Oil Stains on an Asphalt Driveway: How to Remove Them

Asphalt driveways marred by oil stains are unsightly and potentially hazardous because they can be tracked indoors or into vehicles. Unlike cleaning up a food spill on the kitchen floor, removing oil stains from an asphalt driveway is a whole other ballgame. Instead, you should modify your strategies by using more force in conjunction with chemicals that efficiently break up the oil.

What follows is a primer on how to remove oil stains from a driveway:

• Activate baking soda's absorbent properties
• Power wash those stains out on your own!
• If you need more force, hire a professional pressure washing service.
• Wash down with some green degreaser
• Spraying the oven with cleaner
• To soak up oil, you can use granular clay or cat litter.
• Penetrate it with some WD-40 or another oil.

You are ahead of the game even before you begin. While concrete may have some porosity, asphalt is much less so. Water isn't the only thing asphalt is good at repelling; oil stains tend to do the same.

In order to remove old oil stains from asphalt, you can use either force, chemicals, or a combination of the two. In this case, the force is in the form of a pressure washer, a nylon scrub brush, or a wire brush. Degreasers can be petroleum-based or non-hazardous chemicals.

Incorrectly leaving the broken-up oil in the driveway is a common error when attempting to remove oil stains. After the oil stain has been loosened, it must be removed from the asphalt driveway. The driveway will be stained again after it dries if the residue is left there.

Baking soda is a miracle worker. Is it effective enough to remove oil stains from asphalt, though? There is nothing unique about baking soda that causes the oil to break down chemically. Putting it plainly, baking soda is a gentle abrasive. Baking soda is somewhat effective when used with water and a scrub brush to remove oil stains. Make a paste by adding just enough water to hold its shape.

Just like granular clay or cat litter, baking soda can be used as an absorbent. If you can't find larger-grained absorbents like cat litter or granular clay, use baking soda instead; however, its finer grains make it more challenging to remove the baking soda from the asphalt. To quickly put baking soda to use, just follow these steps and do so again if necessary:

1. Spread a thick layer of baking soda over the oil spot.
2. After 30 minutes, stir the baking soda.
3. Use a brush with stiff bristles to thoroughly clean the baking soda.
4. Get rid of all the baking soda by hosing down your driveway.

Oil stains on an asphalt driveway can be removed with a DIY pressure washing project. High-pressure cleaning is a formidable force in and of itself. Constant pressure washing with a fine spray can damage the asphalt in addition to the oil if it is left on the surface for too long.

It's a fine balancing act to make the perfect impact with the pavement. The oil stains may be too stubborn for pressure washers with a PSI of less than 1,600. To get the oil out, you'll need a machine with pressures of around 3,000 psi.

Pressure washing is a task best left to the pros, who have more experience and better equipment. Experts will use a floor buffer-like tool with a flat cleaning head to remove oil stains.

The powerful cleaning head can be raised to the height of 4 feet, allowing water flow rates of up to 8 gallons per minute (GPM). Expert pressure washers can safely remove stubborn oil stains from your driveway without damaging the surface. There is less risk of cracking the asphalt because the force is not as focused as with a needle-thin spray.

Green degreasers are a non-hazardous alternative to traditional cleaners, as they remove oil stains without the use of toxic chemicals or abrasives. When it comes to environmentally friendly degreasers, alcohol ethoxylates are typically what you'll find in the bottle. Citrus is used in some green degreasers to boost cleaning power and impart a pleasant scent.

A green degreaser can be used either straight from the bottle or diluted with water. Green degreasers for oil stains require vigorous scrubbing with a nylon bristle brush. Then, remove any lingering residue with a quick rinse. It may take multiple applications before the asphalt's oil stains are gone for good.

Oven cleaner is designed to eliminate grease and oil stains in ovens, so why not use it to do the same for your driveway? It's true that oven cleaner is highly poisonous due to the presence of lye, ether, ethylene glycol, and other harmful chemicals, but it can be used to remove oil stains from your driveway.

It is recommended to allow the oven cleaner to sit on the oil stain for at least 15 minutes after spraying it. Scrub the stain with a wire or nylon brush and then wash it off. Wear protective gear when using oven cleaner, like rubber gloves and goggles.

The fine granular clay that is sold in bags or buckets is used to soak up oil and other fluids on the road. It is best to use granular clay on newly formed oil pools. In most cases, absorbent material will not remove old, dried oil stains.

Take a scoop of the granular clay and dump it onto the oil spill. Keep a 1/2-inch to 1-inch layer in place to soak up the mess. Pick up the absorbent and throw it away once the oil has been soaked up.

Granular clay, like the clay used to make cat litter, can be used to absorb oil spills on asphalt and clean the surface.

Use only clay-based litter when cleaning oil from asphalt with cat litter. Avoid using silica gel and other biodegradable cat litters such as those made from newspaper, corn, wheat, or pine.

Since many homes already have cat litter on hand, it can be used to quickly clean up oil spills on asphalt. Switch to the 100% granulated clay product if you plan on using cat litter for an extended period of time. Granular clay is much more reasonably priced than cat litter.

Oil stains on asphalt driveways can be removed with the help of low-viscosity spray penetrating oils like WD-40 or Liquid Wrench. The use of these items requires caution due to their toxic nature. Even though they work, the quantity of the product needed makes this approach quite pricey.