Smith's Oil Clean
Five gallon Smith's Oil Clean for pulling oil contamination out of shop, garage and mechanic bay slabs before coating.
Specifications
- Volume
- 5 gallons
- Brand
- Smith's
- Type
- Oil removal cleaner for concrete
- SKU
- 1404
- Ships in
- 2 to 3 business days
Good to know
- Clean before you grind. Grinding first opens the pores and forces oil into the fresh profile, which is the classic cause of a coating failure in a shop bay.
- Do not use solvents as degreasers. Acetone and alcohols thin oil and carry it deeper into the slab rather than removing it.
- Expect more than one pass on a badly contaminated floor, and verify before coating. If water beads or dark spots stay dark after drying, oil is still in the concrete.
- Rinse water carries the oil you removed. Manage and dispose of it according to local requirements rather than sending it to a storm drain.
- Wear gloves and eye protection and follow the dilution and dwell instructions on the container.
About the Smith's Oil Clean
Smith's Oil Clean is supplied in a 5 gallon pail and is aimed at the hardest cleaning problem in this trade: concrete with oil driven into it. That is the mechanic bay, the equipment shop, the fleet garage, the residential garage where a truck leaked for eight years in the same spot. Oil-contaminated concrete is where coatings fail, and the failure is always blamed on the coating.
The reason oil is different from dirt is that it is not on the slab, it is in it. Concrete is porous, and oil migrates down into it over years. Pressure washing takes the surface layer off and leaves the reservoir underneath. Grinding is worse if you do it first, because it opens the pores and smears contamination into the profile you just created, so the coating bonds to oil instead of concrete. Solvents make it worse again, since acetone and alcohols thin oil and help it travel deeper.
What actually works is a cleaner formulated to lift oil out of the pore structure, applied and dwelled per the manufacturer's instructions, agitated, and rinsed. Then repeat it. A heavily contaminated slab rarely comes clean in one pass, and a 5 gallon pail exists because these jobs use material by the gallon rather than the quart.
Check your work before you commit. After cleaning, rinsing and drying, look for dark areas that will not lighten and watch whether water soaks in evenly or beads. Beading and dark shadows mean oil is still present. Coat over that and you will be back. Clean, rinse, dry, then grind, then verify, then coat.
Follow the dilution, dwell and rinse instructions on the container, wear gloves and eye protection, and manage the rinse water responsibly, since it now carries the oil you just removed. For a large bay or a badly contaminated fleet floor, call 817-676-6793 and we will talk through the sequence before you buy material.
What it is used for
- Mechanic bays and fleet garages before coating
- Equipment shops with long-term oil staining
- Residential garages with heavy drip contamination
- Any slab where a previous coating failed over oil
Questions about this product
What is Smith's Oil Clean used for?
Smith's Oil Clean is a 5 gallon concrete cleaner for removing oil contamination from slabs before a coating goes down. It targets mechanic bays, fleet garages, equipment shops and residential garages where oil has soaked into the concrete over years of use.
Can you coat over an oil-stained concrete floor?
Not until the oil is removed. Oil in the pore structure of a slab acts as a bond breaker, and a coating applied over it will delaminate regardless of how good the product is. Clean the oil out first, verify the slab is clean, then grind and coat.
Do I clean or grind an oily floor first?
Clean first, always. Grinding an oil-contaminated slab opens the pores and smears the contamination into the profile you just created, which puts oil exactly where the coating needs to bond. Degrease, rinse, dry, then grind, then verify the surface before coating.
How do I test whether the oil is really gone?
After cleaning, rinsing and letting the slab dry, look for dark areas that stay dark and check how water behaves on the surface. If water beads instead of soaking in evenly, or shadows remain in the concrete, oil is still present and the floor needs another pass.
How many passes does an oily shop floor take?
A heavily contaminated bay usually takes more than one cleaning pass, and badly saturated areas can take several. That is why Smith's Oil Clean comes in a 5 gallon pail. Call 817-676-6793 with a description of the floor and we will help you plan the sequence.
How does Smith's Oil Clean ship?
Smith's Oil Clean ships in a 5 gallon pail with standard ground service, typically in 2 to 3 business days. For multiple pails, pallet quantities or a freight shipment to a job site, call Twin Coating Supplies at 817-676-6793 before you place the order.
Goes well with
Smith's Green Clean
One gallon of Smith's Green Clean concrete cleaning concentrate for washing a slab before coating prep.
$84.95
SKU 1405
Savogran Deep Cleaning Degreaser
946 ml deep cleaning degreaser for pulling grease and grime off concrete and surfaces before coating prep.
$10.95
SKU 1505
Crown Muriatic Acid
One gallon of Crown muriatic acid for masonry cleaning, efflorescence removal and light concrete etching.
$11.95
SKU 1506
Midwest Rake® S550 Professional™ Power Brace Scraper
Braced floor scraper from Midwest Rake in a choice of flexible or stiff blade for coating and adhesive removal.
$49.95
SKU 1450