By: Jonathan Kwan
May 5, 2018
From the archives: This article has originally appeared on our forums.
Not a typical APH article, but this one is interesting.
Recently, I was tasked with cleaning up an old oil spill on a concrete driveway. The oil spill was serious, and it has been there for a while, meaning it was quite penetrated into the concrete. I tried searching online for the best solution, all with varying formulas and solutions, but here is one where I found that worked out perfectly at a minimal cost.
Project requirements:
- Push broom
- Dust pan
- Brake or carburetor cleaner
- Non-clumping kitty litter
Time: About an hour or so
Difficulty: Easy
I purchased the brake cleaner and kitty litter for $27.27 at Canadian Tire.
Here's a photo of the oil stain:
First, I used the push broom to clean the surface and remove any dirt or gravel. Next, I sprayed it liberally with the brake cleaner. Covering the above spill took one full can.
I took the kitty litter and covered the entire spill. The spill above took the full bag, which was 18kg. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and brushed the kitty litter off.
As you can see, it was a clear improvement from before. It still wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, so I took the second can and sprayed it again. I covered the spill with the same kitty litter (it can absorb quite a bit, don't need to throw them out yet).
After leaving it for another 10 minutes, here are the results:
The results were simply incredible. Still got a few marks on the side to clean up, but I can confirm this method 100% works.
