Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

Pdk Pdk wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

try kitty litter to pick up the excess

wrote in message
ps.com...

Pdk Pdk wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

try kitty litter to pick up the excess

You will never get it all up, but at least you won't be tracking it around.
I spilled a bottle of stain on a carpet today; oops.

In article , (Pdk Pdk) wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

Get thee to Costco and pick up a large bucket of Kirkland
laundry detergent (about $11.50 when I bought one earlier
today).

You'll even find specific instructions on the package for
"oil spill cleanup".

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In article , (Pdk Pdk) wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

Get thee to Costco and pick up a large bucket of Kirkland
laundry detergent (about $11.50 when I bought one earlier
today).

You'll even find specific instructions on the package for
"oil spill cleanup".

\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Yup, and if you clean the locaton repeatedly you will draw the oil
back up out of the concrete,,,you might not get all of it out but
enough such that the surface & down about 1/4" or so will be pretty
much oil free.

Repeated cleanings with spray SImple Green & clean rags will also work

cheers
Bob

That's how we did a final floor cleaning of oil spills on bare concrete
flors

In article ,
Pdk Pdk wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.


Get a bag of good quality oil-absorbent (kitty litter might work, if
it is the clay-based variety; there are other products specifically
for shop cleanup that will work even better) and a quart of mineral spirts.

Cover the oil stain with the absorbent, wait an hour or so, sweep it
up. Then pour about a cup or so of the mineral spirits over the
remaining stain, and scrub it a few minutes with a stiff bristle
brush, broom or a wire brush. Cover it again with fresh absorbent and
let it sit several hours or overnight. When it is swept up the next
time the stain will likely be gone.



le
--
Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland -

l Get a bag of good quality oil-absorbent (kitty litter might work, if
it is the clay-based variety; there are other products specifically
for shop cleanup that will work even better) and a quart of mineral spirts.

Cover the oil stain with the absorbent, wait an hour or so, sweep it
up. Then pour about a cup or so of the mineral spirits over the
remaining stain, and scrub it a few minutes with a stiff bristle
brush, broom or a wire brush. Cover it again with fresh absorbent and
let it sit several hours or overnight. When it is swept up the next
time the stain will likely be gone.

I'm usually not the wet blanket, you shouldn't do that guy, but if
there are any open flames (like gas water heaters of heating equipment)
in the OP's basement mineral spirits is pretty flammable off of the
vapors. A basement is usually a pretty non ventilated area.

An old standby, if you have some available is Portland Cement, straight out
of the bag, not the premixed cement with sand in it, but the pure Portland
Cement that you have to formulate. I also think that Mortar Cement (again
not the premixed type but the type you mix with sand) and probably even
thinset powder would work similarly.

"Eric in North TX" wrote in message
ups.com...

l Get a bag of good quality oil-absorbent (kitty litter might work, if
it is the clay-based variety; there are other products specifically
for shop cleanup that will work even better) and a quart of mineral
spirts.

Cover the oil stain with the absorbent, wait an hour or so, sweep it
up. Then pour about a cup or so of the mineral spirits over the
remaining stain, and scrub it a few minutes with a stiff bristle
brush, broom or a wire brush. Cover it again with fresh absorbent and
let it sit several hours or overnight. When it is swept up the next
time the stain will likely be gone.

I'm usually not the wet blanket, you shouldn't do that guy, but if
there are any open flames (like gas water heaters of heating equipment)
in the OP's basement mineral spirits is pretty flammable off of the
vapors. A basement is usually a pretty non ventilated area.

I second this method.

Forget kitty litter. It's for cats. Keep a bag of auto parts store
style oil absorbant around for this kind of thing.

Pour on some oil absorbant. Grind it in with your shoe for a while.
Sweep up. Repeat if necessary to pick up the oil.

Pour a little paint thinner on - just enough to cover the stain. Wait
a minute or two. Pour on more fresh oil absorbant. Grind it in with
your shoe for a while. Sweep up.

This has worked 100% for every concrete oil stain I've ever
encountered.

