How to Remove Stains from Wood Floors

We have some beautiful oak flooring beneath the old carpet in our house, but there are a few stains. Is there a way to remove those without sanding the whole floor? -Ralph

Stains in wood floors that have gone through the finish and soaked into the wood itself can be difficult to remove and may require sanding and refinishing. If the stain has penetrated too deeply, even sanding may not remove it entirely.

How to remove stains from a hardwood floor

Before resorting to sanding, however, start by trying to remove stains from wood floors using standard hydrogen peroxide available at drug stores. Here’s how to go about it:

• Soak a cotton rag with hydrogen peroxide.

• Place the wet rag on the stain and allow it to soak in the wood to bleach out the stain.

• Remove the rag, and wipe up any excess hydrogen peroxide.

• Allow the floor to dry.

Another option is to try using a rejuvenator type wood floor cleaner on the stain. Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• Oil Stains on Hardwood Floors (article)
• Problems Sanding and Refinishing Wood Floors (article)
• How to Refinish Wood Floors (video/article)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Ralph asks: We have some beautiful oak flooring beneath the old carpet in our house, but there are a few stains. Is there a way to remove those without sanding the whole floor?

Danny Lipford: Unfortunately, if you have some really deep stains in your hardwood floor, it will have to be sanded and refinished in order to get rid of those stains. Even then, some of the real deep stains are really hard to get rid of. Here’s a little trick that’ll help you a lot on that. Basically, take a cotton rag, take hydrogen peroxide, soak it down well, put it over the stain, and allow the hydrogen peroxide to pull a lot of that stain out.

Another thing you want to try before you go through the expense of the sanding and refinishing of your hardwood floor, try some of the new cleaners that are available now, that are called rejuvenators. That’ll thoroughly clean the surface of your hardwood and actually dissolves a little of the finish to give it a nice, consistent look. You may be able to save money instead of having to completely refinish the floor.