most homeowners and other companies don’t have enough patience to do it right. They want quick results.
A professional pressure washing company in Fayetteville can also provide protective sealing services for your driveway so oil stains are less likely to occur.