Olive oil spills can be hard to deal with. The specific steps you need to follow will depend on the type of surface that the oil has spilled on. Suppose the olive oil spill is on a carpet.
The cleaning procedure would be different from that of someone else whose oil spilled on a granite kitchen countertop.
The surfaces that olive oil commonly spills on include carpets, wooden floors, and concrete floors.
We will be outlining the steps you need to follow to remove olive oil spills from those respective surfaces.
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Cleaning Olive Oil Spill On a Carpet
There are two objectives that you would be pursuing while cleaning olive oil spills on a carpet.
The first objective is to get the actual oil off the carpet. And the second objective is to remove the oil stain from the carpet.
To get the actual olive oil off the carpet, you need to use an absorbent material. The ideal material in that regard is cornstarch. But if you can’t get it, you can use baking soda as well.
What you need to do is spread the absorbent material over the oil. But you need to be aware of the fact that the oil absorption is not instant. It is something that takes time.
Therefore after applying the cornstarch or baking soda, allow it to remain there for some time. 20 or so minutes should be enough.
The next step is to remove the cornstarch or baking soda (which will hopefully have absorbed the oil).
This you can easily do using a vacuum cleaner. Just vacuum the area thoroughly, sucking in the cornstarch or baking soda with the oil.
The next phase entails olive oil stain removal. The absorbent material (cornstarch or baking soda) will only remove the actual oil. But it will probably leave a stain.
To actually remove the stain, you need to use dish soap and vinegar. So you mix a few drops of dish soap with a little (say, a tablespoon) of vinegar.
Then you add a bit of warm water. Use the resultant solution to dab the area of the carpet where the oil was spilled thoroughly. This should remove the stain entirely.
The next step would be washing and drying the carpet. By the end of this process, there would be no trace of an olive oil spill on the carpet.
Read: Best Way To Clean Greasy Tiles In Kitchen
How to clean the concrete floor
If you have spilled olive oil on a concrete floor, there are two things you need to do. Firstly, you need to get the oil off the floor. Then you need to remove the oil stain from the concrete floor.
Getting the oil off the floor is relatively easy. The more challenging bit is of removing the oil stain.
To get the olive oil off your concrete floor, you need to use an absorbent material. This could be sawdust or baking soda.
You just spread the material over the entire area where there is an oil spill. Then you give it time to actually absorb the oil: as many as 30 minutes.
Thereafter use a vacuum cleaner to suck in the sawdust or baking soda. This will leave the floor without olive oil.
That is because, by this time, the sawdust or baking soda will have absorbed the oil.
So by the end of the vacuuming step, you would end up with no actual oil on the floor. But there would be a stain.
To remove the stain from the concrete floor, you need to use a detergent. The ideal one here would be that which is designed for dishwashing purposes.
That is because such detergents have enhanced power for vegetable oil removal. So mix the detergent with water, then use the mixture to clean the spot where there was an oil spill.
You will need to scrub in a forceful manner, to actually remove the stain. ‘rinse’ the area with clean water to leave it stain-free.
How to clean the wooden floor
Cleaning olive oil spills on a wooden floor can be one of the most challenging tasks. The problem is that the oil has a tendency to permeate through the wooden floor.
Therefore besides removing the actual oil and the stain, there is an additional task. That is the task of removing any oil that may have permeated deep into the wooden floor.
You can start by wiping any oil that is floating on top of the wooden floor. To remove the oil that may have permeated deep into the floor, you would then need to wax the floor.
Next, you need to apply paint thinner on the area where there was an oil spill.
After applying the thinner, allow it to remain there for some time. Remember, the objective is to get the paint thinner to draw the oil off the floor.
Once the thinner draws the oil off the floor, it escapes into the air via evaporation.
So yours would only be to bid your time for the floor to dry (with the windows open). Then polish it to restore it to its previous state.
Frequently asked questions
Does olive oil leave a stain?
Yes, the nature of olive oil is such that it usually leaves a stain on any surface it is spilled.
Does olive oil stain concrete?
Unless you do a thorough cleaning, the spot on concrete where there was an olive oil spill will have a stain. But it is possible to remove the stain using water and dishwashing detergent.
Will olive oil stain the carpet?
Yes, olive oil will almost certainly leave a stain on a carpet spot where it spills.
It would take a substance like vinegar and dish soap to remove the stain from the carpet.
How long does it take to clean olive oil?
The process of cleaning olive oil from a surface can take between 30 and 40 minutes. That is because you first need to use an absorbent material to absorb the oil.
The absorption takes as many as 20-30 minutes. Then you have to clean the stain, which can take between 5 and 10 minutes.
Conclusion
Discovering that you have spilled olive oil on any surface can cause you to panic. But if you follow the steps in this article, you can effectively deal with olive oil spills on various surfaces.
