Cleaning the oil slick on my driveway

So I drove over a rock masquerading as a harmless ball of newspaper and it ripped a hole in my engine oil tank and caused a major oil slick on my driveway. Can you believe that?

As I said, I didn’t even think to snap a photo in all that panic. This picture is just to give you an idea but it’s nothing compared to the thick layer of gooey brown engine oil spread out like a giant amoeba over one quarter of my driveway.

The tow truck man was kind enough to offer me a few pointers on how to go about cleaning it up. But after analyzing the situation and discussing with my 3 teens, we decided we would first sweep the oil into a dustpan and pour it into a thick plastic bag. That took care of most of the oil.

Then we used old newspapers to wipe and soak up what’s left. A messy, backbreaking task. After we’d gotten rid of most of the oil, we poured hot water on the stained area and then scrubbed it several times over with detergent and baking soda. It was really hard work and I’d rather be trying to fix a Linksys router instead.

Luckily, my 3 energetic teens somehow managed to turn it into some kind of fun community project ! My minivan spent the night at the mechanics and it’s back now. Happy days till… the mechanic sends me the bill, ugh!