My Cedar siding needs to be stained again terribly. It has turned black in some spots. I have tried everything to get rid of the black but it is deep in the wood and won't come out. I have been told by a couple of people to use Drain Oil (the old oil after an oil change). They have witnessed people putting this on their wood siding and say it works beautifully as a stain. They figure that it may hid some of the black on my siding as well. Has anyone ever heard of this being done? Before I go out and try it...

Thanks!

Under no circumstance put use motor oil on your siding.

Many years ago when we were not so environmentally conscience and before grass trimmers, I use to pour my used motor oil along the chain link fence to kill the grass that you could not get to with the mower.

Came home one hot summer day, neighbor told me that my fence had caught on fire. Spontaneous combustion of the oil.

Don't DO IT ! Not only is it a fire hazard and bad for the environment, its also almost certainly illegal. Image how well a home with cedar siding soaked in motor oil would burn if a fire ever started. If anyone did this in my area and the health dept. found out I can't even begin to describe what kind of fines might be issued.

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the old oil after an oil change

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My old oil is usually black, So how's that not stain black on wood...

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My Cedar siding needs to be stained again terribly. It has turned black in some spots

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Just when you thought it wasn't possible and then this.

One of the long lost construction techniques I use for ceder shake shingles roofs was to run a copper wire across the top of the peak and this chemically changes the water as the rain passes over it and keeps moss from growing on the roof. The black is a preemptive for moss to grow but doesn't stay wet long enough for that to happen. I would try the same theory and run a bare copper wire under/against the edge of a shake shingle where the rain starts to the side of the house and see if that doesn't elevate the "black" from forming.

Also is there any trees to trim for added sunlight for the wet shingle to dry faster...

Similar to what 21boat had to say we install a zinc strip to make the rain water chemically change, it kills mold.