Concrete is the most common material used for sidewalks, driveways, and patios. As we all park our vehicles in-house, oil or grease stains will inevitably appear on our concrete.
However, it depends on the condition of your vehicle or how much time it has been there on standby. Yet apart from cars, there are countless reasons oil or grease could stain your paver. For instance when during the construction process, oil or grease from several tools or pieces of equipment may readily spill onto them.
Effectively removing and cleaning grease stains from concrete surfaces is essential, whether they’re on the patio of an outdoor kitchen or barbecue grill, on a driveway, or a sidewalk. As a result, these hard surfaces will be easier to keep clean and functional as long as possible.
Some oil stains are minor spills or patches, while others are more highly damaged concrete surfaces. The size and age of the oil stain will indicate how tough it will be to remove. However, using the correct chemicals, you can easily remove grease stains on your concrete surfaces, whether they’re minor or severe, topical or entrenched.
How to Get Rid of Fresh Grease or Oil Stains From Concrete?
If you plan to stain, seal, or refinish your concrete, you need to remove oil stains if you witness any on the surface. A failure to remove the oil properly will result in your cosmetic treatment getting ruined since the oil will leak back through. Thus, remove the oil stains from your concrete to avoid this problem in the future.
No worries if you don’t know how to remove grease or oil stains from your concrete surfaces, we will guide you on how it can be done and which product would work well in such a scenario:
When you notice an oil stain on your concrete surface, the first thing you need to do is gather some towels or any oil-absorbent granular material.
To quickly neutralize fresh oil stains, the granular that we recommend you to use is Spillfix or Oil-Dri Granular.
Make sure to have all of these supplies collected before you start the procedure. If the stain is still new, use rags or paper towels to absorb the excess oil from the surface, making it dry and ready to get treated. But be careful that you’re not supposed to scrape the stain in.
Then you will need to spray an oil cleaner or any other cleaning agent, such as laundry detergent or liquid dish soap, to wash away fresh stains. We would suggest Cleanser Degreaser by Oil Eater or Chomp Pull It Out Oil/Stain Remover for Concrete as an oil cleaner.
Pour the cleaner on the stain and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. Till the agent fights with the stain, get hold of a nylon bristle brush and scrub the area with the help of it after the time prescribed is over. After you’ve finished scrubbing the affected area, rinse it with hot water and continue the scrubbing and rinsing process as needed until the stain is gone.
If the oil stain is relatively dry when discovered, let the granular material rest over the stain for approximately six hours instead of 20 to 30 minutes. After that, there is a good chance the stain will vanish or at least fade away.
If the stain is still visible then sweep the material up and follow the cleaning process described above. This might be a little time-consuming and would require a little effort from you; thus, when you plan to do it make sure you have nothing else in your to-do list for the day.
Powered-form Cleaners:
The sooner you treat a grease stain on concrete, the easier it may be to remove. But nothing is impossible, and there are also methods to get rid of grease stains that have been on a surface for a long period of time.
We will give you an overview of the best products that can be used to remove deep and old grease or oil stains from the concrete surface, as well as how to use them:
Liquid cleaners tackle with:
- Grease stains on natural stone pavers, brick, grout
- Stains covering a small area
- Best for immediate use
We would recommend you Simple Green Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser and Cleaner/Degreaser if you are looking for a good cleaner, less time-consuming.
Surface cleansers like Prosoco’s Cleaner/Degreaser, however, are very effective at removing grease stains.
Powdered cleaners work well on:
- Large stains on concrete, asphalt, driveways, pavers, and patios
- They are eco-friendly
- Require low effort while cleaning
But the disadvantage here is that they don’t work effectively in hot areas, they require extra precautions to work in such a climate.
Among powder-based cleaners available in the market, we would suggest you purchase Terminator-HSD Concrete cleaner. To use it you just need to spread the powder on the stain and spray it in water. The oil is broken down and dissolved by Terminator HSD. However, other solutions may remove the oil, but the oil gets washed down the drain.
Using Poultice cleaning agents to clean your concrete surface is very effective, as they:
- Removes the stubborn stain in just one go.
- Work well on all the surfaces, such as pavers, tile, brick, and stone.
- Are low effort agents
- Are eco-friendly
- Less messy
We would recommend you to use Oil & Grease Stain Remover or Aqua Mix Poultice.
Our Recommendations for Poultice Products
Among our two poultice product recommendations, Oil & Grease Stain Remover is best for more deeply entrenched grease stains. It’s simple and safe to use, and it doesn’t require any mixing or scrubbing.
This is a cleanser poultice that has a thick consistency like batter. All you need to do is just apply it over the stain and forget it. Because it might take 5 to 8 hours to allow the mixture of powder, solvents, and batter-thick cleaners to dry the stain thoroughly. It takes oils up and out of the surface as it dries, leaving you with a simple sweeping job to finish the task.
However, if the stain has set in, you may need something more powerful. Some oil removers include hazardous chemicals that might destroy surrounding plants or poison the environment. Other products might also operate just as well without the risk of infection.
But since this product is a poultice, it won’t harm any of your surroundings. In fact, it will effectively remove the oldest stubborn stain from the surface without any extra effort and mess, you just need to be patient.
