Don’t beat yourself up if you stain your hardwood flooring. It happens to the best of us. Thankfully, there are several ways to remove stains from hardwood flooring? Good news right? There’s more – these methods are simple and effective.
There’s no doubt that hardwood flooring can make your home come alive. However, accidents are unavoidable and sometimes, they may involve your hardwood floor. Therefore, when you buy hardwood floorings, it’s always better to prepare for future stains. From oil spills to juice or ink spills, whatever the case is, you can salvage your hardwood floors.
Before running to grab that cleaning agent, hold on a bit. Ask yourself if it’s suitable for your type of hardwood flooring. You can make things go from bad to worse without the proper information. Thankfully, this article discusses how to get rid of stains in hardwood flooring.
If the stain is very bad, you may need to sand and refinish your hardwood flooring. Also, by using hydrogen peroxide, you can restore your hardwood flooring. Here, we discuss effective ways to remove stains from hardwood flooring.
Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Cleaning Method For Your Hardwood Flooring
We can relate to how badly you want to get rid of that stain on your hardwood flooring. However, there are factors you need to consider before going ahead with a cleaning method. Below are two important factors you should consider before choosing a stain removal method.
Your type of hardwood flooring finishing
Using just any type of cleaning agent for your hardwood flooring is a big no-no. By doing this, you may just make matters worse. The ways to remove stains from your hardwood flooring depends on the kind of finishing. Some finishes don’t continue well with some cleaning agents.
For instance, you shouldn’t use a cleaning agent that works for oiled hardwood floors in lacquered floors. Doing this may completely ruin your floor. Also, to avoid situations such as this, refer to the manufacturer guidelines. Use only cleaning agents that are specifically for your type of hardwood flooring finishing.
Furthermore, if you’re using a lacquered hardwood flooring finishing, scrubbing too hard isn’t advisable. A soft rag should do. This way, you’re not ruining your hardwood flooring finish in the process of removing stains.
The type of stain
The mantra is different methods of cleaning for different kinds of stains. Before choosing ways to remove stains from hardwood flooring, first determine the kind of stain. If it’s an oil spill, you may want to substitute warm water for cold water. But if you have ink spills, hydrogen peroxide is the best to use.
Knowing the kind of stain helps to make the removal method easier. Bear in mind that some stains may require a more tedious process like resanding your hardwood floor.
These factors help you decide which cleaning method is best for your hardwood flooring. Should you encounter any difficulty, seek professional help or refer to the manufacturer’s guidelines. Therefore, it becomes important to buy hardwood floors from a reliable source. This way, you can always go there to seek further directions or advice.
Ways to Remove Stains From Hardwood Flooring
There is no plus side to stains on your hardwood flooring. First off, dark patches on hardwood flooring reduce the shine the flooring brings to your home. Also, they make your cleaning and sweeping seem like a waste of time. Finally, with stains on your hardwood floorings, it will look old and tired.
Don’t decide on completely changing your hardwood floorings just yet. There are ways to remove stains from hardwood floorings. Also, these stain removal methods save costs, are effective and are easier than you think. Following the practical ways, we discuss in this article will restore your hardwood flooring.
Act fast
Firstly, when there is a spill, you have to take action immediately. Start by wiping off the stain as quickly as you can. If you leave the stain there for a long time, you are only making the removal process harder. Most stains sink deep into the hardwood floorings if you leave them for a long time.
However, even after acting fast, you may still notice discolouration on your hardwood floorings. This largely depends on the kind of stain. Ink stains are usually difficult to get rid of. They require more than casual wiping off with just napkins or tissues.
Using detergents
Regular detergents and cold water come in handy when cleaning just about anything around the house. This formula is best for urine or ink spills. Also, the combination is more effective when the stain is still on the surface. It is one of the fastest ways to remove stains from hardwood floorings.
When using this method, follow these steps,
- Step 1: Start by mixing cold water and detergent in a bowl
- Step 2: Using a soft rag, apply the mixture to where you have the stain. Ensure you cover the area properly with the mixture.
- Step 3: Apply pressure when wiping off the stain from your hardwood flooring. While doing this, note the changes.
- Step 4: repeat all the steps but this time, use another piece of cloth. This makes sure you don’t smear the stain all over your hardwood again.
This process is very effective for paint stains and is very safe. Also, it doesn’t peel off your finishing. It is suitable for any type of hardwood flooring finishing.
Related article: Hardwood Flooring: What Types Are Easy to Maintain
Hydrogen peroxide
One of the ways to remove stain from hardwood flooring is by using hydrogen peroxide. You can use this method to tackle very stubborn stains such as wine stains. Also, hydrogen peroxide works by pulling the stain out of your wood grain. You can always get hydrogen peroxide from your local stores.
Additionally, hydrogen peroxide contains bleaching and acidic properties which make it very effective. You don’t need to worry about hydrogen peroxide ruining your hardwood flooring. It is a safe way of removing stains from hardwood flooring.
For this process, you’ll be needing a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a soft rag.
Follow these steps.
- Step 1: Soak a soft rag with hydrogen peroxide
- Step 2: Place the rag on the area with stains. Be careful not to place it on areas where there are no stains.
- Step 3: Leave the rag on that spot for about 6 hours.
- Step 4: After 6 hours, remove the rag. You’ll notice the stain is no longer there.
- Step 5: Clean the area with another clean rag to remove the hydrogen peroxide from the floor completely.
If the stain remains afterwards, you can repeat the process after 12 hours.
White vinegar
White vinegar can tackle the most stubborn stains. Its acid content helps to remove tough stains. Also, it doesn’t damage your hardwood flooring in the process. It is suitable for removing dark marks or stains from your hardwood flooring.
For this process, you’ll be needing white vinegar, two soft rags and a bowl of cold water.
To use this method, follow these steps,
- Step 1: Mix white vinegar with cold water in a clean bowl.
- Step 2: Soak the soft rags into the bowl. Ensure the rags are very wet with the mixture.
- Step 3: Place the first rag on the area with dark stains and leave it there for a while.
- Step 4: After letting it sit, remove the rag.
- Step 5: Place the second rag on the spot and mop the area while applying pressure.
This process can get your hardwood flooring looking neat again. You can repeat the process if you need to.
Sanding and refinishing
Sanding is the last option when other ways to remove stains from hardwood flooring fails. There are 2 options to pick from if you decide to resand your hardwood flooring. You can either resand the area with stains or the entire floor. You should know that sanding just the area where you have stains may ruin the finish.
Also, it makes it look different from other parts of hardwood flooring. On the other hand, resanding your entire hardwood flooring is more preferable. It makes the hardwood flooring look brand new. It is a substitute for changing the hardwood flooring completely.
To use this method, we advise that you call a professional. If you do it yourself, you risk ruining your hardwood flooring. If after resanding the stain is still obvious, repeat the hydrogen peroxide cleaning process.
To Sum It Up
Don’t give up on your hardwood floors just yet. You can still have your hardwood flooring looking new and neat again. All you need to know are the right ways to clean hardwood flooring.
You can put to proper use the white vinegar you have lying around in your house. It’s an effective way to remove stains from hardwood flooring. If everything else fails, sanding the entire floor is your best bet. Although expensive, sanding hardwood floorings brings out a newer surface.
Are you in Canada and you need top quality hardwood floorings? LV Flooring has the best hardwood floorings in Canada. Check out our online store for durable, long-lasting hardwood floorings.
Related article: How to Maintain Hardwood Flooring
