When faced with the problem of how to remove oil from concrete you are dealing with a hydrocarbon based material in oil and grease. If the spill is small such as just a spot, it can sometimes be removed with just a strong detergent, a sponge and a scrub brush. If you want to be more forceful you can use a commercial degreaser and a concentrated alkaline soap that’s scrubbed into the concrete surface.
When you apply the soap, it acts like ball bearings do loosening up the oil to allow for simpler elimination. The reality, however is that typical degreasers don’t break down the oil so it won’t work well on concrete that has lots or heavy stains or stains that have been there for a while. Additionally, they will work better on concrete that is porous and not dense or hard.
Another frequent way on how to remove oil from concrete is a poultice. This is used most of the time on little, stubborn stains. Poultice is made by soaking an absorbent material like sawdust, pool filter media or kitty litter with a strong solvent, such as lacquer thinner, MEK, xylene or acetone. Then you take the mixture once made and smear the mixture over the oil stain. You then cover it with plastic and allow for osmosis to take place. The mixture will break down the oil and the absorbent material will pull it out of the concrete. The downside, this procedure takes time, money and is not practical for removing large oil stains on concrete.
The most current advances in how to remove oil from concrete entails using unique single celled microorganisms that thrive on oil and its derivates that will eat up the oil like it’s a candy bar. During the process, enzymes and oxygen digest the oil and turn it into carbon dioxide and more of the microorganisms. Then when the food source is gone, which is the oil, the microorganisms die leaving the concrete oil free and clean. This is the technique that large companies use to clean up beaches and the water after large oil spills.









