🧼 How to Remove Oil Stains from Driveways: A Complete Guide

By Mark Cave May 09, 2025

🧼 How to Remove Oil Stains from Driveways: A Complete Guide

Got unsightly oil stains ruining the look of your driveway? You're not alone! In the UK, driveways frequently suffer from motor oil leaks, diesel spills, and even cooking oil mishaps. These nasty blotches not only tarnish curb appeal but can also lead to long-term surface damage if left untreated.

In this article, we’ll explore how to remove tough oil stains from driveways using soft washing solutions that are eco-conscious, effective, and professional-grade. Let’s reclaim your driveway’s former glory—without splashing harsh acids everywhere!

👀 Why Oil Stains Are Tricky to Remove

Oil behaves like a leaky guest who overstays their welcome. Upon contact, it soaks deep into porous surfaces such as concrete, block paving, or resin driveways. Traditional jet washing techniques can often spread the oil around, making stains even worse.

Here’s why improper cleaning fails:

🚫 Water alone doesn't break down oil
⚠️ Jet washing can drive oil deeper into the surface
💨 Harsh chemicals can damage both surfaces and local environments

The right approach? Soft washing with targeted degreasers. This method tackles oil stains at a chemical level without relying on brute force.

💡 What Is Soft Washing?

If you're unfamiliar with this transformative exterior cleaning technique, check out this guide on what soft washing is and how it works.

In a nutshell, soft washing uses low-pressure water mixed with biodegradable chemicalsto break down stubborn contaminants like moss, algae, and—yep, you guessed it—oil stains.

🧪 The Best Product for Driveway Oil Stains

🔥 Grenade Driveway Oil Stain Remover

This product is not your average degreaser. Specifically developed for the UK climate and porous driveway materials, Grenade lives up to its name by blasting through oil residues effectively and safely.

✅ Key Benefits of Grenade:

Rapid-acting formula ➡️ results in minutes
Safe for tarmac, brick, concrete, and resin surfaces
Breaks down diesel, engine oil, and petrol stains
Pleasant citrus scent 🍋
Biodegradable & environmentally conscious 🌍

🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Use It Effectively

Preparation: Sweep the area of dirt and debris. Wet the surface slightly.
Apply: Spray the Grenade Oil Stain Remover directly onto the oil stain.
Agitate: Use a stiff-bristled brush to scrub the product deep into the surface.
Dwell Time: Allow it to sit for 15–30 minutes.
Rinse: Rinse using a low-pressure hose or soft wash system.

Repeat if necessary, as deeper stains might require multiple treatments.

You're tired of looking at those nasty oil puddles that make your driveway look like a mechanic’s floor. Oil stains are notoriously hard to shift—and most over-the-counter products just don’t cut it.

Every time guests come over, you worry they’ll notice the blotchy mess. You’ve already tried pressure washing, and all it did was spread the damage. The real kicker? DIY methods using baking soda or cola don’t work either.

It’s time to bring in a truly professional-grade fix. Soft washing with Grenade Driveway Oil Stain Remover offers a simple, potent, and surface-safe alternative. No guesswork—just results.

🎥 Bonus: Learn from the Experts

If you’re serious about leveling up your exterior cleaning business or simply want to become maintenance-savvy, tune into the SoftWash UK Podcast hosted by industry expert Mark Cave.

Topics include:

📦 Other Tools of the Trade

Looking to build a full soft washing kit for your business?

Don’t forget your surfactant! It enhances stain removal on vertical and porous surfaces. Try Clever Wash Surfactant for optimal results.

💬 Final Thoughts

Oil stains on driveways don't have to be permanent scars on your property. With the right approach using soft washing and high-powered oil cleaners like Grenade, you can restore any surface to its original condition—clean, professional, and welcoming.

Ready to take your cleaning to the next level? Or want to professionally upscale your domestic or commercial exterior cleaning services?

👇

🚀 Visit SoftWash UK for Industry-Leading Chemicals, Equipment & Training

Whether you’re a homeowner or a cleaning professional, SoftWash UK is the most trusted source for everything soft wash-related. From in-depth training courses to high-performance detergents, we’ve got you covered. 💧

👉 Bookmark our blog for more helpful guides, and don’t miss out on the SoftWash UK Podcast for pro-level tricks.

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Soft Wash Calculator App

Now you can say I've got an app for that!

Available NOW Click Here To Download

Softwashing calculator is an indispensable tool for juggling complicated chemical mixes. It helps reduce wastage and keeps operating costs down by giving accurate proportions

If you are having difficulty getting your head around the maths, trying to work out what percentage of softwash you need, how much chemical, surfactant and water to add, then this is the App for you.

The Soft Wash Calculator App allows you to work out your soft wash recipe by telling you exactly how much chemical, how much water and how much surfactant to add to get the desired soft wash recipe.
It doesn't stop there!.
- It can also remix your leftover softwash to a new stronger or weaker recipe.
- all controls in one place for see at a glance operation
- ease of input via pre-loaded dials. no more calculator style typing
- instantly responds to changes of complex combinations
- works in both Litres and US Gallons
- tested for Protan and Deutan colourblind users
- links to SoftwashingUK website

Take this scenario
You started with a 1% soft wash recipe of 50 gal (or litres) for a deck clean and you’re left with 13 gallons.

You get a call from a prospective customer to clean their roof. Past experience tells you a 4% soft wash recipe is needed, but what about your leftover mix at 1%?.

Do you waste time and effort driving back to base to transfer into a standby tank?
You could consider the 13 gal as just water, top up the tank and start again.
But that’s throwing away the value of the mix and raising your overhead.

Soft Wash Calculator App to the rescue.

You get to the new job and it requires 100 gal / litres.
Switch into remix mode , confirming the 13 gal already in the tank
Move the dials to your new recipe and the app immediately updates the different amounts to add in front of your eyes including the correct amount of extra surfactant.

You now have a 100 gal / litres tank of 4% soft wash recipe ready for your roof clean job!

Not forgetting you’ve saved money too, all without stress and uncertainty . Don’t underestimate what confident calmness has on your customer putting out referrals.

The same applies if you have a 4% recipe left in your tank and you need to dilute it down to 2%. Again the app will tell you how.

Softwashing calculator will also work for any chemical recipe. For instance you can use it for Sodium Hypochlorite, Bleach, Biocide , TFR traffic film remover and degreaser. Even the mathematically-challenged rocket scientist can top up their booster tanks to new fuel mixes after launch delays caused by changing weather conditions.

Using this app you will know exactly what chemical strength to put on any surface giving you the confidence and the knowledge of a professional soft washer and you’ll save money as well.

So if you have little knowledge of how to mix a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.
If you have little knowledge of how to remix a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.
If you want to save money when mixing a soft wash recipe then this app is for you.

This app is also backward compatible to devices running iOS7. We've done this so you can re-purpose an old iPhone 4 or iPod Touch 5 for what could be hazardous work environments. Just toss one in your cleaning van's toolkit.

Once you learn the methods and procedures of how to apply the soft wash to the different surfaces that need cleaning you’ll be unstoppable!

The app also has a guide to what percentage for what surface. And if you are the lucky owner of a Clever Injector it will remind you the correct setting for the job.
However you should always consider and risk assess what soft wash recipe you need to clean the surface.

** A major iOS code-base change may require a re-purchase. The appiverse at the time will confirm our promise that we won't do so unless the necessity is apparent.

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