How do I clean petrol / oil off ashphalt?

[HenryDorsetCase]

bike had a full tank of gas, pulled it out of the garage, went to do some stuff before a ride, hot sun, black tank = expanding fuel out the breather. Grrrrrr. I now have a dark patch on the asphalt. It pisses me off.

What can I clean it with? I bought some stuff from Mitre 10 that has been spectacularly unsuccessful.

Not sure I want to waterblast: too much chance of damaging the surface I speculate.

Anyone got the bright idea and the $10 fix?

[bogan]

yeh if you waterblast it, you end up with a light patch instead of a dark one, so then you gotta do the whole lot :( just do some skids and it'll blend in

[Gibbo89]

have you had a google?

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/131467-clean-gas-off-asphalt.html

or

http://askville.amazon.com/oil-street/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=4492814

hope it helps, or gives some ideas

[Usarka]

Best way is via vigourous scrubbing with rubber.

[far queue]

The petrol will attack the asphalt, dissolving the tar out of it. About the best you can do I would think is to flush the area with water to try and dilute it / wash it away. Don't use a water blaster as you'll just blast away the now soft/loose asphalt.

If you ever get an oil leak on asphalt just ignore that - the oil seeps in and disappears over time without hurting the surface. It takes a month or two. I have an asphalt drive myself.

[jack_hamma]

The petrol will attack the asphalt, dissolving the tar out of it. About the best you can do I would think is to flush the area with water to try and dilute it / wash it away. Don't use a water blaster as you'll just blast away the now soft/loose asphalt.

If you ever get an oil leak on asphalt just ignore that - the oil seeps in and disappears over time without hurting the surface. It takes a month or two. I have an asphalt drive myself.

Yep my Dad has an asphalt drive and yep they just disappears...

better than 30 seconds and walk a away!!

[scumdog]

The petrol will attack the asphalt, dissolving the tar out of it. About the best you can do I would think is to flush the area with water to try and dilute it / wash it away. Don't use a water blaster as you'll just blast away the now soft/loose asphalt.

If you ever get an oil leak on asphalt just ignore that - the oil seeps in and disappears over time without hurting the surface. It takes a month or two. I have an asphalt drive myself.

All true - never try to scrub an area that has oil/petrol on it, you'll wreck the asphalt.

[Devil]

Just tip petrol over the rest of the ashphalt and blend it in ;)

[HenryDorsetCase]

All true - never try to scrub an area that has oil/petrol on it, you'll wreck the asphalt.

I am trying the "sprinkle laundry detergent on it and leave it for a day" method last night/this morning.

It was noticeably soft yesterday when I was scrubbing it (with a brush with plastic bristles)

Hopefully the dry granules will wick up some of the stuff: I guess I just live with the stain afterwards.

Interestingly, when I cleaned out the slot drain in front of the garage at the weekend, there was a bunch of sand it and I wondered where it had come from. It appears that it is my expensive asphalt deteriorating before my eyes......

[junkmanjoe]

just water. a garden hose, never water blast asphalt...

i had a leak and didn't see it till late in the afternoon, buy then it was to late...petrol had eaten in to my drive way, made the asphalt soft.....:facepalm:...


i park my bike on the concrete now...

just in case.

JMJ

[Flip]

It's only a clean patch, sweep your drive and leave the dirt in and on the soft patch.

The heavy ends in the petrol will eventually eveporate.

[AllanB]

Interestingly, when I cleaned out the slot drain in front of the garage at the weekend, there was a bunch of sand it and I wondered where it had come from.

Bloody liquefaction. :blink:

I've done the same! I flushed it with detergent and water - still left a mark but it stopped it being loose. I'm pretty sure it faded away - hard to tell as there is a crack through that part of the drive now!

[Spazman727]

Try baking soda? It seems to work for everything else.