What To Do With Used Motor Oil

[Originally posted 20070722, updated 20070728 with orst.edu link]

Most places have laws about what you can do with used motor oil, such as mandating that it be recyeled* by a licensed facility. In fact, while writing this it was initially difficult to find any information on used motor oil other than pleas to recyele it. Used motor oil is a known carcinogen, so wear gloves and don't eat it.

A lot of the pages on the net that talk about used motor oil take the amount of oil bought and subtract the amount recycled, concluding that this amount is dumped down storm sewers or into lakes and streams. But the thing is, most people don't live near a lake or a stream, and very few people would actually dump used motor oil down the storm sewer, much less their own drain. At least, not twice.

So what do people do with used motor oil if they don't recyele it?

• Paint the bottom of wooden posts, or anything else that will be in ground contact. If you're really serious, heat the oil to above the boiling point for water and immerse your object in it. The water in the object will boil away, to be replaced by oil and contaminants. Oiled wooden fence posts that are mostly or entirely encased in concrete will not harm the environment. Don't use such posts in standing water or marsh, because the oil will leech into the water.
  
  [Update: I found this research report from Donald J. Miller of Oregon State University, Service Life of Treated and Untreated Fence Posts: 1985 Post-Farm Report. "Post-Farm" refers to a farm full of posts, not a report after the farm.
  
  He recommends used motor oil or crankcase oil only as a carrier for creosote, presumably because the oil only increases the useful life of posts by a short amount of time compared to its toxicity (and tendency to soften untreated wood). Using oil to carry creosote proved among the most effective treatments. In a residential or non-farm application, applied to already treated wood, plain appears to help a lot. /Update 20070728]
  
  
• Soak hard-to-burn things like damp wood before lighting (don't breathe the smoke)
  
• Paint concrete (again, not for aquatic use).
• Paint concrete forms so they can be removed more easily taken off and reused
  
• Paint a brick foundation, especially the chalky mortar as a way to postpone tuck pointing. This iwill make your eventual tuck pointing job more difficult, since the new mortar will not stick as well with the oil present.
  
• Before paving asphalt (or asphalt over concrete), apply a coat of motor oil and allow to soak in overnight (unless rain is expected).
  
• Mix with staining colorants, or with old oil-based wood stain or paint. A lot of times there are things that need to be painted that will never show -- you're just painting them to protect them (why else use an oil-based paint?). So combine your leftover stain, paint, varnish, and used motor oil in a paint can and mix well. It probably won't stick to metal, but will last a long time on wood, concrete, or stone. For an effective finish, apply several coats until it is no longer absorbed.
  
• Use as chain saw chain oil (a very good use, but watch the splatter)
  
• Lubricate a bicycle chain (this is not optimal, because the thick oil tends to collect dirt)
  
• Clean rusty metal (paired with an abrasive such as steel wool)
  
• Coat outdoor tools such as axes, shovels, and clippers to keep them from rusting
• Clean road tar off vehicles (take care not to mar finish)
• Clean old engines such as on lawnmowers
  
• Lubricate hinges, latches, and other rough exterior hardware
  
• Coat nails to make them drive easier and stay rust-free
• Mix in 1 part oil with 20 parts diesel fuel and drive around †
• Oil leather (makes a dull, unattractive finish, but functions well) (do not used next to skin)
  
• There is a patented process for cooking used rubber tires with used motor oil, producing a variety of hydrocarbons and chemicals.
  
• Another (patented) process purifies used oil with acetone and ketone
  
• Use a centrifuge to separate impurities †
• Burn in an oil heater designed for used oil†
• Burn it in an oil lamp†

What not to do with used oil:

• Spread it on the ground to inhibit dust or weed growth, as this makes a nasty runoff when it eventually rains.
  
• Ingest it or let it contact your eyes or other such areas.
• Dump it down the drain, as this will clog your drain and mess up the sewer system
• Put it in a landfill, as this is dangerous and harmful in about six ways.
  

* I have left the spelling as "recyeled" to allow searchers to find this post by excluding the correctly spelled word.
† ← I've never tried these, but they should be interesting

What To Do With Old Toothbrushes

A toothbrush should be changed every three months, we're told. But what should be done with the old ones? Throwing them away seems awfully wasteful to me, so I keep them around and inevitably find uses for them.

One nice feature of the humble toothbrush is that the plastic handle can be broken, either to remove the head to use just the handle, or to make the handle shorter. With gentle pressure and even low heat, the handle can also be bent into a more convenient shape. The bristles can be trimmed to form a stiffer brush or even removed entirely.

