Removing deisel from concrete

[dirkthe1]

As it sounds really. After losing a few litres of deisel on a nice conctrete floor, its stained rather nicely.

Can anyone suggest a cleaner/solvent that will remove it?

I have tried the swarfega oil and degreaser which hasnt done much to it (in fact i think it may have made it worse!)

[simonr]

I think your only options are to absorb it in something else or let (help) it evaporate.

If the diesel was clean, it won't leave a stain long term.

Si

[dirkthe1]

And if it was red that had been in the tank a long, long time (so much so there was 4 inches of sludge and sediment at the bottom?

I threw a load of the "nappy" absorbant mats down which got alot of it, its just its a nice flat screeded workshop floor!!

Im presuming it would have to be something with ammonia in it to get it out well?

[Phillis]

horse tiddle has lots of ammonia in it.

[landmannnn]

Floor paint?

[dirtyninety]

This might sound crazy... but perhaps try rubbing a tub of cheap margerine into the stain, and then using fairy liquid to remove it.

(This is what my mum does when i get my clothes oily)

Sounds silly, but it might just work, and its cheap!

[pete3000]

cat litter for the soaking up action (fullers earth). Then some nice biological washing powder and a scrubbing brush. Choose your own fragrance.

Of course you know know you should have painted the floor first.

[vinny]

I use petrol on waste oil, mop up what you can with rags, pour on some petrol and scrub it in with a nail brush. Then mop this up with some more rags. Its quick and it removes 90% of a black oil-y stain?!

[Troddenmasses]

Or just splosh some more diesel around the rest of the floor to make it all match, clean it up then walk away whistling.

[Range Rover Blues]

If slippyness isn't a prblem I'd agree with the above. A steam clean may shift the worst of it, otherwise it will break down eventually. Any residue or contamination will be what leaves the stain long-term.

[jbs]

Now this is going to sound even stranger but I used-the last time I wanted to remove oil stain's from my concrete paving slabs that make up my driveway-Mr Muscle oven cleaner after seeing a thread on here about the very same situation, I also used a broom to scrub it in with and then pressure washed it all off-you won't get it all out but it'll get most of it off

HTH

John

[Aragorn]

I've used Mr Muscle on oil stains before too, took most of it off, and the remaining bit went away by itself after a couple of days of rain

I suspect though, a paving slab (or monoblocking in my case) isnt quite as porous as a poured concrete floor. The floor in my garage seems to act like a sponge though. i spilled a load of EP90 in one corner (Standing that "drained" axle case on its end is NOT a clever idea), scooped up the worst of the puddle got Mildly miffed off and left it. Came back a few weeks later and it had all "soaked in", and a while after that the dark stain faded away. No idea where it went mind

[SteveG]

Try brick cleaner, available from any DIY/hardware shop

[plasticbadger]

I've been told Coca-Cola is the Daddy when it comes to removing oil/diesel stains. I'm going to try it on the road outside my drive where I normally park the Disco this weekend and can report back.

[fozsug]

I've been told Coca-Cola is the Daddy when it comes to removing oil/diesel stains. I'm going to try it on the road outside my drive where I normally park the Disco this weekend and can report back.

Coca-Cola is also excelent for using instead of WD40 on rusty bolts and nuts, but it must be proper Coke not Asda or Tesco own brands

[Pinn76]

I freed off an old outboard engine a few years back with coke-a-cola. after 2wks soaking with wd no joy, 2 nights with that in there had it free enough to disassemble.

[Range Rover Blues]

It also corrodes stainless steel, dissolves steak and can be used to clean toilets amongst other things.

[piper109]

I freed off an old outboard engine a few years back with coke-a-cola. after 2wks soaking with wd no joy, 2 nights with that in there had it free enough to disassemble.

Clean concrete with muriatic acid. Use Red-ex soak to free engine.

Steve

[plasticbadger]

The Coca-Cola disolving steak thing is a myth, it doesn't happen. And I very much doubt it corrodes stainless steel, I'm off to perform an experiment now....

[b50bsa]

I'm not sure what you would call ether of these in the UK, but I have removed oil stains from concrete by putting "Kitty litter" on the stain and then squirting "brake clean" on top of that. I can only guess that the "brake clean" goes through the "kitty litter", solves the oil, and allows the whole mess to be absorbed by the "kitty litter"

H

[Jimmy Two-Jacks]

Caustic Soda?

[bishbosh]

Blow lamp? I have heard a rumour that diesel will eventually burn....?

[Steve 110]

Coca cola is what the state troopers use to remove blood stains on the motorways in the us so I guess must be pretty effective. There is some sort of citric acid based cleaner (italian brand banned from switzerland ) that's supposed to be the mutz dangles to remove stains from driveways...

[LandyManLuke]

Coca cola is what the state troopers use to remove blood stains on the motorways

I'm pretty sure that's an urban myth.

[hobson]

I'm not saying that the above is true or false, but it makes sense, i know that Coca-Cola cleans things REALLY well because of all the chemicals in it (not that i'm saying it's harmful of course!) i know people who use it to clean all sorts of things from golf clubs to car parts.

and i know just how good it is as my wife used to work for Barr Drinks before the plant closed and she tells me they used to use coke as a degreaser and cleaner in the industrial machines.

and because she's witnessed first hand what goes in it, she now won't touch the stuff, and frowns when i have the very occasional can!

Even if state troopers did use it, they'd have to keep it quiet, i can't imagine a huge company like Coca-Cola endorsing their human-consumption product for use cleaning up blood can you?

If anyone wants to test it, get a glass of coke and leave an old 1p/2p coin in it overnight, see what happens.

But back to the OP, there's a company called Oiltechnics who sell oil cleaning products to the navy etc, try them, but my guess is by now the stuff is either cleaned up or really well soaked in, so the best thing you could do is burn off any remaining and paint over the mess.