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Help, neighbours giving me grief! Whats the best way of clearer oil from the road?
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It depends on what the road surface is made from.
If it is concrete then there is a range of options depending on the severity of the contamination. Remove as much as possible by using an absorbent such as Fullers Earth (cat litter) or newspaper. The remaining deposit, if light, will come off with detergent and water, preferably hot. Heavier deposits may need paraffin or, as a last resort, petrol. Use an old scrubbing brush to work the cleaner in.
If the surface is tarmac then more care is needed. Although absorbing and detergent can be used DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use the paraffin or petrol last resort, as this will melt the tarmac and severely damage the road.
Also, get the leak fixed and, until it is, put a drip tray under your motor.
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Brian's advice all 100% sound, but you can buy Oil Absobant Granules from any good motor factor / accessory shop. May be more expensive than cat litter (I don't know because I haven't got a cat!), but may be more effective. Cover the contaminated area, leave for a couple of hours, then work in with a hard brush before eweeping up. Can be left down longer so long as it is not raining or blowing hard !
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Brain and Adam are spot on, with a caution about using petrol - not the safest option! Paraffin or a proprietary degreaser are safer but ONLY on concrete. To the best of my knowledge, cat litter is effectively the same as oil absorbent granules.
Get up as much as you can with the granules first, and dispose of them in the dustbin. Start with the hot strong detergent first, so minimising how much petroleum product you put down the drain. Then stop the leak and park the car elsewhere and let the natural breakdown remove the last traces.
regards
John
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Cement dust is excellent for absorbing oil on concrete.
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I just rub in neat cheap detergent and leave to soak in. After a day rain washes both oil and detergent away leaving very white concrete!
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I've used a proprietary cleaner called Jizer (I think that's the name) that worked well on my garage floor.
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Harry,
I was tempted to mention this, but I used to use it to take tarmac spots off paintwork and to clean really greasy bits on a bike (which did not need to be greasy !) It used to melt (the admitedly very soft) tarmac of my drive so I used to be very careful how I used it and stopped a few years ago (bought an easier to keep clean bike with a shaft drive) and they stopped tarmacing the roads around here...If you use Jizer, experiment first on a small patch of Tarmac.....
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