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oil dry or cat litter for oil spills

augoldminer

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
ridgecrest calif
i used to do work at a kitty litter mine and noted that there were some big companys that would buy bagged kitty litter by the pallet and i know that they did not have cats running all over there plants i also know that we would screen the kitty litter better then the oil absorbent plus the kitty litter smelled better and was cheaper. otherwise it was the same product.
 
I've heard they're interchangeable, but when I used Kitty Litter for a spill, it did not work so well. It was ground much finer, and was harder to clean up, making a muddy pasty form when plenty of oil got into it. For that reason, I stick with oil dry. It's much more manageable when saturated with oil.

Richard
 
I live near one of the largest suppliers of this stuff,Engelhard Corp.The employees that work there tell me they one and the same except deorderant is added to some brands of kitty litter.
 
SOP for broken bags of cat litter is to send them to the shop at the trucking company where I work. Shop has never complained about them, and often comes looking for them on clean up days.
David from jax
 
Another option is sawdust, equal to or better than kitty litter.

Of course having a sawmill close is step one.
 
I got a skid of bags of sawdust at a plant cleanout that was kinda granular, and I assume hardwood, worked great for oil cleanup, the hard absorbant granuals seemed to scrub the floor while absorbing the crud but not leaving a muddy film. It wasn't marked and I never bothered looking into it when it was used up.
 
In the lastest issue of Invention and Technology magazine, there is an article on the invention of kitty litter ! As it turns out, in the beginning (1947), the cat version was just oil absorbent clay called Fuller's Earth, used in industry for oil spills, with the words "Kitty Litter" stamped on the bags ! The guy made millions of $$ with this stuff just relabeling a product that already was being produced !

Later some improvements were made to the clay particles so they didn't stick to the cats paws so much, plus improvement in deordorizers. Clumping litter was invented in the 1980's by someone else.

Bottom line is that non clumping El Cheapo kitty litter should be just as good as anything for absorbing oil spills on floors.

 
That's what i use. 99 cent store carries 5 lb bags for 99cents.
Hey Smallshop, kinda of wondering where your
at in the green state of California. In most
cities\counties kitty litter was banned
for shop use years ago, the oil soaked kitty
litter was considered hazardous waste and
people were tossing it straight in the trash
can. Now shops must use just good ole mop buckets with the dirty water shipped out in
drums for treatment, rags, or pigs, with the
later two items sent to a place that is approved
for handling waste. So the only people that use
"kitty litter" here are the ones that fly under
the radar.

Just figured I would update what was going on in
the "green", manufacturing unfriendly, state of
California.
 
There is another product called Dri-zorb or Dri-sorb, can't remember the correct spelling but anyway... it is made of ground up corn cobs. The bags way a lot less, generaly dust free and cleans up well. You should look it up on the internet and give it try.


Bill
 
FWIW, I use "Oil-Dri" instead of kitty litter for my cats. They've never complained...

I recall from school days that the custodians has a red, kinda oily sawdust compound they sprinkled on the wood floors before using tne push broom. Supposedly cut the dust...

Charles
 
"the oil soaked kitty
litter was considered hazardous waste "

wow...good thing i dont live in california..if a little oil is hazardous waste..you should see what comes out of my cat sometimes!

scott
 
Last bag of cat litter that I looked at said on the bag, can also be used as absorbent for oil spills and such.

For getting rid of 'hazardous waste', I used the dirt road out front. Old gasoline, battery acid, paint, just throw it out there. It would go away. Even rotten tomatoes and cucumbers. Worked great. Then some insistant neighbor called the state road every day until they came, two years ago, and put gravel and tar on it. Now stuff won't soak in.
 
Cat litter and oil dry. Same product. Called sodium bentonite. Also used in civil engineering work for soil stabalization. Soaks up water in the soil and hold it for a while. Used it extensivly when I worked as a chemist for environmental cleanup.
 








 
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