How to Clean an Oil Spill on the Wooden Floor of a Shed
Cleaning an oil spill on a wooden floor is not much different from cleaning oil spills on other hard surfaces. Most important, you should not start off using wet cleaners or water because that won't do much to help the oil spill and may actually spread it. In addition, wooden floors can warp if you get them too wet and it would take a lot of moist or wet cleaning product to help the spill if you don't remove the bulk of the oil in other ways. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cat litter, sawdust or corn starch
- Plastic or rubber-bladed shovel
- Push broom
- Dustpan
- Trash sacks
- Dish detergent
- Sponges
- Towel
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Instructions
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Open the shed doors and windows to ventilate the area as you clean.
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Cover the oil spill completely with cat litter, sawdust or, if it is a small spill, corn starch. Leave this on the spill overnight.
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Shovel up the litter, sawdust or corn starch the following day, using a plastic or rubber-bladed shovel. Plastic and rubber are less likely to gouge the floor than metal.
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Place the soiled material into trash bags. Use a push broom to sweep up whatever you were unable to easily get up with the shovel and dispose of this in the bags as well. Treat this as combustible waste--place these bags outdoors, as suggested by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, to prevent a fire.
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Reapply fresh cat litter, sawdust or corn starch if a lot of oil remains, leaving it until the next day. Otherwise, you are ready to start the damp-cleaning.
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Wet a sponge in hot water. Place a teaspoon of dish detergent on the sponge. Dish detergent helps dissolve grease and oil on dishes and will help with oil on the floor, too.
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Scrub the stain with the sponge. Follow this with another sponge saturated only with clean, warm water. Allow the wood floor to air-dry.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear rubber gloves when scrubbing the stain.