As Eric says, this is a potential fire hazard. Don't do something
stupid like try it next to a gas water heater or furnace. The vapors
will ignite. They're also poisonous in concentration.

-rev



wrote:
In article ,
Pdk Pdk wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.


Get a bag of good quality oil-absorbent (kitty litter might work, if
it is the clay-based variety; there are other products specifically
for shop cleanup that will work even better) and a quart of mineral spirts.

Cover the oil stain with the absorbent, wait an hour or so, sweep it
up. Then pour about a cup or so of the mineral spirits over the
remaining stain, and scrub it a few minutes with a stiff bristle
brush, broom or a wire brush. Cover it again with fresh absorbent and
let it sit several hours or overnight. When it is swept up the next
time the stain will likely be gone.



le
--
Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland -

Get you a can of brake parts cleaner from the auto parts store. Spray it on
liberally and wipe it up. repeat. Use some ventilation. It's not
particularly flammable, but it stinks.

--
Steve Barker



"Pdk Pdk" wrote in message
...
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 23:20:06 -0500, (Pdk Pdk) wrote:

Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

IMHO:

For my 'oil stains' I've found that wiping up first with a glass
cleaner does well. It removes the loose stuff that can be tracked
around. As for removing any stains, I've tried powered laundry soap,
and let it sit. After awhile, swipe up the loose soap, and then use
water to remove the rest.

This is what works for me, but I don't know if it should work for you.

later,

tom @ www.MeetANewFriend.com

Pdk Pdk wrote:
Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.

You've got all kinds of answers. Stay away from
those that suggest flammable stuff and leave the
kitty litter for cats. The way to get oil out of
concrete is to spray it with Oven Off, wipe it
with paper, and rinse with water. Sodium
hydroxide and oil make soap. The only caution is
to use a mask or spray the the OvenOff quickly and
walk away for a while so you don't breath the
stuff and to use rubber gloves. One simple spray
and rinse will remove all the oil.

This works so well, two spraying and rinses will
remove almost all oil on concrete that has been
soaked for years.

The auto parts store oil absorbent is basically baked kitty litter. You
can use either, though the professional oil absorbent will crush easier
when grinding it into the spill. But also get a big bag of ground peat
moss. Use this the next time to absorb the initial spill. The peat moss
is will absorb oil quickly and completely, minimizing the amount that
soaks into the concrete in the first place. If you can't find ground
peat, just use the regular, though the twigs and roots will be a little
lumpy.

The Reverend Natural Light wrote:
I second this method.

Forget kitty litter. It's for cats. Keep a bag of auto parts store
style oil absorbant around for this kind of thing.

Pour on some oil absorbant. Grind it in with your shoe for a while.
Sweep up. Repeat if necessary to pick up the oil.

Pour a little paint thinner on - just enough to cover the stain. Wait
a minute or two. Pour on more fresh oil absorbant. Grind it in with
your shoe for a while. Sweep up.

This has worked 100% for every concrete oil stain I've ever
encountered.

As Eric says, this is a potential fire hazard. Don't do something
stupid like try it next to a gas water heater or furnace. The vapors
will ignite. They're also poisonous in concentration.

-rev



wrote:

In article ,
Pdk Pdk wrote:

Yesterday I spilled half a can of automobile oil on the unpainted
concrete floor in my basement. After using rags to sop up most of the
stuff, any ideas how to get up the rest? Will it eventually dry?
It's in a place where I can't really walk around it all the time, but
don't want to be tracking oil through the house. Thanks.


Get a bag of good quality oil-absorbent (kitty litter might work, if
it is the clay-based variety; there are other products specifically
for shop cleanup that will work even better) and a quart of mineral spirts.

Cover the oil stain with the absorbent, wait an hour or so, sweep it
up. Then pour about a cup or so of the mineral spirits over the
remaining stain, and scrub it a few minutes with a stiff bristle
brush, broom or a wire brush. Cover it again with fresh absorbent and
let it sit several hours or overnight. When it is swept up the next
time the stain will likely be gone.



le
--
Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland -