Forum: lifehacks.stackexchange.com
Tags: <cleaning><home><food>
Title: How to clean floor if there is cooking-oil spilled on it?
Question: I accidentally spilled cooking oil all over my floor(tiles). I tried washing my floor with water and then wiping it with dry cloth but it gets even worse. How can I effectively clean up the cooking oil spill?

Answers:
sents: text: First, you should cover the cooking oil in either kitty litter (I've found this works best, but you may not always have it) or baking soda.
text: After waiting about 15 minutes, you can use paper towels to pick up and throw out the kitty litter/baking soda.
text: Next, you can use a piece of bread to wipe up any oil that is left.
text: A sponge also works here.
text: Lastly, mop the floor with dish soap and warm water.
text: You may need to repeat some of the steps more than once for the best result.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/20/michaelpri
score: 13
sents: text: You could use coconut husk to absorb all cooking oil.
text: If not available, you could also use ordinary paper for the same.
text: Thus you could later use this wasted oil at least for igniting something.
text: Most probably, in the case if you have a wood burner .Try
text: to clean your tile with these, not leaving even a drop of oil behind.
text: Next, I would prefer dish washing liquid to do a final touch to your area.
text: Take some dish washing liquid and apply it onto the area affected, with a scrubber .Wait for some time.
text: This is used to absorb the oil left overs if any.
text: At last, with a wet cloth, wipe out the area.
text: And make the floor dry with a ceiling fan.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/10930/MANEESH MOHAN
score: 4
sents: text: Cheaper and most used approach: Take all the excess oil from the floor to a vessel using a paper-napkin or spoon.
text: Spread flour (available in each kitchen) on the oily part.
text: Rub the flour on the oily parts
text: (it will even go through tiny lanes if any on the floor) till the floor gets dry.
text: Collect the flour using vacuum cleaner and use soap and sponge to clean the floor.
text: Cheers
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/11420/GC 13
score: 3
sents: text: Well i have been through the same situation
text: but I spilled like half litre of cooking oil and
text: my mom was about to come in home in half and hour
text: so what did I do...
text: First thing I did was to go to Google
text: then I read what suggestions were given here
text: but I had no item like napkin or bread in my house
text: so I poured baking soda all over the oil then waited around 10 mins i found some old clothes and mopped the oil
text: but still there was a little bit of oil on the floor
text: so I get my Washing powder poured it on left oil took a brush brushed that floor and mopped it
text: that's it last thing is to do
text: is to switch on the fan or exhaust fan in kitchen and voilà
text: it's done :)
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/20449/Sakshi Sharma
score: 3
sents: text: I'm not 100% sure whether you're asking how to remove any staining from the oil, or whether to restore the floor to something you can walk across without slipping and sliding everywhere because its oily.
text: And when you say 'tiles', it's not clear whether you mean ceramic tiles, or terracotta or other material.
text: If the tiles are glazed ceramic, then you may have some residual staining in the grout between them -
text: that will be next to impossible to remove without scraping out existing grout and redoing it.
text: If the tiles are unglazed, or unsealed, then you won't get the stain out of those either.
text: If, though, the problem is slipperiness, then washing the floor with a strong cleaner such as Flash, then rinsing/mopping with hot water afterwards, twice, should stop that.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/1738/Bamboo
score: 1
sents: text: Wash with a sponge or sponge mop lightly dampened with dishwashing liquid (some brands are specially marked as "grease cutting" or "removes grease"; these are the best for this), then dry with either a dry sponge, towel, or paper towel.
text: It's the detergent action that will remove the oil from the tile.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/9830/Zeiss Ikon
score: 1
sents: text: First I use kitchen paper or useless piece of cloth (old towel, t-shirt) to absorb the oil as much as possible.
text: After that I clean the floor with sponge and dish washing liquid or liquid soap and warm water.
text: And finally use kitchen paper again to wipe dry.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/1346/vladiz
score: 1
sents: text: After wiping most of the oil that you can trap with paper towels, use some kitchen wipes until all oil is off.
text: These have grease cutting agents that just don't push oil around but instead get them off.
text: Something like the Chlorox wipes - the Kirkland (Costco) kitchen wipe is the best in my opinion mainly because of its size and durability for such oily tasks.
text: I have used this method successfully for not so major oil spills.
text: Good luck!
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/8251/planetregin
score: 1
sents: text: Soak as much of it up with a large old towel that you will throw away.
text: Then liberally pour salt all over the spill.
text: Lots of it.
text: After about 15 minutes sweep up the salt.
text: Then wash the floor with vinegar and Dawn dish detergent.
text: Learned this when working at a fried fish resturant
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/21333/sandy
score: 1
sents: text: Use Tissue Papers.
text: Place a tissue paper on the oil spilled on the floor.
text: Tissue papers will soak all the oil particles from the floor.
text: Do this several times on the portion where the oil is spilled.
text: After soaking the oil on tissue paper you can clean the floor with wet cloth.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/20195/Nisarg Soni
score: 1
sents: text: You could try to put talc (aka talcum aka baby powder) on the stain and let it sink in before polishing it away.
text: This only works with recent stains.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/11006/Ciofix
score: 0
sents: text: http://lifehacker.com/5812561/not-just-for-cooking-use-corn-starch-to-clean-up-stains-spills-furniture-and-more
text: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/03/04/cornstarch-proposed-solution-future-bp-style-oil-spills If you have an oily floor, open a bag of corn starch and apply liberally to the affected area.
text: (Cover the area in corn starch) .
text: Wait 10-15 minutes and then sweep up the corn starch.
answer_details: author: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/users/11449/rickyjoepr
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
There are many different ways to clean up a cooking oil spill. Effective methods involve covering the area with kitty litter, flour or baking soda and then using paper towels to collect it up. You can also use bread or a sponge to soak up any remaining oil. To finish off, you will want to mop the floor with dish soap and warm water.
The options are to cover with cat litter, baking soda, coconut husks, paper, flour or salt, brush away or wipe away with paper towels and finish with a mop or sponge with warm water and dishwashing liquid with some vinegar possibly added, clean away using a strong cleaning fluid such as Flash rinsed away with warm water or paper towels and kitchen wipes or sprinkle corn starch and wipe away after waiting 10-15 minutes.