Cleaning oil off concrete - recommended products/procedures?

ArrowFlyer86

ArrowFlyer86

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Some of my stored, used engine oil for the airplane was in a container that broke. I came in today to find it leaked all over the hangar floor. Oil slick stretches about 8-10 feet.

I've soaked up as much as I can from shop towels but it still looks pretty awful. Any recommendations on products or procedures for cleaning this up and making the floor look a but less awful?

Any help appreciated, thanks!
 
That big a spill, I'd probably get a gallon of Purple Power, mix it up 1:1 in a bucket or use full strength, mop or pour it on, let it soak, scrub with a floor and deck brush, then rinse and squeegee off.
 
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Ed Haywood said:
That big a spill, I'd probably get a gallon of Purple Power, mix it up 1:1 in a bucket or use full strength, mop or pour it on, let it soak, scrub with a floor and deck brush, then rinse and squeegee off.
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As a prior step, I’d put down a good layer of clay cat litter granules, or one of the granular/powder treatments specifically for oil spills. Give it a day or three, then sweep it up. You may need to repeat a time or two. THEN do the soak/scrub/rinse work to get the rest of the oil
 
After you use the suggestions above to remove the bulk of it, they make an oil remover that's sort of a chalky liquid you pour over the top of the stain and let it dry and then sweep it away.
 
Plain “floor dry” for soaking up oil in auto repair shops works surprisingly well. (Napa sells it). It takes a LOT less than most people thing, just sprinkle some over it, then after a few hours or the next day sweep it across it a few times then leave the pile on any dark spots. Sprinkle another dusting on it and repeat. (Then when you sweep it up the last time put it in a bucket with a lid for the next time to use first to soak up any liquid oil when a spill happens before disposing of it). Cheap and it works.
 
Back when I worked at a NASCAR track, we used a lot of speedee dry to clean up oil spills on the track.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll get started on this tomorrow and take a before and after and we'll see how it looks.

@Stewartb - it doesn't seem very porous to me. Pretty slick concrete. Mainly just little bits of dirt and dust mixed in there because I don't sweep the hangar very often.

Will report back on how it worked!
 
Stewartb said:
Whether it comes up depends on how porous the slab was. If oil soaked in, it’ll be there forever.
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this is the only correct answer. Concrete is basically sand glued together with LOTS of pores/pockets. Kitty litter et al is good for immediate spills, but soaked in? NOPE. You do no want to use harsh chemicals as you can start to eat away the concrete bonds and make things worse. Bottom line, you now have an oil stain, hopefully in a cool shape.

If you have an epoxy finish or used a sealer you'd be in better shape.. but its to late for that now.

Your best strategy now is covering it up.
 
start collecting used oil from your hangar neighbors and either do the whole floor evenly, or get an artist to make similar appealing markings throughout the entire hangar

lol
more seriously, I cannot seem to change my truck oil without a Deepwater Horizon Event so I use, after mopping with rags, a 50:50 mix of liquid dish soap and paint thinner scrubbed in with a stiff broom then mopping and hosing. It gets dangerously slippery so careful not to step in it.
 
My hangar floor is sealed, Navions mark their territory with both engine oil and 5606.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
IDK if this counts as a cool shape... It just looks like the Exxon Valdez crashed into my hangar wall and voided its oil all over the floor.
View attachment 154370
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Shape reminded me a bit of KY and Barkley lakes.

The amount of oil reminds me of when I change oil and swear I won't spill a drop this time...
 
Skyrys62 said:
Shape reminded me a bit of KY and Barkley lakes.

The amount of oil reminds me of when I change oil and swear I won't spill a drop this time...
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Who knew spilled oil was going to turn into a Rorschach test
 
Floor dry to start with. They make several varieties, Clay based, wood based, corn based and more. Leave it sit for a day or so. Rubbing it in won't hurt. The dusty clay based stuff works the best IMO.
Then if the conditions are right, muriatic acid.
Sounds extreme, but really isn't.

