I’ve written quite a few articles pertaining to garage floor coatings and coverings, but many people, I know, really don’t have much money to spend on things like that. Those of us without money, though, are the ones that are likely to be changing our own oil, which is a very easy way to stain garage floors. Some car manufacturers aren’t exactly helpful, either; I can think of a certain Subaru that I once had on which there was a plastic cover over the oil pan that was near impossible to get off without removing the front bumper cover. Of course, they included a space for the drain bolt, which made it really easy to get the bolt off, but the oil would never actually drain through that little hole, instead spraying the flooring with a nice, thick coat of used motor oil. You can imagine the mess.
Preventing Garage Flooring Stains From Happening In The First Place
Had I been smart, I probably would’ve spent the money to buy a garage floor mat for under the car, or at least a compartment mat for when I did oil changes, though I don’t know that they make compartment mats big enough for the type of spillage I encountered. Either way, I ended up with a very stained floor, which would make it quite difficult to apply any kind of garage floor paint.
Clean That Spill Up ASAP!
One of the main things you can do to help remove the stain is to remove the oil as soon as you can once it spills. Believe me, the longer it’s sitting there, the harder the stain will be to remove. Have a roll of paper towels or stack of rags for this purpose, and you’ll be glad later. Don’t think that only a small amount of oil is safe, either, because even a little dot will make a bigger, darker stain the longer it is left on the concrete. This is because concrete will soak up anything liquid like a very slow sponge, but a sponge nonetheless. There are products that are designed to soak the chemicals up, often called concrete crystals or something similar, but those can get very expensive very fast if you’re very spill-happy. If you can afford them, though, they would certainly help since they will absorb much of the spill, but never all of it. To use them, you just set them on and in the spill for however long they’re supposed to sit, then sweep them with a broom that you don’t mind getting nasty, and throw them away. I’ve heard people say they use kitty litter, and I did try that, got the type that doesn’t clump and everything, but I still ended up with stains and some really gross, gummed up kitty litter.
Using Garage Floor Stain Remover
I’ve had, and heard of, mixed luck with garage floor stain removers. They seem to be hit or miss, and I haven’t heard of any cure-all. Even the best ones tend to leave a slightly visible blemish on the concrete, so I don’t know if that’s really worth it to you. They generally run around ten bucks for a bottle that’s meant to treat a smallish area, so if you have a big oil spill in your garage, you might need to find a bigger bottle.
If You Just Can’t Remove That Garage Floor Stain…
If nothing else, you can always buy a garage floor covering whenever you do get the money. These can be expensive, though. Sometimes you can use an epoxy garage floor coating once the floor is cleaned to the kit’s specifications, but you’ll have to find one that supports this. There’s also the option of just buying a set of snap-together garage floor tiles, or one of the many garage floor mats out there, and not worrying about the staining, or even future stains as both garage floor tile and mats are generally stain resistant. However, if you end up with a really big stain that just won’t go away, don’t use the peel and stick type of tiles since the sticky stuff won’t last very long placed up against oil. The stain may not want to come out at your behest, but it will have no problem eating the bottoms of garage floor paint or other garage floor coverings.
Visit Sweet Garage Floor for more information about every kind of garage floor out there.
