Does anyone know a simple way of removing oil stains from a concrete driveway? My wifes son has unfortunately left his chainsaws on the garage floor resulting in some nasty oil stains.

Any help is most appreciated.

There is an acid you can get but if its smooth finished concrete it wil mess the finish up. I had the same problem and nothing I used culd get the stain off ...

First thing to do is get very fine wood cuttings, almost powder and put it over it. It will gradually soak up the oil, somehow. Then mix tri sodium phosphate with water, and put on the stain, and then use a good scrubbing brush. Another option is WD40 solvent. It might work also.

Try washing powder

Gunk then jet wash or any engine de greaser let it soak in first

put sand on the stain after you have cleaned the oil up , it will act as a scoring pad. scrub the sand with your feet or by hand it will lift the stain after awhile

I had problems with this too and never really figured it out. Definitely don't scrub the oil into the concrete more. I tried the sand thing and it didn't work for me but I've heard it working for others. All I know are there are some industrial solvents that do the trick.

So the oil has run from the concrete driveway to the garage floor?

tiles there cheap and you will never have the problem again

Uses for Borax

Cleaning Oil off Concrete Driveways –Use a mixture of five tablespoons of Borax in a bucket of hot water. Pour over affected areas, leave on for awhile wash off or if you have a pressure cleaner wash off with this.

Edited May 18, 201115 yr by ozsamurai

Just buy some kitty litter, the white grain type. Spread it out over the stain and leave it there. Your car and people walking on it will help remove the oil as it soaks it up. It will gradually soak it up out of the concrete over time.

Just buy some kitty litter, the white grain type. Spread it out over the stain and leave it there. Your car and people walking on it will help remove the oil as it soaks it up. It will gradually soak it up out of the concrete over time.

Yes every mechanics garage in the other world uses kitty litter or a more expensive version of the same thing. Spread the kitty litter out over the stain, rub it around with your foot scrubbing the area. Will clean it in a few minutes. It will look lighter where you have scrubbed and in a week or two you will never know there was oil on the concrete. Not tiles.

Some good responses, let's move this to DIY for further discussion.

Your post says you want to remove stains......not oil. If you want to remove oil, use sawdust or kitty litter by all means. But if it's stains only, use degreaser (cheap in a pressure pack can), or if you want the concrete to literally look like new, buy a small bottle of hydrochloric acid....it reacts with the calcioum carbonate on the concrete. Wash off well after 10 minutes.

Probably best to do a few washes with washing powder first though.....make a wet paste and leave it on for a while.

Your post says you want to remove stains......not oil. If you want to remove oil, use sawdust or kitty litter by all means. But if it's stains only, use degreaser (cheap in a pressure pack can), or if you want the concrete to literally look like new, buy a small bottle of hydrochloric acid....it reacts with the calcioum carbonate on the concrete. Wash off well after 10 minutes.

Probably best to do a few washes with washing powder first though.....make a wet paste and leave it on for a while.

Thank you to everyone who has assisted with my query. Much appreciated.