Hi ALl,
I’m about to paint the other half of my basement floor and noticed a few oil spots – how do I get oil off the concrete? I’m putting down a polyurethane floor finish…. I’ve TSP, Muratic Acid, Ammonia, and water – non of those touch the oil..
Dawn dish detergent? Somthing else?
Thanks,
Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
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I think if I'd used all that on the spots, I'd be hard put to believe a problem remains regardless of how it looks-
I recently had the same problem. I found a product (I think it was at Lowes) Called OSR (oil stain remover, imagine that) anyways worked great it works on the theory that the oil never dries so it soaks it up like a sponge. I put it on and let sit for a day. I was amazed at how well it worked. It was about $15.00 for a quart but it goes a long way. Did I mention its a citrus product and will not harm plant life, at least that what it said on the bottle.
I did my home garage floor with the rustoleum product. I had a few oil spots. I used the citrus cleaner that came with the product and followed it up with TSP Trisodium phosphate. You can get it at lowes. I bought a wire brush and some elbow grease and got it up. Use rubber gloves. Extended contact with skin will cause a chemical burn. It worked well and a year later no delamination problems.
I will tell you about a cheap trick that works. I was visiting a friend and he had an old car that leaked oil on his concrete floor. It had stainded pretty good. He took kitty litter and put it down and worked it over the area and rubbed it in heavily with is boot. After the litter was coated in oil, he would sweep it up and put more down. I was amazed at how good it did at getting up all the oil. It was cheap too.
You need to remove oil with something that dissolves it or cuts it, as in, "is oil water soluble?". If the oil has been there for a long time, it's pretty deep in the concrete, but I have had good luck with getting fresh and old oil off by wiping the excess, spraying it with carburetor cleaner, putting a good layer of oil absorbant material (basically cat litter) and let it pick up as much as it can. Sometimes, I do the carb cleaner and oil dry again. Most of the time, water will no longer bead up in these areas. Dish soap can work- put some on the spots and work it in with a brush, then let it sit before removing it. Simple Green works pretty well, so does Super Clean (by Castrol).
Talk to the veteran people at a good paint store if they sell concrete paints. They should know how to prep concrete with oil in it.
Behr makes a Concrete Cleaner and Degreaser that you can pick up at Home Depot. It's part of the four step process that goes along with using their 1 Part Epoxy Concrete and Garage Floor Paint.
Get rid of the spots?? NA! Paint something around the stain and make it ART!
Try brake cleaner / degreaser. It works great and is cheap.
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