Any suggestions how to clean up lots of power steering fluid from a concrete floor so it doesn't leave a stain, without special tools and using products that are available at the local Home Depot or Target?
Clean up on aisle seven
- Thread starter MichaelB
- Start date
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 14,328
I'd start with cheap clay kitty litter. Grind it into the surface with your foot until the cement looks powdery.
Cessna5354
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- May 26, 2012
- Messages
- 99
Not exactly about PS fluid, but all other oils I use engine cleaner.
Soak it up, soak it up. towels down and something heavy on top.
If you have cat litter(I do not) that would be absorbant.
Good Luck,
Soak it up, soak it up. towels down and something heavy on top.
If you have cat litter(I do not) that would be absorbant.
Good Luck,
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 14,328
I buy bags of kitty litter at Dollar Tree. It is the cheap stuff that works best for oil. Some of the more expensive kinds are like little BBs and make the floor hazardous.
lemming
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- May 29, 2008
- Messages
- 599
Read the labels for flammability warnings. Not on the kitty litter but any solvents they might sell you.
OP
OP
Cheap clay kitty litter to begin, followed by engine cleaner? OK. Hopefully that will pick up some of the stain as well. There is a lot on the garage floor.
bjorn2bwild
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
"Simple Green" in the spray bottle works great as a low toxic, non-flamable detergent type cleaner.
calmloki
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
PS fluid is tough - it is very light and has a bunch of detergents in it to start with. On my leaky PS BMW stains I use dishwasher detergent, like Cascade. lotsa phosphates. It doesn't get it all, problem is the PS fluid soaks into the interstices by design and does a darn good job of it - tough to pull it back up to the surface.
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
EZ - just remind yourself this is a garage, not a living room. What's a little (or a lot) of stain gonna hurt? Your car covers it when you are home, and when the car is gone, so are you. Problem solved 
-ERD50
-ERD50
Cessna5354
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- May 26, 2012
- Messages
- 99
Along these lines, without derailing the OP,
What has anyone sucessfully to paint/coat the garage cement floor ??
One thing I am putting off for ER.
What has anyone sucessfully to paint/coat the garage cement floor ??
One thing I am putting off for ER.
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
bjorn2bwild
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
More detailed answer-
Untreated concrete is porous.
1. Spilled oil will wick into the surface, so clean a fresh spill as quickly as possible. Use either rags or kitty litter to soak up the oil and contain the spill.
2. Pour on a low volatile solvent like mineral spirits to thin the remaining stain and sop up with rags/litter.
3. Finally, use a detergent like Simple Green to emulsify and clean the stain, full strength, finishing with wet rags as mop up.
Clean, untreated concrete can be sealed with a clear concrete sealant to make future spills easy to wipe up.
Stained concrete can be painted with epoxy paint designed for this purpose. It can be a nasty time consuming job requiring oil stains to be well cleaned plus the paint is pretty toxic when inhaled - use a respirator. Remember to use grit (sand) to make the surface non-skid when wet.
Untreated concrete is porous.
1. Spilled oil will wick into the surface, so clean a fresh spill as quickly as possible. Use either rags or kitty litter to soak up the oil and contain the spill.
2. Pour on a low volatile solvent like mineral spirits to thin the remaining stain and sop up with rags/litter.
3. Finally, use a detergent like Simple Green to emulsify and clean the stain, full strength, finishing with wet rags as mop up.
Clean, untreated concrete can be sealed with a clear concrete sealant to make future spills easy to wipe up.
Stained concrete can be painted with epoxy paint designed for this purpose. It can be a nasty time consuming job requiring oil stains to be well cleaned plus the paint is pretty toxic when inhaled - use a respirator. Remember to use grit (sand) to make the surface non-skid when wet.
timo2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I wonder if heat would draw it out, without catching it on fire? I saw something on TV (everything on TV is true, right?) that heat would draw liquids out of untreated concrete. This was in reference to tribal healers who would pour animal blood onto the floor, let it soak in until it wasn't visible, then reheat the concrete later and the blood would come out of the floor, to impress everyone. 
Lakewood90712
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2005
- Messages
- 2,223
Start with cat litter or paper towels for the fluid, then a de-greaser like engine cleaner or something like formula 409. If still stained, wait a day or two, then naptha (coleman camping fuel) carefull here, this is technically"gasoline" , and flamable vapors travel along the surface . Dont use the solvent if anything like a water heater, or clothes dryer is in the garage, unless 100% shutdown during the cleaning. Quick and dirty solution is portland cement powder. This only works with a fresh spill , of clean oil/fluid etc.
Last edited:
OP
OP
I know it's just a garage (and the driveway too) but it still needs to be clean. The suggestions are good, I suspect I'll be trying more than one. The stain is over a day old, there is still fresh oil, tomorrow the car goes to the shop and I'll have room and opportunity to do some cleaning. There is a lot of PS fluid on the floor and in the driveway. Using heat scares me just a bit, but enough to not pursue that options just now.
I've usually just done the cat litter thing and called it a day. Some ideas (untested) after you try the suggested methods:
- Pressure washer (it seems to do a great job on grime in concrete). Use hot fluid and detergent. If splash/water in that area are a problem, rig up a shield (cut the bottom out of a 5 gal paint bucket) and use your shop vac to slurp up the working fluid.
- Steam cleaner (seems to do a darn good job on engines)
- Bleach. After all, you're probably not concerned about the PS fluid, you're concerned about the appearance of the PS fluid. Either use straight Clorox or maybe a wet paste of Ajax with plastic put over it to let the oxidation reaction do its magic.
-Muriatic acid? It's tough on concrete, so do a test spot.
- Pressure washer (it seems to do a great job on grime in concrete). Use hot fluid and detergent. If splash/water in that area are a problem, rig up a shield (cut the bottom out of a 5 gal paint bucket) and use your shop vac to slurp up the working fluid.
- Steam cleaner (seems to do a darn good job on engines)
- Bleach. After all, you're probably not concerned about the PS fluid, you're concerned about the appearance of the PS fluid. Either use straight Clorox or maybe a wet paste of Ajax with plastic put over it to let the oxidation reaction do its magic.
-Muriatic acid? It's tough on concrete, so do a test spot.
Last edited:
Lakewood90712
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2005
- Messages
- 2,223
I've heard power steering fluid works well!
-ERD50
It actually does , as a first step on an old motor oil stain.
calmloki
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
samclem;...... -Muriatic acid? It's tough on concrete said:
bjorn2bwild
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Using heat should be limited to boiling hot water in the detergent cleanup phase. Too much heat in too short a time period can cause spalling - breakup of the concrete.
I've used this before, worked pretty well on motor oil drippings and gear oil. I think it was from HD.
BEHR PREMIUM® Concrete & Masonry Cleaner/Degreaser No. 990 | Behr Paint
BEHR PREMIUM® Concrete & Masonry Cleaner/Degreaser No. 990 | Behr Paint
Having some experience in this area, I agree with bjorn2bgy advice. Be patient with the poultice (kitty litter) extraction. It may take several attempts. Also, since concrete is very porous, what might look to be clean will appear to be stained later on as the fluids 'buried' lower in the concrete come up to the surface.
