How to Remove Oil Stains on Driveways
Oil stains on driveways look bad, and tarnish your home exterior, even if the spots are fairly new. Try to avoid oil spots on your home’s driveway and in your garage if possible, and attempt to remove those stains fast, before they set in.
If the stain has been there for a while, like from before purchasing the house, you may need the help of a local driveway cleaning service in Bowie that can remove even the most set-in stains.
Where Do Concrete Oil Stains Come From?
Mainly, oil from automobiles is the cause for oil-stained concrete driveways. This might be oil, gas or transmission fluid – or a combination. Some of the typical ways your concrete gets stained are from:
- Servicing your own car
- Filling up the gas in a lawn mower
- A leak that should be checked out by a mechanic
But, there are countless other things that can cause an ugly oil stain on your concrete. So let’s look at some of the best DIY tips to remove those stains!
DIY Oil Stain Removal Tips
CAT LITTER FOR OIL STAINS
Cat litter is a simple first step for new oil spots where there is a lot of oil that needs to be cleaned up.
Sprinkle the cat litter all over the oil stain, getting it down into the stain by crushing it with your feet. It’s a good idea to leave the litter on the stain overnight so it absorbs as much as possible. Scoop it up or sweep it off of the driveway the next day and repeat if necessary.
Get rid of used litter so your pets and nearby wildlife don’t eat it and get sick from it.
Then you can follow up with one of the following do-it-yourself concrete cleaning processes.
COCA-COLA FOR OIL STAINS
You might have heard urban legends about accident clean-up crews using Coca-Cola to clean up the roads, but, rest assured, that is a myth. But, Coca-Cola does have strong cleaning properties when it comes to greasy stains, partly because of its carbonated bubbles, but mainly from the phosphoric acid in the soda.
Pour a good amount of Coca-Cola on top of the oil stain, then cover it with dishwashing liquid (Blue Dawn is widely considered the most effective). Scrub with a stiff brush, using circular motions.
Rinse and repeat if needed.
BAKING SODA FOR OIL STAINS
Baking soda is a common home cleaning remedy ingredient.
To remove an oil stain on a driveway, you’ll first want to cover the stain with the baking soda and let it sit for a little bit, somewhere from 15 minutes to a few hours. This should absorb a lot of the oil and allow the baking soda to penetrate the porous concrete.
Next, add that famous blue dishwashing soap and some water and scrub until you have created a thick paste. Again, you can let this sit for maximum penetration, or you can continue to scrub in a circular pattern, then rinse.
Just like with the Coca-Cola 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 bad stains on clothes. It’s also a great product for removing bad oil stains from concrete too!
Combine powdered laundry detergent and borax in equal parts according to the size of the stain. You will want to cover it entirely. Let this dry mixture stay on the oil stain for an hour or more, then add some water to make a paste, scrub and rinse.
This is a gentle cleaning method, so it could be necessary to repeat the process one or two times. But there is a possibility it will work!
DRIVEWAY CLEANING IN Bowie
Some concrete oil stains on a driveway are 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 on your own to save a few dollars. You can cause major damage that is complicated to fix 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 Bowie Pressure Washing is definitely the smart choice. Our technicians know the best methods to clean concrete without ruining it, such as:
- The right PSI and GPM settings to use to remove stains
- Which nozzle tip will penetrate concrete without chipping it
- The optimal distance to spray the concrete from
- Solutions that can help lighten stains
Bowie Pressure Washing also follows all of the steps it takes to clean the concrete– the most effective method. Most homeowners don’t have the patience to do it right. They want immediate results.
A professional pressure washing company in Bowie can also provide protective sealing services for your driveway so oil stains are less likely in the future.