Reply #3: That's been posted here quite a few times.

[Webster Green]

So many that I don't even need to follow the link to know it's the dudes with the hay.

There's all kinds of things that will effectively soak up oil. Mushrooms, furnace filter kind of material, hay and straw, and probably lots of others. The hair idea didn't work because it soaks up too much water.

Huge piles of oil-soaked whatever aren't really the most efficient way to deal with this massive amount of oil.

The best idea I've heard of is the large skimmer/separators that suck up oil and seawater and throw the 95% cleaned water back into the gulf.

The biggest problem is the toxic dispersant has caused much of the oil to sink. Idiots!