I did a 23'x30' concrete floor garage recently. I used a gallon of acid diluted in 5
gallons of water. It did a good job of lifting dirt out of concrete. Turned white when it was working and the concrete was clean and not stained white. Rinsed it with plenty of water afterwards.

Another option is a steam pressure washer. Yes I know that is not feasible for most.

I did not use the pressure washer on the above garage but I was wishing I was. I didn’t have power for it then. I do now.
 
Enzyme stuff… looks like Portland cement. AMAZING stuff…

Sprinkle on dry. Eventually even diesel oil stains gone.IMG_8926.png
 
Went to the hardware store got:
Cat litter
Dawn
Simple green
Mop + bucket

And a bag of this stuff because it looked like it was purpose made for the task, and the 25lb bag was $8. Is this the clay stuff people were referring to?
PXL_20260816_180920265.jpg

Couldn't find any purple power, so will have to hop these products cut it. I figure this concoction will be enough (or about as good as it gets). If not, cest la vie. Will post an after photo.
 
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ArrowFlyer86 said:
Went to the hardware store got:
Cat litter
Dawn
Simple green
Mop + bucket

And a bag of this stuff because it looked like it was purpose made for the task, and the 25lb bag was $8. Is this the clay stuff people were referring to?
View attachment 154381

Couldn't find any purple power, so will have to hop these products cut it. I figure this concoction will be enough (or about as good as it gets). If not, cest la vie. Will post an after photo.
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Oil dry and cat litter essentially come from the same place.

Keep some in your hangar, if you ever have a spill just toss it on it and let it sit, it will soak it up.
 
tl;dr: no matter what you do, you now have an oil stained floor

This video seems to be the best at explaining the enzyme process and what to expect.


I used enzyme urine remover whenever I got a new puppy and it worked well. But for some reason these amoeba are quite expensive.
 
pfarber said:
tl;dr: no matter what you do, you now have an oil stained floor

This video seems to be the best at explaining the enzyme process and what to expect.


I used enzyme urine remover whenever I got a new puppy and it worked well. But for some reason these amoeba are quite expensive.
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Yeah, I'm not that invested in it being perfect. It's a 50+ year old hangar. Bummer if the faint stain is noticable but oh well.

The good news is that I took the cat litter and oil-dry clay and put a thin layer over it, then stomped all over like a knuckle dragging troglodyte for 45 mins, and then I brushed off a small section of heavily oil impacted area just to see what it looked like. The worst of my fears were alleviated. It mainly looks like some slightly dirty concrete, which kind of goes with the rest of the hangar aesthetic lol. And that's without the dawn/simple green wash.

On Wednesday I'll do the real cleanup and deep scrub and see how it looks.
 
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Sodium hydroxide or carbonate for saponification?
 
dmspilot said:
Sodium hydroxide or carbonate for saponification?
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No, it's the "wrong kind" of oil, unless the engine is a WW1 rotary engine using castor oil. Saponification works with fatty acid esters, such as corn oil, vegetable oil, beef tallow, etc. The hydroxide ion reacts with the carbonyl group of the ester making a carboxylic acid (or salt with the sodium counter ion) and an alcohol, glycerin in this case. Mineral oils are, for the most part, simply long hydrocarbons.
 
pfarber said:
tl;dr: no matter what you do, you now have an oil stained floor

This video seems to be the best at explaining the enzyme process and what to expect.


I used enzyme urine remover whenever I got a new puppy and it worked well. But for some reason these amoeba are quite expensive.
Click to expand...
Do you know the actual manufacturer of this product? I went to Youtube per your link and then that lead me here: https://buymanufacturersdirect.com/

I know of many organisms that degrade oil, but amoeba aren't among them and I'd like to learn more.

BTW, the enzymes that degrades puppy urine isn't related to those produced by organisms that degrade oil.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Do you know the actual manufacturer of this product? I went to Youtube per your link and then that lead me here: https://buymanufacturersdirect.com/

I know of many organisms that degrade oil, but amoeba aren't among them and I'd like to learn more.

