Remove ‘stubborn' oil stains from your driveway with 47p item - ‘you don't need to scrub!'

Oil stains on patio driveway

No matter how hard you try, your driveway will likely get stained at some point throughout its lifecycle. This can come from dirt, moss, algae and oil. For some homeowners, this isn’t a big issue, but for those who want to keep their driveway patio in the best possible shape, it is likely to cause some hassle. For advice on how to remove these stains, a Mrs Hinch fan has taken to social media to ask for the best paving cleaning methods.

Taking to Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips, Lucy Vaughan said: “My car had an oil leak and has left my driveway like this. Any tips on how to get rid of the marks?”

Removing oil stains from a driveway doesn’t have to be an arduous task, however, and can easily be rectified with a number of household products, according to the comments section.

One product, in particular, is cola. Michelle Whitehead said: “Cola. It happened to us years ago but it was only a small area.”

Carole Gosling wrote: “We used cheap Coke poured it on and left it, it worked.”

Vehicle motor oil stains on a concrete driveway with angled view.

Lauren Stanhope said: “Cola is supposed to be really good for getting this up. My friend who’s a mechanic told me this and apparently you don’t need to scrub it, but it has to be full fat Coke. It’s something that it’s made with.”

Kate Marlow commented: “I used cola on mine. The stubborn stains came up a treat, try it.”

Amy Rogerson said: “Cola. Tip a full bottle of it on the floor, rub it around with a brush and leave for 15 to 20 mins. Then hose down.”

Yvonne Taylor suggested: “Cover oil patch with cola and leave. After, simply wash the area down and the stain will be gone.”

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It is not just Mrs Hinch fans that recommend using cola to remove oil stains, landscaping experts at Triad Associates also agreed.

They said: “Due to its high acidity, cola functions really well as a great tool for cleaning or removing a plethora of different things.

“Cola is a wonderful tool for removing old motor oil stains. First, pour a can of cola over the stained area, then leave it overnight, allowing its high acidity time to gradually eat away at the stain.”

The next day the pros suggest taking a bucket of warm water and some washing up liquid or laundry detergent and stirring it a little until you’ve got a good mixture, then gently pouring it over the removed stains.

Close up of pouring cola

For those who don’t already have a bottle of cola in their fridge, households can purchase some for 47p at Sainsbury’s or at Asda and Tesco for 60p.

Another household item recommended to use to banish oil stains from driveways is laundry powder.

Norma Charles said: “Bio washing powder will look like snow for a while, just let the rain do the work.”

Marina Turner advised: “Cover with washing powder and just leave it, it takes quite a while but it totally works.”

Washing powder

Therese Bolger instructed: “Sprinkle washing powder on it and leave it to wash off in the rain. Has worked for me many times.”

Suzzanna Taylor said: “I used washing powder, sprinkle on and leave overnight and rinse.”

Michelle Roberts wrote: “My hubby is a mechanic and he always says put washing powder over the oil stain and leave it.

“Then when it next rains it will wash it all away, oil included, but if it doesn’t rain heavily enough then use a bucket of hot soapy water.”