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Recipe 79 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Get Oil Stains Out of a Concrete Driveway

Cat Litter Trick

Pour 2 cups non clumping clay cat litter on the oil and grind it to powder with a brick or scrap wood. Leave it 8 hours, overnight is better, then bag it, never down the drain. Mix 1/2 cup powdered laundry detergent and 1/4 cup baking soda with warm water into a pancake batter paste, spread it 1/4 inch thick past the edges, wait 30 minutes, scrub hard with a nylon brush. Old stains may need two rounds. No gasoline, thinner or brake cleaner.

Concrete Oil Stain Lifter recipe card: 2 cups clay cat litter, non clumping, 1/2 cup powdered laundry detergent, 1/4 cup baking soda, Warm water to a batter
What it fixesBlack oil, transmission fluid and grease stains on driveways, garage floors and walkways.

You need

Mix it

  1. Pour the cat litter over the stain and crush it into powder by grinding it with the scrap wood or standing on the brick and twisting. Fine powder pulls oil, whole granules just sit there.
  2. In a separate bowl, stir the laundry detergent and baking soda together dry.
  3. Add warm water a splash at a time until you have a thick paste like pancake batter.

Use it

  1. Leave the crushed litter on the stain for 8 hours minimum, overnight is better. It wicks the liquid oil up out of the pores.
  2. Sweep the litter into a bag and throw it away. Do not hose it into the drain.
  3. Spread the paste over the remaining shadow about 1/4 inch thick and slightly past the edges of the stain.
  4. Let it sit 30 minutes, then scrub hard with the nylon brush, adding a little hot water as you go to keep it working.
  5. Rinse toward a drain or a gravel area, not toward your lawn or garden bed. Repeat once if the shadow is still visible. Old stains often need two rounds.
Dale's noteFresh oil comes out almost completely, oil that has been baking in the sun for two summers will lighten but never fully vanish. Set your expectations before you start so you do not scrub a hole in your own driveway chasing perfect.
Don'tDo not pour gasoline, paint thinner or brake cleaner on concrete to cut the oil. It spreads the stain deeper into the slab, it is a fire hazard on a driveway, and it kills everything it drains into.
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