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| Thread ID: 86625 | 2008-01-23 00:41:00 | Cleaning used oil spill off cobblestones? | Billy T (70) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 633002 | 2008-01-23 07:04:00 | Hydrochloric acid get it from Mitre 10 sold as Spirits of Salts Strong concret cleaner |
radium (8645) | ||
| 633003 | 2008-01-23 07:23:00 | Hydrochloric acid get it from Mitre 10 sold as Spirits of Salts Strong concret cleaner Hydrochloric is used to clean concrete splashes off things. Rather extreme to dissolve the concrete to get at the oil :) |
PaulD (232) | ||
| 633004 | 2008-01-23 08:53:00 | Well, another half a can of degreaser left to soak for 30 minutes followed by a medium pressure waterblasting has worked very well and I have nice clean cobblestones in all areas except the middle where the oil flow (and soakage) was greatest. It is soaking again overnight and I'll apply more in the morning while it is cool, leave it an hour then blast again. The degreaser is only $5.90 a large can at BP which means it will cost $17.70 to clean it up, which is not too bad. CRC degreaser was about that much for one can last time I bought it. Wouldn't mind applying the waterblaster to the gonads of the gutless low-life who did this. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 633005 | 2008-01-23 08:57:00 | Hydrochloric is used to clean concrete splashes off things. Rather extreme to dissolve the concrete to get at the oil :) I used it to clean bobcat tyre marks off the footpath in Brisbane, By order of the council worker looking after the park. Diluted and not allowed to sit, It worked awesome. And I used Simple Green to clean concrete splashes off our Knuckle Boom, I wouldn't use an Acid for that. |
Metla (12) | ||
| 633006 | 2008-01-23 08:58:00 | Wouldn't mind applying the waterblaster to the gonads of the gutless low-life who did this. Perhaps a motion-sensor water blaster? Clean your car on the way out each morning too. :thumbs: Better not forget about it when walking to the gate to get the paper though. :eek: |
wratterus (105) | ||
| 633007 | 2008-01-23 18:47:00 | We had a kind person with a leaky diesel 4wd leave an oil patch about a foot in diameter on our drive. I used Supa Rip. I use the stuff at work, you get it from Pacer. It's extremely caustic. Pour some on the stain, agitate it into the grain of the driveway with a nail brush or similar & leave it for an hour or so. Then blast it with a hose, let it dry & do it again. Our white driveway came up well, you can't see it at all now, but the longer you leave it the more engrained it will get | Phil B (648) | ||
| 633008 | 2008-01-23 20:12:00 | And I used Simple Green to clean concrete splashes off our Knuckle Boom, I wouldn't use an Acid for that. You probably wouldn't leave the concrete for weeks to go hard either. |
PaulD (232) | ||
| 633009 | 2008-01-23 21:37:00 | Well, the overnight soak with degreaser, reapplication this morning to refresh it, then waterblasting again after 30 minutes or so has reduced the stain to a very pale mark that only shows because the surrounding cobblestones have been blasted clean. With normal weathering and general dirt accumulation it should be pretty much invisible, which is a vast improvement on the jet-black and stinking mess I started with. After reflecting on it for a while and eliminating some possible suspects, I've got a fair idea who might have done it so they will get appropriate retribution in due course. Net cost to clean was $17.70 and my time. BTW, the reason I didn't follow up on the acids and other exotic chemicals that were suggested is that my research indicated that they either don't act very well on oil or were not suitable for the porous surface and embedded contamination. Most were best suited to float-finished concrete. Not only that, they are hard to procure and expensive. Caustics (alkalies) might have worked, but environmentally friendly solvents are best and I had to consider the surrounding vegetation and plants. Unfortunately it was not really the oil that was the problem, it was the suspended contaminants and I hate to think how long it had been in that engine. Thanks for all the suggestions. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 633010 | 2008-01-24 05:49:00 | I have found talcum powder works well. | Cicero (40) | ||
| 633011 | 2008-01-24 08:14:00 | I have found talcum powder works well. We're talking a couple of square metres of well soaked in heavily contaminated engine oil on a porous substrate here Ciccy. I'd hate to think what that much talc would cost, though it might have made it smell a little better. This was a heavy-duty spill on an aborbent surface so "drawing it out" was never an option. It had to be dissolved and washed out and as I mentioned above, the results are better than I expected and it will be pretty much invisible once the surrounding cobblestones dirty up again. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
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