Help with kerosene spill

[Fran on MD Eastern Shore]

A few days ago, I spilled quite a bit of kerosene on my wood floor, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. The whole house now smells of kerosene. I've tried mopping the area several times, but it hasn't really helped. There's got to be a better way of getting rid of this mess. Is there anything I can put on that area of the floor? I've even left the windows open hoping to get rid of the odor, but it hasn't worked. Any ideas?

[Little Quacker in OR]

THis is the Bob Vila Forum and there is a whole thread on this topic:

http://www.bobvila.com/wwwboard/messages/23196.html

I feel for you, must be bad headaches there! My first t thought was to spread a whole bag of kitty litter on it.

good luck and I hope you let us know how is goes.

LQ

[antiquestuff]

Maybe baking soda will help clean it up? Scrub the baking soda with a little water? I use it with my lamp chimneys and it does a pretty good job of getting rid of the kerosene smell they can get when they are so old (some of mine are 100-130 years old, so that's a lot of fuel burned over the years!).

Otherwise, I'd say really strong lemon scented cleaner, VERY concentrated, which worked once on a gasoline lamp tank that stunk too badly to even use it, until I cleaned it several times with this...

[quietperson]

Originally Posted by antiquestuff

Maybe baking soda will help clean it up? Scrub the baking soda with a little water? I use it with my lamp chimneys and it does a pretty good job of getting rid of the kerosene smell they can get when they are so old (some of mine are 100-130 years old, so that's a lot of fuel burned over the years!).

Otherwise, I'd say really strong lemon scented cleaner, VERY concentrated, which worked once on a gasoline lamp tank that stunk too badly to even use it, until I cleaned it several times with this...

We had something similar to this happen once when we were in a rental place and the oil tank was in the basement. Somehow or other some coupling came loose when the oil distributor was filling the tank, putting several gallons of fuel oil on a dirt floor basement. The distributor told us to dump several cans of cinnamon down there to soak up the smell. It did the trick as far as the smell was concerned, but needless to say the landlord wasn't real happy with the delivery truck driver.

Barb

[Fran on MD Eastern Shore]

Thanks for all the help, folks. Great suggestions. I mopped the area real good with lemon scented Dawn right out of the bottle with no water. Then I covered it with cat litter. After that soaked it up, I hit it again with the Dawn and just let it sit on the area. Then I mopped it again. It seems to have worked wonders. While there's still some scent lingering, the house smells "lemony fresh" now.

I just have to remember not to drop a match around there!!!

Whenever I have a problem like this, this is the first place I go. I couldn't buy neighbors like you.

[Cabin Fever]

First of all, don't worry about kerosene being this big fire hazzard. It is no more a hazard than rubbing alcohol or cooking oil.

What I would do is use a hair dryer over the area to get the oil to volatilize. Once it's all evaporated the smell will be gone.