Cleaning a dirty oil stain off a block driveway

[DDY]

I've got an automatic chain oiler on my motorcycle which leaves a drop of dirty oil every week or two on the block driveway at the house I'm lodging at.

The patch is becoming increasingly conspicuous, the live-in landlord hasn't said anything about it, but the patch on an otherwise clean driveway is bothering me and I'd like to be absolutely sure I get my full deposit back.

I leave my motorcycle near-enough in the same place everyday so the patch is about credit card sized.

Any suggestions?

[Hoonigan]

Brick acid then cat litter to absorb it all.

No, really.

Any builders merchant will sell brick acid, I'll leave the cat litter to you.

[peterb]

And then get a drip tray - prevention is better than cure!

[outwar6010]

If it got bad enough what I personally would do was wait until my neighbours went away and switch everything, the door numbers, the furniture everything and then that spill is his fault.

Or maybe rent/buy a pressure washer?

[DDY]

I've only lodged here for two months, before moving my motorcycle has only been (for long periods) parked on bit-mac, so I've never noticed the idle dripping. It's not the chain that drips but the tip of the chain-guard where the chain oil accumulates as it's flung off, I started wiping the chain-guard every so often since the discovery of the oily patch a few weeks ago. The dripping has stopped, but the existing oil stain has darkened.

I've got a pressure washer at home. If this was my drive; oily stains would be inevitable and I wouldn't bother cleaning it. But if I did, I'd have to do the whole drive because a pressure-washed-clean block is far more conspicuous amongst 10 year old blocks that have never been washed, than a slightly oily one, and this is a big drive... The landlord's a nice guy, I'm sure it won't get to a point where I'd have to bring my Karcher over...

I had a look at the various brick acid cleaners online, of the MSDS I could find listed the primary or sole ingredient as; sulphuric-, hydrochloric- or phosphoric-acid. The latter two I have at home, I'll bring some over when I next have the opportunity and will report back with my results.

[peterb]

Pressure washing block paving can be a bit iffy. It takes the surface off and can leave it rougher, so it is more susceptible to algae growth and gets dirtier quicker, and it can blast the sand out from between the blocks which makes them uneven in the long term.

Hoping and idea seems best, or you could try putting detergent on the area and leve it to soak for a while then scrubbing it with something like a nail brush.

There are proprietary drive cleaners that may work for small areas.

[DanceswithUnix]

Pull the brick out and put it back upside down?

[ik9000]

Pull the brick out and put it back upside down?

Won't work. They tend to have a good side and a bad side, one for appearance and one for keying in to the bedding. Even if he could get it out it and clean off any mortar bedding it would look wrong, too rough and wouldn't have the corner chamfers either. Please, save yourself the pain and don't even try this.

[GoNz0]

I've got an automatic chain oiler on my motorcycle which leaves a drop of dirty oil every week or two on the block driveway at the house I'm lodging at.

The patch is becoming increasingly conspicuous, the live-in landlord hasn't said anything about it, but the patch on an otherwise clean driveway is bothering me and I'd like to be absolutely sure I get my full deposit back.

I leave my motorcycle near-enough in the same place everyday so the patch is about credit card sized.

Any suggestions?

Gunk might work but if it is absorbent nothing will touch it, Dunno about the brick acid as again if it is soaked in stripping the brick away may not be enough.

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/eng...veway-clear-1l

[ik9000]

You can get poultice versions that you paste on and they draw it out via capillary action. Takes longer, and probably more expensive but the route is there if really needed. Tbh may be quicker and cheaper to buy two new blocks and relay them.

[Ttaskmaster]

Sell the bike and get a shaft drive... unless it's an FJ1200, of course!!

[deejayburnout]

I have stuff at work that is designed for said problem. Not used it myself but the guy who is giving me it says its the dogs...... Seemingly eco friendly.

If it works, I can send you some