How to Remove Oil Stains on Driveways
Oil stains on driveways look bad, and ruin your home exterior, even if the oil stains are still relatively new. Avoid oil stains on your home’s driveway and in your garage if possible, and attempt to eliminate those stains right away, before they really set in.
If the oil stain has been there for a long time, like from before purchasing the home, you may need the help of a local driveway cleaning service in Silver Spring that is able to eliminate the most set-in oil stains on concrete surfaces.
Where Do Concrete Oil Stains Come From?
Mostly, oil from vehicles is the cause for oil-stained concrete. This might be oil, gasoline or transmission fluids – or a combination. Some of the common ways your concrete gets stained are from:
- Fixing your own car
- Filling up the gas in a lawn mower
- A leak that should be checked out by a mechanic
But, of course, there are several other things that can cause an unsightly oil stain on your concrete. So let’s consider some of the best DIY tips to remove those oil stains!
DIY Oil Stain Removal Tips
CAT LITTER FOR OIL STAINS
Cat litter is a simple 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 stain, really getting it down into the stain by stomping on it with your feet. It’s best to leave the litter on the oil stain for 24 hours so it will absorb as much as possible. Scrape it up or sweep it off the following day and repeat if necessary.
Throw away used litter so your pets and wildlife don’t eat it and get sick.
Then you can proceed with one of the following do-it-yourself 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 a myth. But, Coke 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 generous amount of Coke on the oil stain, then cover it with dishwashing soap (Blue Dawn is widely considered the most effective). Scrub with a stiff brush, using circular motions throughout.
Rinse and repeat if you have to.
BAKING SODA FOR OIL STAINS
Baking soda is another common home cleaning remedy ingredient.
To eliminate an oil stain on a driveway, you’ll first want to coat the stain with the baking soda and then let it sit for a while, somewhere from 15 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 soap and some water and scrub until there is a thick paste. Again, let this sit for the best penetration, or continue to scrub in a circular pattern, then rinse.
Just like with the Coke method, you might need to repeat the process one or two times.
LAUNDRY DETERGENT FOR OIL STAINS
Most homeowners already use this to clean off bad stains on clothes. It’s also a great product for getting rid of bad oil stains from concrete too!
Stir powdered laundry detergent and borax in equal parts according to the size of the oil stain. You want to cover it entirely. Let this dry mixture sit on the oil stain for an hour or more, then add some water to create a paste, scrub and then rinse.
This is a gentle cleaning process, so it might be necessary to repeat the process two or three times. But there is a good chance it will work!
DRIVEWAY CLEANING IN Silver Spring
Some oil stains on a driveway are too tough for home remedies. That’s when it is 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 major harm that is extremely complicated to fix if you don’t know how to properly pressure wash concrete. The high pressure water stream can break and loosen concrete, and it can create streaks on a driveway that look just as bad as the oil stains.
Calling Silver Spring Pressure Washing is definitely the safe choice. We know the best methods to clean concrete without damaging it, such as:
- The right PSI and GPM settings to use to remove stains
- Which nozzle tip will penetrate concrete without chipping it
- The correct distance to spray the concrete from
- Solutions that can help lighten stains
Silver Spring Pressure Washing also follows all of the steps to clean the concrete little by little – the most effective process. Most homeowners and other companies don’t have enough patience to do it right. They want immediate results.
A professional pressure washing company can also provide protective sealing services for your driveway so oil stains are less likely to occur.