Clean It Up

UK General Cleaning Forum => General Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Alistair@AWC on August 13, 2007, 03:55:09 pm

Title: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Alistair@AWC on August 13, 2007, 03:55:09 pm

Hi,

Just wondering if anybody knows how to remove oil from driveways, I got the worst of it up but im still left with a faint shadow

Is there any chemical that will take this up

Thanks Guys

Alistair

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Andy Foster on August 13, 2007, 08:09:59 pm

As long as it isn't tarmac you can use 'Thompson's Oil and Drive cleaner' - available from B&Q.
Just pour on, scrub in, leave for 20 minutes and pressure wash off.  If you can steam it, that would give better results.

Andy

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Bertie Boo on August 13, 2007, 08:40:35 pm

andy

what will those chemicals do to tarmac then?

stephen

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Andy Foster on August 13, 2007, 09:19:56 pm

Any chemical that is designed to remove oil stains will do so by breaking the oil down so that it can be washed away.  As tarmac is essentially oil and stones, the chemical will start to dissolve the tarmac on contact albeit slowly.

If you have the oil problem on tarmac, then you can still use the Thompson's stuff but you can only leave it on for a couple of minutes and so the stain removal will never be very effective.  Also, unless you are absolutely sure that it has been rinsed thoroughly, any chemical left on the tarmac will continue to eat away at the surface and you may and up with a hole in the driveway, especially if the oil stain has been there a while because the surface will already be weak due to the presence of the offending oil.

Don't mean to lecture but I found this out the hard way and I don't want you to fall foul of the same problem.

Hope this helps

Andy

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Roger Oakley on August 13, 2007, 10:08:13 pm

Quote from: Alistair Stott on August 13, 2007, 03:55:09 pm

Hi,

Just wondering if anybody knows how to remove oil from driveways, I got the worst of it up but im still left with a faint shadow

Is there any chemical that will take this up

Thanks Guys

Alistair

Alistair, it can depend on how old the oil stain is with regards a faint shadow, I use Tech-cleans degreaer-oil stain remover and get great results, Sodium Hydroxide will also work. But I would not use either of these on Tarmac for the reasons Andy stated in previous post.

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Alistair@AWC on August 13, 2007, 11:42:49 pm

Thanks Guys,

Just to let you know its a flagged driveway

Roger where can I buy sodium hydroxide?

Title: Re: Stubborn Oil Stains on Driveway
Post by: Roger Oakley on August 14, 2007, 12:20:14 pm

Alistair,
Sodium Hydroxide = Caustic Soda, you should be able to get it from a hardware store. Let me know if you get some, then I'll give you the mixing method.