My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:42:47 AM UTC-4, HerHusband wrote:
My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

I would think spraying any oil degreaser would certainly help.
Even laundry detergent will help break the oil down. Depending
on how deep it is, what you have to work with, maybe you could
scoop some gravel out from a clean area, then move the dirty
stuff to fill up 1/2 the newly created hole, then cover with
clean. Then move some clean on top of where the spill was.

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 7:42:47 AM UTC-7, HerHusband wrote:
My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

Try a propane torch on the gravel, will take some time!
Be sure it's dry (no moisture)
I've kept my cement driveway cleaned for decades

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:42:47 AM UTC-4, HerHusband wrote:
My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

I wonder what the standard practice of using kitty litter would do in this case. If you sprinkled kitty litter on the area, might it absorb the oil and eventually wash down into the gravel/disintegrate?

My guess is that anything you do, short of moving a bunch of gravel around to blend it all together, is going to leave a tell-tale sign for some period of time. There is no way you will get the oil off the gravel and leave the area looking like it did before the leak. I doubt any cleaner will attack only the oil and leave the gravel as dirty as it was before. I'd like to see the science behind something that can do that. ;-)

My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway.

I would think spraying any oil degreaser would certainly help.
Even laundry detergent will help break the oil down.

I'm not expecting miracles, but I'll give it a try and see what happens.

maybe you could scoop some gravel out from a clean area,
then move the dirty stuff to fill up 1/2 the newly created hole,
then cover with clean. Then move some clean on top of where the
spill was.

Duh, I can't believe I didn't think of that.

I'll try the degreaser first, then follow up with the gravel shifting if
needed. I have plenty to work with, I just didn't want to get more gravel
right now.

It doesn't have to look like new, I just don't want someone stepping in it
and tracking it all over the place.

Thanks!

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

On Wed, 15 Jul 2015 14:41:15 +0000 (UTC), HerHusband
wrote:

My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

Perhaps scoop the gravel up into a wheel barrel (over a screen) and
wash it off with TSP (red box). TSP cuts grease very well.

http://www.nelsonpaint.com/S10621.html

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:33:44 AM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:42:47 AM UTC-4, HerHusband wrote:
My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

I wonder what the standard practice of using kitty litter would do in this case. If you sprinkled kitty litter on the area, might it absorb the oil and eventually wash down into the gravel/disintegrate?

My guess is that anything you do, short of moving a bunch of gravel around to blend it all together, is going to leave a tell-tale sign for some period of time. There is no way you will get the oil off the gravel and leave the area looking like it did before the leak. I doubt any cleaner will attack only the oil and leave the gravel as dirty as it was before. I'd like to see the science behind something that can do that. ;-)

I too was thinking of kitty litter or oil dry which is essentially the same thing but he's going to have to do more than sprinkle it on. He'll need to dump it on and mix it in with a gravel rake so it coats all the contaminated gravel. He'd do well to mix it up with the rake every few days and work in some more oil dry. I'd put it on oil stains on my friend's concrete driveway, sweep up the first application after a day then put down some more and let the rain wash it away. I works better on concrete if you grind it in with your boot. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Stain Monster

On Wed, 15 Jul 2015 10:16:13 -0700 (PDT), Uncle Monster
wrote:

I too was thinking of kitty litter or oil dry which is essentially the same thing but he's going to have to do more than sprinkle it on.

I'd avoid cat litter if you have feral pussies in the neighborhood.

DAWN, TSP, powdered detergent are/is a good choice. IMO

On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:42:47 AM UTC-4, HerHusband wrote:
My daughters car developed a leak around the oil pressure switch and
created a big oil mess where she parks on our gravel driveway. I don't know
how long it has been leaking, but judging from the large two foot circle of
oil, I'm guessing at least a few months.

Short of digging out the contaminated rock and replacing it with new
gravel, is there anything I can do to clean up the oil spill in the gravel?
It has already soaked into the ground so I'm not expecting to remove every
trace, but it would be nice to clean up the "appearance" of the spill.

Would something like a standard degreaser (engine cleaner or cleaner for
concrete oil spills) work on gravel? I realize this would just cause the
oil to drain further into the soil, but it's already contaminated and I'm
not planning to dig it all out.

Thanks,

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

there are natural bacteria in the environment that eats oil..... but attempting to clean the gravel could kill that bacteria just making it worse.......

OP just does not want it tracked in home. the best option, and nearly no work at all is buy some more gravel, the sme type thats there, and cover up the dirty gravel. graveldriveways being what they are like it probably has some muddy areas. buy enough to cover those too.

or check the cost of ground concrete from demos, its really cheaper than gravel but doesnt look as nice

when i used to change my own oil i had a place in the back yard where i would dump the drain oil, this long before all these enviironmental concerns. sometime later i had the area dug up, and a 16 by 20 foot slab poured for my new shed. i had dumped oil there for perhaps 20 years. i expected a gooey oily area, but nothing but clean soil.

thats when i found i was just feeding some bacteria

just like along roads, there are bacteria that eats worn tire dust.