How to Clean Stained Wood Floor

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If you are lucky enough to have a wood floor, you must know that in order to keep the floor looking so good, you must take proper and safe care for it. Apart from cleaning it through swiping or vacuuming it with soft brush attachments, you must take care of any spills as soon as possible, so that you avoid staining.

Overall, wood floors should be cleaned with very little water, and with no oversaturation, because water soaks in the natural wood and causes deformations. Other colored liquids can soak into your pretty wood floor and cause unsightly staining. If your wood floor has a hard finish, the stain will remain on the surface while with older wood floors which have oiled finish, the stain can penetrate straight through the wood.

Here are some useful tips for how to clean stained wood floors:

• For floors with hard finish and surface, stains use a nice and soft cloth to wipe away the surface stain.
• For floors with soft oiled finishes, in case of dark stains, pet urine and other dark spots, you should rub it with steel wool and floor wax. In case the spot still remains dark, you can let some vinegar or bleach soak in the spot for about an hour and then rinse it off.
• Black rings on your wood floor are indications that a stain has deeply penetrated into the finish
• To remove heel marks on soft oiled finish wood floors, you should rub them off with floor wax with the help of fine steel wool.
• For oil based stains, carefully rub the spot with dishwashing detergent on a soft cloth. This should break down the grease. Repeat if necessary, and then clean with clean water with a damp cloth. Another method is to use a little ammonia mixed with cold water to treat the greasy stain. Apply it carefully with a soft cloth.
• To treat white water marks on your wood floor, use No.000 steel wool to rub in some floor wax. If the water stain is deeper you can use very fine sandpaper to sand the surface a little and then rub the spot with lemon oil and finish off with mineral spirits.
• White rings from a water spill can be removed by covering it with a clean cotton cloth and ironing it with a hot iron and no steam for a few seconds.