2.7Tango

I had approximately 1/4 of a quart of unused Mobil 1 0W30 spill on one of my stock black carpet mats. The mat soaked a lot of it up. It was a slow leak and I found the bottle in a puddle on the mat. Maybe if I had 10-30 it wouldn't have leaked so much. Fortunately, I don't think any made it through to the carpet underneath. Should I clean it or just toss it? If it can be cleaned, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Stoney

... vacuum and/or rinse. Use waterless hand cleanser to get out what residue you can, then wash with something that cuts oil, like dish soap, Formula 409, or dry cleaning fluid (test on hidden area first). Since it is clean oil, it might not stain.

2tuŽbos1mission

It comes in a normal sprayer bottle. You just spray it on, rub it in, and let it dry. It has save me many times.<ul><li><a href="http://store.yahoo.com/rodi/chdc23.html">http://store.yahoo.com/rodi/chdc23.html</a</li></ul>

Suds

A) I am not so sure about the dish soap or dry-cleaning fluid or Dri-Clean. Even the corn meal would work best with oil spills on non-fabrics, I feel. You may end up with a new mess that might be harder to clean if you throw oil-absorbing "granular" products on it.

B) Fabrics do not take kindly to strong chemicals in the long run, so be wary using dry-cleaning fluid (its Ethylene Dichloride or a variant) that may damage the fibers if left in too long. Any cleaning fluid must be removed thoroughly (which also prevents a fire hazard in the long run.)

C) Products like Dri-Clean and K2R are aerosols/sprays that are to be vacuumed up or just "left in". IMHO, this never completely gets rid of the stain. (How can it, if its just rubbed in and allowed to dry?)

D) What you need is a cleaner that is water-based, so that the oil is emulsified and plain water can remove any residue. Fortunately, such a product does exist and I have had wonderful results with it on all types of oil stains (not just unused oil) on everything from carpet to concrete. It is called "Oil-Flo Safety Solvent and Cleaner" and the name reflects its gentleness and applicabilty to fabrics and other delicate surfaces. It is available from http://www.carcareonline.com

Here is what I have done when this happened in my trunk:

1) Take the mat to a self-service token-operated car-wash which has the wall-mounted clips for hanging mats.
2) Suspend the mat with the clips from a non-oily portion located away from the spill. Try to position the mat with the oily part hanging down.
3) Set the wand to deliver pure water (hot if available). Don't use the regular soap-water setting as it may contain small amounts of a waxy substance that is meant for exterior auto surfaces, not fabrics.
4) Using overlapping top-to-bottom strokes, literally sweep away as much of the oil as possible. Do not let the spray linger in any area for too long as you don't want to drive the oil deeper into the fibers. The idea is to create a wave-like crest of water advancing vertically downward.
5) Spray Oil-Flo evenly over the oily part. Warning: A little goes a long way, so use sparingly. It is also low-foaming, which is a *good* thing but might cause you to spray on more than necessary, which will only mean more work removing the excess.
6) Agitate gently with an upholstery brush meant for this purpose. It is available at Pep Boys or similar stores. I personally use a motorized, spinning bristle brush that is powered from the car's 12VDC port -- if you go this route, make sure to use soft-bristles.
7) Repeat step 4), rinsing away the emulsified oil, which will now appear as a whitish "foam". You can use the brush to assist in this. Again, use hot-water if available, regular if not. Rinse till the water runs pure i.e. the mat is clean.
8) If the oil stains are very deep, you may want to repeat steps 5), 6) and 7) till you cannot see any more oil being emulsified by the Oil-Flo.
9) To dry the mat, you can toss it in a dryer in a commercial laundromat. Home-dryers may be too small and/or too hot, bending the plastic backing and sometimes bruising the mat's edging. So use little or no heat. Air-dry if you have the time.

I use this same procedure to clean all the mats in our cars twice a year. Just substitute an upholstery shampoo (e.g. One Grand) in step 5) and make sure to remove the tough stains with an upholstery cleaner like 3M's or Sonax's before starting.

Note: The above procedure took me a long time to perfect, with trial and error using a multitude of chemicals for multiple "incidents". If you find this does not work well or there is a better procedure, please let me know as I want to catalog it for posterity.

Incidentally, what year is your car and was it a front or rear mat?

--
Suds

Finman

I imagine you are saying the same thing...you need a fat-based (oil/soap) product to remove oil...just like oil on your skin...you can't get it off with water...you need an oil-based product to "lift" the oil out of the fabric and mixed with water will wash it away...

<i>Shampoos and dish washing liquids remove oils and greases by emulsification. For those of you old enough to remember, Brylcream was simply an emulsion of mineral oil in water. Most of the skin creams that are in use today are just emulsions of various oils in water, with perfume and fancy bottles to account for the high price.

An emulsion is simply a way to make a non-water soluble material (such as a hydrocarbon) dispersable in water. Dispersable does not mean soluble, the hydrocarbon does not dissolve in the water it is spread throughout the water and held in suspension by the emulsifier.
</i>

I agree, though, the products that don't get rid of the product but just make it look okay are not the way to go.

Stoney

How does it remove anything if you just let it dry?

2tuŽbos1mission

It dries to a powder, then you vacume it out.

2.7Tango

My car is a '0 2.7T. The mat is the front passenger mat. It is black (or charcoal) and you can't even see the oil on it, but you can see it has absorbed oil from looking at the back side, which is some sort of foam. It shows the amber color of the Mobil 1. Because it is Sunday and I cannot get the Oil-Flo product tonight, I will probably take it to the self service wash and try steps 1-4 now, letting it hang to dry. I have to drive to from Maine to NYC tonight, so I guess I will let it hang to dry and continue from there later in the week when I get back.

We'll see how it does.

Thank you so much.

Suds

First off, everything you said is absolutely right, just a little clarification: I said and meant "emulsion", which, as you point out, does NOT mean "soluble". It simply means that the emulsifying agent attaches to the oil molecules and holds them in "suspension", allowing water to wash them away.

I also said and meant "water-based". For example, "you need a fat-based (oil/soap) product to remove oil" is a little ambiguous. If I dissolve some soap in a mug of water, the soap solution may be effective at removing oil (the soap may be oil-based) but the soap-solution as a whole is most definitely "water-based", is it not? I (and many manufacturer) use the term "base" to simply mean the majority component of the liquid. e.g. Lexol Leather Conditioner is a "rich, oil-based nutrient for leather" does not mean that it has no water in it; just that it has lots of oil -- it is itself an emulsion, so maybe "base" is not the right word
The upshot of all this is: just like soap-solution, Oil-Flo is water-based i.e. it is mostly water, with some active agents added to it that dissolve completely in the water to form the final product. However, when the stuff attaches to an oil-molecule, the active agent emulsifies it and is no longer "soluble", just dispersable, as you pointed out.

And regular soap (or other agent rich in fats)is not a good way to remove oil, as it will form a "soap scum" type of substance that is infernally difficult to get out of carpet fibers. In contrast, Oil-Flo "foam" does not seem to be so "fatty" or staining...

Disclaimer: I am not a chemist and am not associated with Oil-Flo except as a satisfied customer...

Singletrack

I say toss it. That smell will probably be in it for good.