How to Clean Oil Off Concrete Garage Floor

Whether it’s a new concrete floor or an older floor with cracks that seem to attract oil spills and carry them further away from the spill site, oil spills on concrete floors can be bad news. 

How to Quickly Remove Oil From Concrete

Like any spill, it’s best to clean up spills on concrete floors sooner rather than later. The longer a liquid, particularly oil or other automotive fluid, sits on the concrete the more likely it will get absorbed into the concrete surface and leave a stain.

Once stained, if the spill is small and contained, a good amount of elbow grease, a strong liquid anti-grease detergent, and a stiff brush will probably clean it off. 

Be sure the detergent you used doesn’t have triclosan, an antibacterial agent used in lots of soaps and personal care products. The Food and Drug Administration banned it from most hand and body soaps in 2017, but dish soap and detergents obviously come in contact with hands — and you’ll be scrubbing for at least several minutes.

Cleaning up oil spills in the garage can be challenging on older, cracked floors that disperse oil spills. This means literally chasing after fluids and more scrubbing.

A better option for cleaning fresh oil spills is to use an oil and grease absorbent like SpillFix and not have to touch anything other than a broom to push it around and over the stain, and a dustpan to collect it when you’re finished. SpillFix granular absorbent absorbs liquids and oils quickly and effectively. Once it touches a spill, it isn’t going anywhere. 

Plus, SpillFix is a huge time-saver. There are no hours-long waiting periods for SpillFix to activate. It starts absorbing the spill right away and completes the job in just minutes, without leaving any wet, slippery, or residual hazard that other traditional cleaners and absorbents leave behind. 

A Safe and Easier Way For Getting Oil Stains Out of Concrete

Many people turn to a concrete cleaner or degreasing agent for larger oil spills on concrete floors and apply them with a stiff brush. Be aware that some of these products contain chemicals that can be harmful if inhaled or comes in contact with the skin and should be used in well-ventilated areas. 

In addition, some of these products seem to work best when power-washing with hot water after containing the spill. That adds to the cost of water and heating, not to mention keeping a power-washer on hand and the effort to use it. All this will, conservatively, take at least a half-hour when you consider you also have to dry the cleaned floor.

There are poultices that break down oil and grease and leave behind a compound that absorbs the muck. This sounds like a lot of hard, time-consuming work on hands and knees, doesn’t it?

Then there are clay-based absorbents like kitty litter, which can take hours to dry before they can be cleaned up. They almost always leave behind stains, even when applied right after the spill. It’s just the nature of clay. Clay absorbents also have silica dust — a known carcinogen — that’s absent in SpillFix.

Or again, you can use SpillFix in the same way described above: apply around the spill and then directly on it. Wait a few minutes and start pushing SpillFix around with a broom. This ensures it soaks up whatever liquid is spilled, including oil and automotive fluids, with or without water mixed in, and leaves behind a clean, dry floor with no slippery residue. In addition to being a faster solution than clay absorbents, SpillFix absorbs 40% more liquid and is nontoxic. 

If you didn’t get to the spill soon enough to prevent a stain, try spraying something like SimpleGreen — a non-toxic cleaning product — on the stain after you’ve soaked up the oil with SpillFix. After the cleaning agent has had time to work, use SpillFix to soak up the residue. This is how one of our customers was able to remove stains on a concrete floor in his paint store after cleaning up a paint spill with SpillFix.

Unlike most degreasers and industrial cleaners, SpillFix is 100% organic and safe to use anywhere. It’s listed for organic use with OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) and certified by NSF, the National Sanitation Foundation, as safe to use around food production and food handling activities. It does not emit fumes or require gloves, although we do recommend safety gloves when you’re sweeping SpillFix into a dustbin to protect your hands. 

Because it’s dust-free, SpillFix won’t make anyone sneeze, either!

A Sustainable Product for Cleaning Up Oil Spills in the Garage

Of course, you prefer to use a sustainable product, particularly when it performs better, faster, and with less effort than competing products. 

SpillFix is one of the most sustainable absorbents you’ll find. It’s made from coconut husks — once considered a waste product — and nothing else. There are no additives, preservatives, or chemicals in the product.

Because SpillFix is derived from coconut husks, much of the pre-manufacture prep work (farming, husking) is done locally. Coconuts do not need fertilizer to grow, just the rain that falls in the tropics where they grow. The husks themselves have created a new supply chain, creating new jobs in the community, which also has fewer waste products to deal with. 

On the user side, SpillFix produces much less waste than clay absorbents because you won’t need as much of it to clean up spills. A handful of SpillFix can do as much spill clean up as a 25-pound bag of kitty litter, so customers need less of it. This means savings from fewer orders, less gasoline used for fewer deliveries, and less storage needed. And there’s just a little less paperwork on the purchasing side of the business.

Did someone put too much SpillFix on a stain? Just put it back in the bag — it can be reused. (We also sell a refillable bucket.)

SpillFix reduces waste by 66% compared to clay absorbents. Moreover, it can be safely dispensed. 

Less Stressful Way to Remove Oil From Concrete

SpillFix is an organic and sustainable product, which pleases a lot of business owners and probably many employees as well. Employees who use SpillFix will also find it is less stressful to use. Here’s why:

• SpillFix is physically much lighter for employees to unload and stock than clay-based absorbent products. Our heaviest pallet bag is just 20 pounds.
• Our bags are made with tough, rupture-resistant material.
• SpillFix works fast and does not require a waiting period or secondary cleaning with rags or towels. 
• SpillFix does not leave a slippery residue behind — no need to put out safety signs warning about a slippery or wet floor. Clean the area immediately.