What are the common types of oil-absorbing mats?

Oil-absorbing mats are excellent tools for handling oil spills and chemical liquids. Thanks to their unique manufacturing technology, they can effectively absorb and retain these substances, making them widely used in fields such as rivers, ships, and mechanical manufacturing workshops. However, depending on the specific application area, oil-absorbing mats can be categorized into pure oil-absorbing mats, chemical-absorbing mats, and general-purpose oil-absorbing mats—among which the latter two are more commonly used. Now, let’s take a look at what types of oil-absorbing mats are most frequently employed.
I. Classification of Commonly Used Oil-Absorbing Felt
Oil-absorbing oil mats: Primarily used for absorbing oils, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and similar substances—these mats absorb only oil and not water. Oil-absorbing oil mats are ideal for professionally removing surface contaminants and can also be used to absorb oily liquids from surfaces exposed to rain. The mats are internally filled with oil-absorbing polypropylene, which repels water. When used on surfaces, these products do not absorb any moisture, ensuring that batteries or other floating objects leaking liquid remain buoyant and do not sink to the bottom. Such oil-absorbing mats typically come in white, making it easier to visually determine whether they have absorbed oil or grease.
Chemical oil-absorbing mats: Suitable for handling leaks of hazardous liquids such as acidic and corrosive substances. At the same time, these mats are also effective in dealing with leaks of unknown liquids. Chemical oil-absorbing mats can be categorized into degreased cotton strips, degreased cotton pads, and degreased cotton pillows.
General-purpose oilcloth: Suitable for unknown liquids such as oils, water, coolants, solvents, dyes, and more; the internal filler is surface-activated polypropylene, which can absorb non-petroleum liquids.
2. Oil-absorbing mats can be recycled and reused.
As the shipping industry continues to develop, certain special circumstances will inevitably lead to oil spill accidents. Such oil spills pose a serious threat of pollution to the marine environment. To prevent this pollution from becoming even more severe, several products have been developed specifically for treating oil contamination in water. Oil-absorbing mats are one such product, and they demonstrate particularly effective oil removal performance. However, given that large-scale use can result in considerable waste, we can’t help but wonder: Could these absorbent mats be recycled?
First, polypropylene is subjected to melt-blown processing and then further processed into absorbent felt. Its key advantage is its exceptionally strong adsorption capacity, enabling it to effectively absorb and store oil spills during marine oil pollution cleanup. After the oil-absorbing felt has been used, it can be squeezed to remove the absorbed oil and then reused.
Therefore, oil-absorbing mats are reusable, making them more environmentally friendly than other oil-contamination treatment products.

Hebei Hua'ao Felt Co., Ltd. is a highly reputable felt manufacturer in the North China region. Our products have an extremely wide range of applications and can meet users’ diverse needs for various types of felt products, primarily used for: cushioning pads, oil sealing and oil blocking, sealing and vibration isolation, high-gloss grinding and polishing, thermal insulation, adsorption, and filtration. We offer a variety of products, including oil-absorbing felt, synthetic fiber felt, flame-retardant felt, and wool felt, making us a reliable supplier of industrial felt.