Break the handle to about 3" and use as a fingernail cleaner.

Hang in the shower for scrubbing nails and feet. Make sure to clean (and disinfect) it between uses, or various nastiness can grow on it.

If the bristles are cut off, a toothbrush can be filed down with concrete and sandpaper to a surprisingly sharp point or blade, to make an awl or a scraping tool. An old toothbrush can really come in handy in a variety of settings:

In the garage:

• General cleaner
• Clean grease, oil and tar from car parts
• Clean dirt from garden tools and apply used motor oil as protectant
  
• Clean rusty items
  
• Car detailing: either inside or out
• Bike chain and gear cleaner
• Clean power tools such as jigsaws and Sawzalls™
• Brush the dust and debris from shop vacuum cleaners
  
• Use as applicator for pipe thread sealant
• Spread wood glue
  
• Glue sand to bristles, use as wire brush

In the kitchen

• Break and bend the handle away from the bristles to better scrub permanent coffee filters or the coffee filter basket
  
• Use with baking soda for general cleaning, and also the grooves in a George Foreman grill
• Clean fruits and vegetables from the garden or grocery
  

Around the house

• Painting and paint preparation
• Ceiling fan duster
• Laundry stain scrubber
• Grout scrubber
• Doggy toothbrush
• Handle for steel wool, cotton ball, cloth

At ThriftyTips, some other uses came out:

Cleaning combs and brushes, bottles, jewelry, shoes, sliding door tracks, toys, window crevices, screens, toilets, faucets, etc. [using different brushes, obviously]. Use as an eyebrow brush.

The Ant-Free Dog Dish

My dog lives outside. During the winter, bugs ignore his food and pay attention to hibernation, or being an egg, or what have you. But come spring, the ants, flies, and various bugs find the dog food.

I bought a dog dish once that claimed to keep the ants out, but you had to place it just so, and it didn't keep the ants away.

But the principle on which it claimed to work is good: ants won't go very far in the wrong direction. We just have to make them think they're lost.

Parts: 1 dog dish 1 tin can, washed thoroughly 1 dowel (round piece of wood) about half the diameter of the can, about two inches (5 cm) longer than the can. 1 board or block of wood at least 1.5 inches (4cm) thick, and wider than the dog dish 2 nails Epoxy or silicon glue Tools: Power drill Hammer Pliers Leather Gloves Level A flat horizontal surface on which to place the project while the glue cures.

Steps:

1. Drill a hole about 1 inch deep into the center of one face of the block of wood just big enough to receive the dowel.
2. Put some glue into the bottom of the hole in the wood. Insert the dowel into the hole. Turn it over and pound one nail into the dowel rod through the block of wood. Turn it back over, so that the dowel is pointing up. Apply glue, if needed, to make a watertight seal between the dowel and the block.
   
3. Round in the rim of the can, leaving the open end of the can bigger than the diameter of your dowel by several times the length of your local ants.
4. Cover the top of the dowel with glue. Put some glue in the can, in center of the bottom (use the dowel as an applicator). Put the can on top of the dowel (insert the dowel into the can).
5. With the hammer and a nail, punch a hole in the center of the bottom of the can and into the center of the dowel. At this point, make sure the dowel is centered in the can, with an ant-proof air gap around the dowel.
   
6. Pound the nail in the rest of the way. You now have an Ant-Free Dog Dish Stand.
   
7. Place the dog dish upside down on the drying surface.
   
8. Apply glue liberally to the top of the can and the center of the bottom of the dog dish.
9. Invert the Ant-Free Dog Dish Stand on top of the upside down dish, and level the stand.
10. Allow glue to dry and cure.

The Ant-Free Dog Dish has the advantage of raising the food up to a more comfortable eating height for larger dogs, which are typically the ones living outside.

Options:

• To allow rainwater to drain out of the dog dish, drill one or more small holes into the bottom near the edge, where water tends to puddle
• Use a beer or soft drink can, (requires cutting the top off of the can)
• Use screws instead of nails
• Use a carriage bolt running from the center of the dish through the dowel to the bottom of the base, countersinking a nut into the base; in this case, you can use rubber gaskets instead of glue
  
• Paint the can and wooden parts
• Install feet on the wooden block, so ants don't make a colony under it
  
• Sprinkle borax on top of the base if you notice ants on it
• Coat the inside walls of the can with used motor oil and dust with borax, or stuff a dryer sheet inside
• Seek help -- you're starting to obsess
  

The ants haven't found my dog's food yet, but let me know how it goes.