What To Do With Old Motor Oil

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If you’re one of the many at home car mechanics out there, there’s a good chance you change your own oil as opposed to taking it in to a shop or dealership. If you don’t, this is great way to save money, get your hands dirty, and get to know the ins and outs of your own car better. However, after a few changes you’ll start to notice that your old oil is beginning to take up space in the garage and you’ll want to get rid of it. This leads to a lot of questions like:

  • What to do with your old motor oil after an oil change?
  • What’s the best way to get rid of old engine oil?
  • Who will take your waste oil?
  • What else can used old motor oil be used for?

What many people don’t know is that motor oil never wears out, which means that it just needs to be put through a filtration / cleaning process. Even better news; this is something that one of the many 12,000+ community-based oil recycling centers nationwide can do for you! This way you can safely discard all of your hazardous materials like oil, transmission fluid, even old car batteries!

What Qualifies As Used Oil?

Any engine oil that has been used inside of a vehicle is considered used. This is because during its use the oil comes in contact with metal particles, dirt, water and other impurities which can contaminate it. Because of this and the fact that oil may contain other additives such as rust inhibitors and stabilizers, it is classified as a hazardous material and must be handled like one.

Is Recycling Old Motor Oil Free?

In most cases, taking your oil to a recycling center or business will be at no cost to you. In some cases however, like California, they will even pay you when you drop off your oil. It is worth mentioning this is usually less than a dollar per gallon, but still a nice incentive.

How Should I Store My Oil?

The best way to store used oil is to put it in an air-tight container that can be sealed with a screw on cap. Once you’ve done that, you can take it to your nearest recycling facility, auto-store that offers recycling, or in some cases, even schedule a pick-up.

What Else Can I do With My Old Motor Oil?

If you’re looking to get creative with your used oil, remember that it still has lots of life left and can be used for other purposes. There are tons of great ideas online showing off unique uses for motor oil; use in an oil burning furnace (many people on craigslist are always taking oil for exactly this), keeping it around the shop to help loosen rusted bolts, mixing with diesel fuel for penetrating lube, filtering it yourself for re-use in chainsaws, coating machined parts left in storage, and many more!

BlueDevil Products can be found on Amazon.com or at AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts, NAPA, and other major auto parts retailers.

5 responses to "What To Do With Old Motor Oil"

5 Comments

  1. joshua on November 18, 2014 at 12:11 am

    I have a 02 impala 3.4 v6 engine. White smoke is coming from the tailpipe and when I lift my oil stick out it looks like milk chocolate instead of black so I’m thinking water is mixing with the oil…. Do you have a product that will help.me..???

    • BlueDevil Pro on November 18, 2014 at 11:58 am

      Joshua-

      These are all telltale signs of a blown head gasket. We recommend that you use the BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer. You will need to change the oil before and after the BlueDevil process.

      BlueDevil can be purchased through your local auto parts dealer (AutoZone, Advance Auto, O’Reilly Auto, NAPA, etc.)

      -BDP

      • Kayleen on February 10, 2016 at 4:27 am

        No quesoitn this is the place to get this info, thanks y’all.

  2. Njomen Samuel on April 23, 2018 at 11:37 am

    Dear sis or madam please I am in Cameroon I have more than 15000 litters but we do not have a recycling centre here so how I can do get a connection for you people because here we are just wasting the oil , I have being keeping it for longtime but I was think where to get more ideas how I can processes it an to have connection.

    • BlueDevil Pro on April 23, 2018 at 1:38 pm

      Njomen-

      If you’re looking to get creative with your used oil, remember that it still has lots of life left and can be used for other purposes. There are tons of great ideas online showing off unique uses for motor oil; use in an oil burning furnace (many people on craigslist are always taking oil for exactly this), keeping it around the shop to help loosen rusted bolts, mixing with diesel fuel for penetrating lube, filtering it yourself for re-use in chainsaws, coating machined parts left in storage, and many more!

      Thank you!

      -BDP

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