Cleaning oil stains on your driveway

If you search online for ways to remove oil stains, you'll come across all kinds of things. One of the most common suggestions I've come across from "experts" is to use a brick to grind cat litter into the concrete. This does absorb wet oil on the top of the concrete, but it doesn't really get rid of the stain.

The best solution is cool product called Pour-N-Restore. It goes on as a liquid and dries into a powder. The company's website claims that the product soaks into the concrete and pulls up embedded oil stains, capturing them in the dry powder. Whatever it does, it works! I've used it several times on my driveway and I can't even tell where the stains were.

Another cool thing about this product is that you're not rinsing oily slime off the driveway into the grass or down a drain. Pour-N-Restore holds the oil in the powder, so you just sweep it all up. The back of the label also states that it's biodegradable and phosphate-free.

Step 1: Sweep

After Pour-N-Restore dries out, you just sweep up the powder. Sometimes, after you sweep, the concrete will still be wet. You just need to let this moisture evaporate.

Step 2: Oil stain is gone

You can see that the oil stain is gone now. All the oil is trapped in the white powder.

Comments

[mhewitt]

I love this product because I can use it IN the house for cleaning as well. I use it on the counter tops and it removes all types of stains. I even use it in our shower to remove built up soap scum and glass stains - there is no heavy scrubbing.

[CementTruck]

Good stuff! I have many, many, many nice dress shirts that have dark grease spots on them from food. Unfortunately they have set in due to the dryer heat. Do you think this stuff would take those stains out? Could you try it and let me know? I'm always looking for alternative solutions.

[hshivers2]

Goop handcleaner works on some set stains as well. Good for cleaning hands and clothing stain removal.

[extrordinary1]

Not sure this will work on the set in stains, it might. At a gas station I worked at, I did the powerwashing or just hose off the parking lot. When it came to oil stains, I used Dawn grease fighting dish soap mixed 50/50 with baby oil. On concrete, I used a broom to scrub in the solution and let it soak 5 min. If it didnt' get it completely out, treat it again.

[Tommi Potx]

Dab some dishwashing liquid on the stains, let sit for 5 minutes and wash as per normal. The nitro glycerine in the soap breaks down the oil and you are good to go. Hope it works out!1

[CementTruck]

Tommi Potx, Does this work even after the clothing has gone through the wash and dry cycles several dozen times? I'm talking about old set in stains from months ago, not a new spill. I know your method works for new stains. I have a 4 month old kid and I use your method all the time. Thanks.

[medicationreqd]

I use a product called goof off, it always takes out stains that have been through the laundry, I've saved a lot of shirts this way...give it a try!

[CementTruck]

I have seen Goof Off in stores. I will give it a try. Much appreciated.

[rimar2000]

Please read my comment to SurferGeek

[hewie]

Actually, I did try it on the carpet in my truck too. It got the grease stain out, but it also lightened the carpet a little. So, I don't know if I would use it on clothes. Maybe whites. Although, I guess if you've got a shirt thats trashed, what's the harm?

[Grandmael]

Will this stuff take mud off? I mean mud that has been on there a very long time! Just wondering.

[mguer133]

And how can this be classified in the green section?

[millingabout]

Wow! It removed the crack in the cement too! Look closely at the first picture, then compare that with the rest. The crack SEEMS to move a number of times, and the stain's relation to the crack also SEEMS to move. Maybe it is a trick of the camera? I have never seen an oil stain that was so clear either. Am I somehow primed only to see the BLACK oil stains? In the first picture you can still see the stone as if the cement was just wet.

[hewie]

Well, I didn't set up a tripod to make sure all the shots were taken from the exact same angle. This is all the same stain. The first picture was taken a little further away than the other two - that's why the crack shows up. The crack you see in the front of the third picture is where the sidewalk borders the blacktop driveway. No trick photography. Just slightly different angles and distances away.

[SurferGeek]

More of a commercial than an Instructable. Anyone have a home made brew that will do the same?

[hewie]

I guess this does sound kind of like a commercial. I'm new to the instructables site and just thought I'd pass along something I found that works great. In the past I've tried things like sawdust, cat litter, dish soap, and someone even told me once to use Coke on oil stains. The only thing I've personally used that really works is this Pour-N-Restore product.

[rimar2000]

This is very similar to the procedure of removing of the clothes a stain of oil: to cover with talc, then to spill solvent drop by drop until soaking the powder; to allow to evaporate the solvent, to brush and that is all. Anyway, good instructable. (Pardon my "automatic translator" English)

[stratholm]

I use gasoline on my asphault... complete cleaning down to the dirt. :)

[maruawe]

Will it work on the rug

[bdantuma]

This stuff is AWESOME!!! I couldn't believe how good it worked. I had stains in my garage that had been there for years and this had no problem pulling them out.

[GorillazMiko]

That actually looks really cool, and it works like perfect! Next time I will have to do this, I have some stains in my garage, awesome job. +1 rating.