Lots of oil on Patio

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Hi,

Can anyone please recommend the best agent for removing wood oil from concrete pation slabs? A large amount of Barretine log cabin treatment (oil based has ended up on my patio).

I've tried hydrochloric acid, pressure washing, even applying homestrip paint remover and then scrapping but theres still tons down and of course lots of scrubbing with a wire brush,

I read about some kind of agent that emulsfies it and can be flushed away but wasn't sure if one brand is better than any others?

Cheers
 
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Acid and bleach will not help, because it is an oil (probably vegetable oil, like you might fry chips in)

so a detergent oil remover is your best bet

there are Oil Patch Removers intended for cleaning motor oil stains of concrete

For example
678128


sold at Halfords and similar shops.
Don't use the "engine degreasant" which works in a different way.
The driveway cleaner is a detergent and (see the instructions) can be mixed with water and scrubbed in, later hosed away.

I have only used it in motor oil, but I expect it will work. Old stains take several applications and I've poured it on, neat, scrubbed it with a brush and hosed off the next day. You probably shouldn't let it dry.

Over time, rain will wash away the detergent residue.

A special feature of vegetable oils is that they quickly oxidise to a sticky, then hard, varnish. If yours has done that it will be much harder to remove. You could try moistening it with a little white spirit that might soften it.
 
Someone posted a thread on FB last week claiming Coca-Cola would get oil off a driveway. I know it's often reported American air ground crew used to use it for de-greasing parts but not sure how true it is.
 
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Thank you for all your suggestions guys. I will give them all a shot, I like it that the gunk is about 6 quid and Cola and fairy even less than that so hopefully it'll be a cheap problem to rectify (saw a couple of things anything between 30 and 55 quid on google!).

Very interesting suggestion about the Cola I would not have thought of that ever. Saying that, I've used it with my son to make old pennies shiny again and my wife swears by cleaning the toilet with it so it must have some good cleaning properties.

Cheers
 
Thank you for all your suggestions guys. I will give them all a shot, I like it that the gunk is about 6 quid and Cola and fairy even less than that so hopefully it'll be a cheap problem to rectify (saw a couple of things anything between 30 and 55 quid on google!).

Very interesting suggestion about the Cola I would not have thought of that ever. Saying that, I've used it with my son to make old pennies shiny again and my wife swears by cleaning the toilet with it so it must have some good cleaning properties.

Cheers

Which is why I don't drink it.
 
Which is why I don't drink it.
Aye if it can clean limescale from the bog what's it doing to your insides, apart from making them squeeky clean lol.

The gunk came in the post this morning, its a nice agent! I put it down, gave it a scrub with a broom and then hosed off. I then put some fairy down and gave it a scrub then gave it a quick pressure wash.

More came off with the pressure wash on both the fairy and non fairy areas. It will need more than one lot of medicine but I'm using the right stuff now. Thank you for your help guys, much appreciated and I'll defo report back about the cola soon as I get some!
 
My favourite which always works for me is concentrated traffic film remover, left for a few minutes then pressure washed off.
John :)
 
Just reporting back with my findings in case anyone else in a similar predicament as me comes searching for advice.

I tried the cola suggestion and putting a litre of full fat cola didn't seem to do a great deal despite lots of scrubbing and pressure washing afterwards.

I also tried Barrettine knockout oil and grease remover, this was a bit mediocre to say I used a full 5 litres with multiple applications of scrubbing and pressure washing, it did remove some but not as much as I'd have liked.

The washing up liquid shifted some of it but I reckon would need quite a few rounds on its own.

The Gunk was the best in my opinion, I used a two litre bottle and it got rid of a lot. I've got a second 2 litre bottle left that I'm hoping will shift the rest of it. The only downside is its costs a fair bit more than washing up liquid which would be my budget recomendation.

Thank you for all the suggestions, suffice to say I will be very careful with oil and the patio in future!
 

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