Spilled Motor Oil on Carpet - How to Clean?

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I had to add half a quart of oil to the motor on Friday and I put a half quart of opened oil in the trunk (I've never had problems with this before). Sunday I had to load a cake in the trunk and to my surprise 1/4 quart of oil had leaked out from the quart of oil. I had tightened the cap really tight when I had placed it back in the trunk but I found it almost half unscrewed from the bottle.

I first used a bunch of paper towels to soak up/blot the oil as best I could...then I used a clean rag to soak up as much as possible. Today I used dish detergent and a rag + scrubbing brush to wash/shampoo the carpet and then I dried with a clean rag to soak up all the water. Now it is air drying. However, if I run my hand over the carpet I still get slightly oily hands.

Does anybody have tips on how to best clean this up. Would dumping kitty litter on the carpet and vacuuming it up work well or are there other methods to try? I know that works on concrete but carpet is a different story.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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Spray with dish soap, or better yea Castrol Super clean. Then pour boiling water from a kettle and suck up with a shop-vac. You will be eating off your carpet in no time...
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Yep, you're gonna have to pull the trunk liner. It sucks, believe me. My folks spilled a bottle of liquid laundry soap in the trunk of their Town Car, took forever to get it out.

FWIW, Dawn or Joy both cut through grease like nobody's business but Joy rinses cleaner. Hose the liner down, scrub with Joy, rinse, repeat ad nauseum.

And next time, keep oil bottles or anything else what can spill in a plastic box. Or just add the entire quart and throw the bottle away!
 
Been there, done that on a floor mat. Here is what I did: blot as much of the oil with a rag. Then, use non-chlorinated brake cleaner- saturate and blot until it is clean. Be sure to use in a well ventilated area. For me, it was 2-3 attempts and all was clean, with no apparent "return" of the stain.

I used this on my seat cloth when the tire guy stained it. It was quick and easy to clean- no worries!
 
Blot, then use baking soda, replace regularly. After that stops picking any up, use woolite oxy deep. Has worked great on light carpets for me.
 
GMFan, is this in your new '11 M-6? OMG!

I agree with everyone's replys here as-far-as cleaning the trunk carpet and it's worth a try but, if this doesn't work to your liking it's not worth it. Maybe throwing it away and getting another one would make more sence. If the whole carpet and matting/insulation can be removed, replace it!
 
Originally Posted By: milehighhyundai
Been there, done that on a floor mat. Here is what I did: blot as much of the oil with a rag. Then, use non-chlorinated brake cleaner- saturate and blot until it is clean. Be sure to use in a well ventilated area. For me, it was 2-3 attempts and all was clean, with no apparent "return" of the stain.

I used this on my seat cloth when the tire guy stained it. It was quick and easy to clean- no worries!


Since brake cleaner is basically dry cleaning goo, I'm not surprised it worked. Great plan.
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Window cleaner , cuts through it very well . Use it for cleaning engine ( drain pan , etc.) , the floor ( drips ) , and hands during O.C..
 
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Today I did a 2nd round of cleaning with Joy dish detergent and a scrub brush. I am allowing the carpet to dry up again before I check on the progress. There was only a slight hint of oily residue on the previously cleaned area.

Yes this is my new M-6... and ironically I've always carried quarts of oil in the cars I've driven and of course my first oil leak experience had to happen in my first brand new car. Murphy's Law 101.

There are certainly worst scents for a carpet to have than a slight scent of fresh Mobil 1.
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I have Valvoline brake cleaner in my garage....not sure if it is non-chlorinated but I will check to see the progress after this 2nd scrub down.... if it isn't to my satisfaction I will have to upgrade to heavier duty stuff.

Thanks to all.
 
If you have a family dollar around you they have a cheap but quite powerful cleaner called "LA's totally awesome all purpose cleaner" cut it at a 50-50 with water or 3 parts water 1 part cleaner if its only lightly oily and put it in one of those handheld steam cleaner things (bissel little green steam cleaner is somewhat cheap and works great) This combo has saved my butt so many times.. I have a tdi and bleach white carpets in my apartment.. so sometimes soot/oily carbon chunks or diesel oil gets on to my shoes when i come up from the garage and tracks it everywhere.. and this cleaner ALWAYS cleans it completley... might take a few passes and some scrubbing though if its really bad.
 
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