How to get dried paint stripper off hardwood floors
Unprotected hardwood floors absorb spilled paint remover and debris during DIY stripping projects, making standard scrubbing ineffective. This leaves homeowners desperately searching for safe ways to clean the mess without ruining the antique wood finish.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using acetone or nail polish remover
- 2Scrubbing with soap, hot water, razors, and scrapers
- 3Renting an industrial floor sander
- 4Hiring a flooring contractor
- 5Applying chemical paint remover directly to the floor residue
- 6Scraping the residue by hand, pulling up netting, and using a 4-inch belt sander.
- 7Using an upholstery cleaner like the little green machine
- 8Mopping repeatedly with a regular floorwash
- 9Using a steam machine
- 10Getting the floor professionally buffed and sealed
- 11Using diluted vinegar or dish soap in water
- 12Using standard brand spray mops like Bona
- 13Sand and refinish the wood
- 14Trying multi-purpose cleaners
- 15Using vinegar, CLR, or citric acid
- 16Using a steam cleaner
- 17Painting or touching up the spot to match the surrounding area
- 18Moving the plant around to make the flooring age evenly
- 19Hiding the stain
- 20Wiping with a wet washcloth
- 21Using dawn powerwash
- 22Soaking the glue in terps or commercial glue removers and scraping it up manually with a 60mm blade.
- 23Attempting removal with white spirit or mineral spirit
- 24Buffering down with a fine synthetic buffer
- 25Trying chemical cleaners like TX10
- 26using a Bona wet jet
- 27steam mopping
- 28using walnut to help fade marks
- 29Spot repairing with clear nail polish
- 30Putting a rug over it
- 31Applying canola oil and letting it soak before scrubbing
- 32Using corn starch to absorb the oil
- 33Using Dawn powerwash to clean the affected area
- 34Scraping it off with a metal tool
- 35Applying hand sanitizer
- 36Using a warm damp cloth to soften the paper
- 37Using isopropyl alcohol and plastic razor blades
- 38Applying Dawn power wash spray
- 39trying oxalic acid
- 40switching to hydrogen peroxide
- 41Using a steam mop to reduce chemical use
- 42Allowing children to be exposed to normal everyday dirt based on the hygiene hypothesis
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I bought a 100 year old house and stripped the paint from all the baseboards and doorframes.”source ↗
“To add to the hell I created, I didn’t put anything on my beautiful hard wood floors to protect them.”source ↗
“For some reason I thought I could just scrub it off ?? Nope. Got soap, hot water, a huge scrub brush, a razor, and scraper.”source ↗
“Help me. Please. I literally don’t know what to do and I’m freaking out”source ↗
“I accidentally spilled nail glue and it hardened in like 3 seconds. It became super stuck, Idk how to remove it, don’t want my landlord to get mad. I tried scraping it off but I just scratched the desk 🙃”source ↗
“the entire table is covered in a sticky residue from the tape.”source ↗
“I’ve tried using the canola oil trick, rubbed oil all over the entire surface and let it soak for a few minutes, then tried scrubbing it off. Still nothing.”source ↗
“There is a stain made from a plant pot. I believe this is flooring that was installed in 1973 when the house was built. Can’t tell if it’s laminate or vinyl. How can I remove stain. I’ve already tried multi purpose cleaners.”source ↗
“Does anyone know how to get this mark off without damaging thr wood?”source ↗
“It's mahogany wood. I'm not sure what the mark is but it looks like it goes away when I wipe it but when it dries, it reappears.”source ↗
“My lovely mother in law saw a bug so decided to spray off deep woods insect repellent VIII on my table. Now it's shiny and sticky and I don't know how to remove it.”source ↗
“I'm on my 5th mopping with a regular floorwash and the water still comes out grey.”source ↗
“We even used a steam machine yesterday with my mom and apparently it still wasn't enough...”source ↗
“unfortunately it is now stuck on my floor, and has been for the past 5 months. I figure I should try to get it off now that I've stubbed my toe a few hundred times: what do I do?”source ↗
“The floor can look fine and still have a thin film from whatever the last mopping cycle left behind.”source ↗
“Like I'll walk barefoot after mopping and my feet still feel slightly tacky, or there's a faint chemical smell hours later.”source ↗
“Unfortunately it’s covered in glue which is proving to be very time consuming to remove.”source ↗
“Any method that’s faster than soaking it in terps/diggers glue gone and scraping it up with a 60mm blade would be fantastic.”source ↗
“I followed the instructions and left it to dry. This was yesterday so it's dry by now but the ugly markings remain.”source ↗
“Does anyone have advice as to how to get rid of these new spots?”source ↗
“The stains are from cement and other materials used in construction.”source ↗
“I think i ruined my hardwood floors. Oil spots appeared after chinese food, i tried corn starch, it did nothing, followed with Dawn powerwash and it is so much worse… help me!”source ↗
“i have a toddler and she dropped lots of greasy noodles around her highchair, these spots were just covered enough by the base that the oil sat overnight”source ↗
“I would be more concerned about the chemical residue/lingering smell you mention, given that so many products state that they are harmful if ingested.”source ↗
“Well, the white spirit is doing nothing at all, the oil has hardened.”source ↗
“What do I do now? Its not awful, and its not sticky anymore but dear god is it streaky, which is really the main problem.”source ↗
“When I drop raw chicken or ground beef on the floor, I don't want to just smear it around with a bona spray mop. I want it dead.”source ↗
“A lot of the internet suggests a bit of vinegar or dish soap in water, but it's always so diluted there's no way it's actually killing anything.”source ↗
“These lines appeared when I drug my island stools across the floor even though I have soft pads on the feet of the stools.”source ↗
“Any ideas how to get rid of these lines?”source ↗
“I have cleaned the spot and then tried oxalic acid. Should i keep trying the oxalic acid or should i go for hydrogen peroxide? Or should i just give up :(”source ↗
“Ive been trying to scrape this off, someone told me to hold off and check for asbestos. Does this look like it’s asbestos to anyone ? Additionally , any tips to get this shit off efficiently i’d love to hear.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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