BTW, the enzymes that degrades puppy urine isn't related to those produced by organisms that degrade oil.
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THe explanation of how enzymes work is correct. I used amoeba because its easier to spell the enzyme. I had to look the 'z' key on my keyboard.

I didn't say that puppy eating amoeba and oil eating amoeba are the same other than they are enzymes.

Yes I posted that specifically to trigger you. :eek:
 
pfarber said:
Yes I posted that specifically to trigger you. :eek:
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Why? It just makes you small. And the comment below causes questions about your knowledge.

pfarber said:
I didn't say that puppy eating amoeba and oil eating amoeba are the same other than they are enzymes.
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Amoeba are NOT enzymes.
en.wikipedia.org

Amoeba - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

The person in the video used the word "amoeba", hence my question to you.
 
Sprinkle gray powdery stuff onto stubborn diesel oil stain on concrete driveway.

Stain went away.

Really couldn’t say if it was an amoeba, enzyme or martian. But seemed to be related to the gray powdery stuff…
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Yeah, I'm not that invested in it being perfect. It's a 50+ year old hangar. Bummer if the faint stain is noticable but oh well.

The good news is that I took the cat litter and oil-dry clay and put a thin layer over it, then stomped all over like a knuckle dragging troglodyte for 45 mins, and then I brushed off a small section of heavily oil impacted area just to see what it looked like. The worst of my fears were alleviated. It mainly looks like some slightly dirty concrete, which kind of goes with the rest of the hangar aesthetic lol. And that's without the dawn/simple green wash.

On Wednesday I'll do the real cleanup and deep scrub and see how it looks.
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Leave the oil dry down until Wednesday, it is surprisingly good at “pulling” the oils back up and out (I assume it from capillary attraction of the oil to itself idk). Then if you really want go all out “spill” some mineral spirits on the stain, let it soak in for a minute and repeat with the oil dry.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
No, it's the "wrong kind" of oil, unless the engine is a WW1 rotary engine using castor oil. Saponification works with fatty acid esters, such as corn oil, vegetable oil, beef tallow, etc. The hydroxide ion reacts with the carbonyl group of the ester making a carboxylic acid (or salt with the sodium counter ion) and an alcohol, glycerin in this case. Mineral oils are, for the most part, simply long hydrocarbons.
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Thank you for the explanation. I wasn't sure if it would work or not.
 
IF any of these solutions actually work, I wonder if there'd be befit to treating with Sodium Silicate to seal it. I've no experience with it, but I read about it the other day. Apparently it's a very affordable way to chemically seal and harden concrete, and it'll outlast modern epoxy sealers, etc...
 
I also use mineral spirits, so much I buy it in 55 gallon drums for use in 2 parts washers that I have at work and the hangar. Use it on the plane quite a bit.
Remember stoddard solvent?
That’s what they called the solvent in parts washers when I was young.
I sell it at work to mostly tool dealers when they sell a parts washer.
30 years ago there was a debate on if they were the same thing.
They are the same, some companies mix stuff in their spirits and call it something else. Mineral spirits have always been the base product used.

We buy methanol and mineral spirits from the same chemical company in drums. It’s a chemical and not a oil product.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Citric acid also works and is a bit "gentler" to the concrete. Either acid etches the concrete; the cleaning mechanism is removing the stained cement.
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I plan to have some kind of coating on the concrete floor when the walls and ceiling get painted. Got fresh drywall on the walls, want make it nice for my wife to park her suv in there along with some of her antiques that she sells. Always loading them in and out of her suv.IMG_6983.jpeg
 
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Gary Ward said:
We buy methanol and mineral spirits from the same chemical company in drums. It’s a chemical and not a oil product.
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I'd consider "mineral spirits" as an "oil product", as it comes from petroleum. I may be misinterpreting your comment- how do you define "oil product"?
en.wikipedia.org

White spirit - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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