Can you pressure wash oil off a driveway?

Pressure washing removes the surface film but not the oil that's soaked into the concrete's pores. You need to degrease and let the chemistry dwell first, then pressure-rinse with hot water and a surface cleaner. Pressure alone, especially with a narrow tip, can drive the oil deeper and etch the slab.

Does Dawn dish soap remove oil from concrete?

Dawn is a good degreaser for fresh or light oil stains — scrub it in, let it sit 10-15 minutes, then rinse. For old, set-in stains it usually isn't strong enough on its own; you'll need a dedicated concrete degreaser and often an overnight poultice to pull the oil back out of the pores.

Will an oil stain come out completely?

Fresh stains usually come out fully. Old stains that soaked in before treatment often lighten 80-90% rather than disappear, because the oil stained the concrete itself. A hot-water professional setup gets the most out of a tough stain and will tell you honestly where the floor is.

Should I use bleach or acid on an oil stain?

Neither as a first move. Bleach doesn't dissolve oil and can discolor concrete; acid is for mineral stains, not grease, and damages nearby plants. A concrete-safe degreaser is the correct chemistry for oil.

How to Remove Oil Stains From a Concrete Driveway (What Works, What Doesn't)

Why oil stains are stubborn

Concrete looks solid, but it's porous — closer to a hard sponge than a sealed surface. When motor oil, transmission fluid, or hydraulic fluid sits on it, the liquid wicks down into the pores. By the time you notice the dark spot, the stain is already below the surface, not on top of it.

That's the part most people get wrong: blasting the spot with a pressure washer cleans the surface but can't reach the oil that's soaked in. Worse, a narrow tip at full pressure can drive the oil deeper and etch the concrete. The fix is chemistry first, pressure second.

The order that actually works

Work the stain in this sequence. Fresh spills are far easier than old ones, so don't wait if you can help it.

1. Blot or absorb fresh oil

If it's still wet, cover it with cat litter, baking soda, or cornstarch and let it pull the surface oil up for a few hours before you do anything else.

2. Degrease

Apply a concrete-safe degreaser or a heavy-duty dish soap like Dawn, scrub it into the pores with a stiff nylon brush, and give it 10-15 minutes to break down the oil. Don't let it dry out.

3. Poultice the deep stains

For an old, set-in stain, mix the degreaser with an absorbent powder into a paste, spread it over the spot, cover with plastic, and leave it overnight. As it dries it pulls the oil back out of the concrete.

4. Rinse with heat and a surface cleaner

Then — and only then — pressure-rinse. Hot water and a flat surface cleaner lift the loosened oil evenly without striping. This is the step a pro setup does best.

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What not to do

Don't reach straight for a zero-degree tip or turbo nozzle. On a stain, it spot-cleans a circle and leaves a 'clean halo' that looks worse than the stain. On the rest of the slab it can etch lines into the concrete that never come out.

Don't pour straight bleach or muriatic acid on it as a first move. Bleach doesn't dissolve oil and can discolor concrete; acid is for specific mineral problems, not grease, and it kills the plants the runoff touches. Degreaser is the right chemistry for oil.

When a stain won't come out

Some stains are permanent — a years-old transmission leak that soaked in before anyone treated it may have stained the concrete itself, not just the pores. At that point the realistic goal is to lighten it 80-90%, not erase it. A pro can get the most out of it with a hot-water rig, commercial degreasers, and the right surface cleaner, and tell you honestly when you've hit the floor.

On our published price menu, oil-stain treatment is a small add-on to a driveway cleaning — $50 for a spot or two, $100 for multiple or severe stains — because it's an extra chemistry-and-dwell step on top of the wash. We price it on the website so you know before we show up.

Keeping it from coming back

Once the driveway is clean, a penetrating concrete sealer makes the next spill far easier to wipe up before it soaks in. If you park a vehicle that drips, a cheap cardboard or drip mat under the engine bay saves you this whole project next year.