Re: Right stuff to clean garage floor - heavy oil.

Yeah, gasoline is unsafe, blah blah. Trouble is, gasoline's the best and fastest acting solvent for this. Scrape the thick residue off first, then use gasoline carefully. Don't carry the gas can into the garage; keep it at a safe distance. Pour a small amount into a clean tin can and pour that on the grease to soften/remove the residue.

IOW, gasoline /can/ be used safely in this instance if safety rules are enforced.

Davoud

Reply to
Davoud
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If safety rules are enforced, one would never purposely pour gasoline on a garage floor!

Reply to
Ray O

Davoud:

Ray O:

I concede I am not a chemist. Some reaction between gasoline and concrete of which I am unaware, perhaps, an I've been lucky all these years? Otherwise there is nothing intrinsically unsafe about putting a small amount of gasoline on a grease spot on a garage floor. I said "small amount," didn't I?

Davoud

Reply to
Davoud

You are correct - the best solvent for oil products is gas or paint thinner - equally dangerous.

I have seen a number of suggestions for kitty litter - WTF is in that will dissolve oil products? Other suggestions range from installing a new wood or concrete floor to leaving the state. My only goal was to be able to walk on the floor without sticking to it or tracking tar into the house. Gas got everything down to the bare clean white concrete. I believe I could have flushed out or contained a fire with the amounts used with water.

j
Reply to
joe

Most kitty litter is dried clay. The stuff used in some garages to control spills is generically called speedy-dri and it basically the same stuff as kitty litter. The dried clay doesn't actually dissolve oil - it absorbs spills, and by grinding it into the floor with your foot, it absorbs the oil and the color of the dust hides the black color. Automotive shops are supposed to treat the used speedy-dri as hazardous materials but most just throw the stuff they sweep up into the trash.

Another environmentally friendly product is called Second Shift, although AFAIK, it is only available to professionaol shops in 55 gallon drums. It comes in nconcentrated form, and is mixed about 10:1 water to Second Shift. You mop up stains and spills with the stuff, and it makes the stuff stick to the mop.

I am not an expert at extinguishing fires, but I believe that one should never attempt to put out a liquid fuel fire with water because most liquid fuels float on water, with the effect being that the fire can actually be spread by water. A gasoline fire should be put out with an A-B-C fire extinguisher, a fire blanket made for that purpose, or by smothering it with sand or kitty litter.

Reply to
Ray O

Gasoline is specifically formulated to burn. Because it is volatile (evaporates easily), it readily turns to vapor form, which is an explosive. A link from a Manitoba government web site outlines an explosion that was caused by someone using gas to clean the floor

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According to this web site from the City of Bellingham, WA
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a gallon of gasoline has the explosive power of 20 sticks of dynamite. Doing the conversion, 1 cup (1/16 of a gallon) of gas has more explosive power than 1 stick of dynamite. I'd bet that both you and joe used more than 8 ounces of gas to clean the floor. I don't know what you feel is safe or unsafe, but I sure would not use that stuff on my garage floor!

Reply to
Ray O

I have routinely burnt stuff from hornets to insulation etc. on old wire. The explosive force can only occur in a confined space - such as a room or a building. I made it a point to have a windy condition with the garage door open. In addition I used a water spray to ensure that no vapors built up. Fighting gas or fuel fires. Water spray is excellent for cooling flames. Water is excellent for moving and dispersing liquid and dilute both fuel and fire. A violent fire with a small amount of fuel

- say a cup or less will last less than two minutes. This is where and when you put out any other fires that may have started. I would not use my electrical and chemical fire extinguisher on something like this - too little and too slow. Remember oil based tile adhesives years ago (50's and 60's) - as used in offices. Bad news saw more that one fire of an entire floor - lasted less than one min - not good for wall paper. Risks should not be taken unless it is not avoidable - that is why I posted.

You eat with knife and fork. What if you inserted the fork an extra inch or two into your mouth - bad spine problems. What if you are a scuba diver ... nuff said.

j
Reply to
joe

EVERY 'safety notice' in the United States Navy has a similar story to it. We used to try to guess who did what to get made into one...LOL

Reply to
Scott in Florida

I think the warnings would be much more convincing if they showed pictures of the folks after they discovered that a warning was needed!

Reply to
Ray O

Our ship's doctor made a study of the things sailors can catch with the ladies of the evening.

He showed results of those things on the ship's TV system.

It impressed the hell out of us.....till the second beer.....

Reply to
Scott in Florida

I suggest that this group's rightards try this method. And take a smoke break at appropriate times.

It's only natural selection (even though some rightards think that Darwin was wrong).

Reply to
dizzy

Some years ago, an employee of a large defense firm was fatally injured while trying to clean tile adhesive off of a floor using gasoline. The fumes ignited with extensive flash burns to the victim.

If anyone is hell bent on using gasoline for cleaning, open all doors and windows for maximum ventilation. Flesh burns of second and third degree are horrible and very painful, I can speak from experience having had a small 3rd degree burn on my leg was not a fun time, it heals slow, it was very painful and there is always risk of infection while it's trying to heal up. Just play it safe, a spot of oil or grease on the garage floor is not worth a serious burn. It's a "no brainer".

End soapbox.

Reply to
dbu.

Davoud:

Ray O:

Davoud:

Ray O:

Really? I didn't know any of that. Maybe that's why it's used as a fuel for internal combustion engines, huh?

Ah, but he was "cleaning the floor," not a little spot on the floor. I said "small amount did'n I?

Davoud

Reply to
Davoud

A spark of static electricity can make for a bad hair day, regardless of Darwin.

Reply to
dbu.

Really. I mean no offense to anyone, but I state the obvious because what is obvious to you and me may not be obviouse to everyone.

I guess old habits die hard. As a representative of a large automaker, it would have been irresponsible for me to give advice that could result in a fire or explosion, and although I am no longer with that automaker, I still refrain from offering advice that is contrary to the advice given by just about every fire department and environmental agency.

Stepping off soapbox.

Reply to
Ray O

To remove oil and grease from cast iron engines, oven cleaner. K&E Chemical company makes many formulations of products. One product from K&E is KLENZTONE #1. This does a good job of cleaning up concrete and is much safer than Muratic Acid. Steam cleaning works well on concrete. Tide ground into the surface and wet down will work. When using this method, sprinkle the surface with sawdust to absorbe the mess. In the future, use oil dry on the oil spills before they get too bad.

Reply to
Clay

Muriatic aka swimming pool acid would be a total disaster if combined with oil and concrete. Concrete surface would be ruined - as will your nose. May not do anything to oil. Just try a test patch and watch the smoke! Oil base products does not hurt concrete. j

Reply to
joe

It's normally kaolin clay. Clays are actually great at absorbing certains kinds of things. Fuller's earth is a good example, and used to be used for degreasing wool.

Reply to
Stuart Krivis

I recently resorted to the petrol method to start a BBQ. I've done it many times before when im feeling lazy but in the UK the temps are fairly low and vapourisation is fairly slow. You can put the can down, find the matches, hold at arms length etc and all you get is a little pop. This time the outside temps were in the 90s and in direct sunlight well over 100. I poured half a cup full onto the piled coals, put the tin down, lit a match and put it in the BBQ. Unlike the usual colder weather BBQ this one exploded nicely, enveloping a 6ft diameter sphere in flame and bouncing coals around. Fortunately it was open space and i was ready to react fast enough to duck but i did lose the hairs on my hand in the process. I cant imagine doing that in an enclosed space with no-where to duck.

Makes a lovely deep whooshing thump noise though :-)

Reply to
Coyoteboy

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