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lil_Blue_Ford
Cut & Weld
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- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Messages
- 10,856
- City
- Butler
- State - Country
- PA - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 2000
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Engine
- 5.0
- Transmission
- Automatic
- Total Drop
- 4”
Wow... just wow...
I'm assuming its an asphalt driveway from the sounds of it. If it is, I'd either leave it or get it sealed.
If it's concrete... oil stains and such are bad news. Any cleaner/chemical that will break such a thing down tends to have the negative effect of driving it deeper into the concrete. There are some concrete cleaners for cleaning up oil where you wet a powder and place it over the stain. As the powder dries, it sucks the oil up out of the concrete. Not perfect, but it will get most of the stain out. Pressure washer and heavy duty concrete cleaner will take care of the rest. But do be careful with the pressure, we have a 3,700 psi washer and usually use it around 3,000 psi with a 40* tip for cleaning concrete. Sometimes we'll up it a lil more, but even at those settings if you put it really close you can etch the surface.
If it's concrete, once you get it clean, go get a commercial grade water repellent (we use stuff called Siloxane, but if you can't find Siloxane, find a water repellent for concrete that contains as much siloxane as possible, there are ones that have silicone but it doesn't tend to last as long, Thomsons water seal uses siloxane, but only a very small amount and doesn't work very well for concrete, we've tried) and coat the entire driveway. It soaks into the surface of the concrete an fills in the pores, which helps prevent things that can stain from soaking in. You will likely pay a pretty penny for it (IIRC it's about $150 or so a 5-gal pail and you'll likely need more than one), but it lasts for about 5 years and is the best stuff on the market that I'm aware of for sealing exterior concrete. (Well, the stuff worked even better, lasted for about 10 years or so and could waterproof a concrete brick until the EPA forced the industry to make it a water-based product.... Thank you government, dunno what we'd do without you...
)
Keep some kitty litter on hand to throw on any new spills as soon as they happen. That or some Oil Dry.
FYI, I've worked for a reputable concrete contractor who has done considerable research in both pouring concrete and maintaining concrete over his 30+ years in business, I've worked for him for over 10 years now.
I'm assuming its an asphalt driveway from the sounds of it. If it is, I'd either leave it or get it sealed.
If it's concrete... oil stains and such are bad news. Any cleaner/chemical that will break such a thing down tends to have the negative effect of driving it deeper into the concrete. There are some concrete cleaners for cleaning up oil where you wet a powder and place it over the stain. As the powder dries, it sucks the oil up out of the concrete. Not perfect, but it will get most of the stain out. Pressure washer and heavy duty concrete cleaner will take care of the rest. But do be careful with the pressure, we have a 3,700 psi washer and usually use it around 3,000 psi with a 40* tip for cleaning concrete. Sometimes we'll up it a lil more, but even at those settings if you put it really close you can etch the surface.
If it's concrete, once you get it clean, go get a commercial grade water repellent (we use stuff called Siloxane, but if you can't find Siloxane, find a water repellent for concrete that contains as much siloxane as possible, there are ones that have silicone but it doesn't tend to last as long, Thomsons water seal uses siloxane, but only a very small amount and doesn't work very well for concrete, we've tried) and coat the entire driveway. It soaks into the surface of the concrete an fills in the pores, which helps prevent things that can stain from soaking in. You will likely pay a pretty penny for it (IIRC it's about $150 or so a 5-gal pail and you'll likely need more than one), but it lasts for about 5 years and is the best stuff on the market that I'm aware of for sealing exterior concrete. (Well, the stuff worked even better, lasted for about 10 years or so and could waterproof a concrete brick until the EPA forced the industry to make it a water-based product.... Thank you government, dunno what we'd do without you...
)Keep some kitty litter on hand to throw on any new spills as soon as they happen. That or some Oil Dry.
FYI, I've worked for a reputable concrete contractor who has done considerable research in both pouring concrete and maintaining concrete over his 30+ years in business, I've worked for him for over 10 years now.
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