How to Filter Waste Auto Oil
The American Petroleum Institute website says, "If you recycle just two gallons of used oil it can generate enough electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours." This is an impressive statistic. By consulting Earth911.com, or similar websites, you should be able to find a local center that will take used auto oil for recycling. The safest way to recycle your oil is to take it to one of these centers. However, if you wish to recycle some of your own oil for personal use, you can clean and filter it to a standard suitable for use as lubrication.
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Instructions
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Catch the waste oil in two or three clean plastic gallon containers, or however many are necessary to hold all of the waste auto oil from the vehicle.
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Leave the containers to stand in a cool, dry, environment for around a month. A workshop or garage area would be ideal but, wherever you leave them, make sure that they are clearly labelled and out of the reach of children.
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Pour off the clean, clear, oil from the top of each container into another clean, dry container. Pour the dirtier oil into one of the used containers. That can now be given to an oil recycling center. Wash the dirty plastic containers out thoroughly, using as many applications of dish soap and hot water as necessary to clean off the oil. Rinse and dry the containers before storing them to use with your next lot of waste oil.
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Filter the cleaner oil that you are left with through a muslin cloth. Stretch a piece of muslin over the top of a clean bucket and secure around the edges with pegs so that the cloth is reasonably taut across the bucket. Pour the oil slowly through the muslin. Force the last bit of oil through the muslin by removing it carefully, keeping the sides turned up so no dirty residue falls into the clean oil. Squeeze the muslin gently, until all the oil has gone through, but not so hard as to cause any rips or tears. Use the filtered oil for lubrication purposes such as oiling chains or door hinges. Don't burn the oil as there may be chemicals, that have not been removed by filtering, that will create toxic smoke.
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Tips & Warnings
Take care not to spill the waste auto oil, but If you do drop a little on the ground, quickly cover it with cat litter to soak it up. Wrap the cat litter in newspaper and dispose of through your refuse disposal service. Confirm with the disposal firm first that this conforms to their rules.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry points out that; "The EPA and most states have developed regulations regarding disposal of used oil, its recycling [and] burning it as a fuel." So, if you do decide to filter your used auto oil to re-use yourself, check that you aren't breaking any state regulations. To be on the safe side, use your recycled oil for lubrication purposes only, and avoid burning it to eliminate health risks from toxic smoke. Alkyl benzene compounds that are found in waste motor oil are not eliminated by filtering alone. These compounds are carcinogenic, so you wouldn't want to inhale them through the smoke made when burning waste oil.
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