Owning a home or a small business, or managing a business, you can encounter some tricky problems. One of those problems is cleaning up unusual materials. Or cleaning up unusual amounts or ordinary products.

One of those unusual cleanups is large amounts of cooking oil.

Cooking oil can get on surfaces two ways. First, the cooking process, and especially the process of deep frying, can get cooking oil on every exposed surface in the kitchen and nearby areas.

But, also, accidents can happen. Whether experimenting with deep frying different foods, even as large as a turkey, or just doing ordinary cooking activities around the house, you might spill large amounts of oil in your kitchen.

You can’t leave it there. Even if it was clean it presents a danger of slipperiness, and later stickiness. If it was used cooking oil, it still contains the remnants of the food you cooked in it, and it will quickly begin to smell and draw insects or vermin.

How do I clean up large amounts of cooking oil?

First, clean up the excess or standing oil as much as possible. Using disposable paper towels or cloth rags, simply sop up the standing oil and throw the rags away. Don’t imagine you can clean them – simply throw them away.

Then apply an absorbent material to the oil – corn starch and baking soda are two suggestions, though industrial / garage absorbents or even sawdust will work. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then vacuum or sweep up the solids.

The final step is where a lot of people want to start: apply liquid dish soap and warm water. This step will be most effective based on how thoroughly you followed the first two steps. It might take several applications of warm soapy water, but at least in this step you can reuse your sponge or cloth.

Repeat the final step multiple times until the spill is cleaned.

Do you have an unusual or difficult cleaning situation? Is the liquid a challenge? Or is the amount simply hard to grapple with? The trained and experienced experts at Dry Patrol have experience tackling challenging spills and clean-ups. Why spend your time and energy attempting an unusual clean-up when you can solve the problem with a singe phone call to trained experts?