Heres’ the latest reader question, along with my reply!
TOF asks: I like to change my own oil but it’s becoming difficult to find a place to hand off the old oil to. The service station I used to give it to was torn down and became a gas station/mini-mart and no longer accepts used motor oil. I don’t want to just toss the old oil into the dumpster but I also don’t want to have it in my garage, either. What do you do with your used motor oil?
My reply: Well, I’m lucky in that I have two good friends who are professional mechanics and need used oil – to heat their shops.They have oil-burning furnaces, so I have a place to deposit the oil.
If you have a shop nearby, you might ask the whether they’d like your free fuel. My bet is they’ll say yes.
Failing that, find another service station that will accept oil for recycling. You may need to drive farther, and that can be a problem if you haven’t got suitable containers for the oil. I’d invest in a drain pan with a lid and a sealable spout. These are the big round things you can find at any auto parts store. They’re very stable and so less apt to spill if you have to hit the brakes suddenly or swerve while you are transporting the old oil. They’re also easier to empty without making a mess.
Hope this helped!
. . .
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Have a woodstove? A couple of ounces of used oil in a tuna can with some crumpled newspaper will start a fire. Every time.
When I had access to large quantities of used oil, once the woodstove had a coal bed, placing an empty soupcan 3/4 full of used oil in them made great heat for an hour or two.
Most auto parts stores will take it along with walmart.
Advance Auto also takes it. Doesn’t matter if you bought it there or not. Once you find out where their tank is, just walk in, dump your oil, walk out. No questions asked.
Ah, yes, waste oil furnaces…Were I living where there isn’t a natural gas line and wanted a heated garage/workshop outbuilding, I’d put one in and tell everyone I know to give me their used oil.
This is one “green” option that I definitely can get behind and that makes sense, yet the greens say little or nothing about it…kinda like nuclear energy.
Autozone takes used oil.
Also consider using used oil to preserve wood used outdoors or thin it and spray it under your vehicle or lawnmower deck to prevent rust.