Sand down any part of the wood floor covered in a protective layer to bare wood. You’d be shocked how easily this can breathe new life into your old floor. Get daily tips and tricks for making your best home. After thoroughly brushing the bleach into the stain, leave it on for ten minutes. That being said, anything you do with bleach or harsh chemicals requires special care. Sand down any part of the wood floor covered in a protective layer to bare wood. You could bleach your wood floors with oxalic acid. Bleaching your hardwood floor is an option when you have stubborn stains that will not disappear. Always wear waterproof gloves and eye protection when working with oxalic acid. However: some of the most gorgeous wood floor designs can be tricky to install. But we know that’s not why you came! There are even types of tile that mimic the look of hardwood ridiculously well. It’s not real wood at all! Beautiful and durable, wood floors are an asset to any home. Household bleach--the weakest type--treats ink stains, blood, juice spills and similar stains. Suggestions for areas of wood floor that are commonly covered up yet accessible: Mix 12 ounces of oxalic acid powder to 1 gallon of hot water in a clean plastic bucket. If, after reading this, you realize your surfaces are too far gone for bleaching… well, there are definitely some alternatives. Engineered Bamboo Flooring: Pros and Cons, The Best Cork Flooring Options & 11 Reasons They’re Awesome, 9 Reasons The “Carpet vs. Hardwood” Debate is Silly, Choosing Wood Floor Colors: The 2020 Guide, 4 Sustainable Flooring Options for Eco-Conscious Buyers. The mixture must remain hot in order to work effectively. Avoid touching oxalic acid with your bare skin. To fully bleach the wood, the bleaching solution must be able to reach the wood's cells. Now you can get the best of both worlds without having to worry about any of the disadvantages of floating floors. After ten minutes, evaluate the stain and reapply more bleach if necessary. And now that snap-together tile flooring is a thing, installing wood-look porcelain tile is no harder than installing laminate. Stronger bleaches like chlorine bleach and hydrogen peroxide- sodium hydroxide mixture are recommended for tough stains, while the milder oxalic acid is a great option for normal hardwood floor … Wood floors that are stained can often be successfully bleached to reduce or remove the stains. And now, the main event: our step-by-step guide to bleaching wooden floors. The obvious alternative to bleaching a wooden floor: just get a new one. Water stains penetrate the wood and create lap marks. Instead, let the bleaching mixture do the work. Look, we could stay here all day talking about the merits of carpet vs. laminate or the best bamboo flooring or even bamboo flooring vs. laminate. And if you have a pet… well, let’s just say that an unfinished wood floor is not the best wood flooring for dogs. Available in powdered form and mixed with water, 99.6-percent pure oxalic acid is widely used as a safe bleaching agent for wood floors. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive 2020 guide […], July 17, 2020 People have been creating wood floor patterns for thousands of years—and it’s easy to see why. Sometimes your hardwood floors become discolored with age or accidental stains. Heating Wood Floors 101: Everything You Need to Know, Linoleum vs. Laminate vs. Vinyl: Differences, Pros, & Cons. Not only do wood floors add resale value, but they also provide warmth and richness that few other floor coverings can hope to match. When your hardwood floor shows up stubborn stains that just won’t go no matter what you try, bleaching it becomes a good option. Make sure that the room is well-ventilated. You’re in luck, however, because we are going to talk about how to do it right—but more on that in a minute. Want to give your wood floors a really good deep-clean? Debating the pros and cons of tile vs. laminate? And depending on the product, that top layer can get completely wrecked with bleach. With the scrub brush, scrub the bleaching mixture onto the floor. We would nearly always recommend sanding rather than using a chemical stripping agent, since chemical strippers are very toxic and require special handling. Your email address will not be published. UV exposure induces color change within the cellular structure of the wood and some woods get darker while others may get lighter. If you want to alter the color of dyes or stains applied to the wood, then you will need to use chlorine bleach, or dilute sodium hypochlorite. If refinishing is too much of a commitment (it can get messy) you can always just cover any stains on your floor with peel-and-stick carpet tiles. Two-part bleach kits are for the toughest, most stubborn wood floor stains What is laminate flooring? Almost all hardwood floor alternatives react differently, and you can completely destroy the finish on many different types of flooring by using bleach on them. Introducing "One Thing": A New Video Series, The Spruce Gardening & Plant Care Review Board, The Spruce Renovations and Repair Review Board. Stuff happens! To bleach wood floors, there are three commonly used methods: chlorine bleach, oxalic acid or a two-part kit containing hydrogen … Seriously, you can even use this stuff as mudroom flooring or as an outdoor flooring option. If the wood floor is painted, sealed, waxed, or coated with any type of protective layer, this layer must first be removed. The Spruce uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Concrete flooring that looks like wood, for instance, is nearly indestructible—and surprisingly easy to install if you have a concrete subfloor (if you’re wondering “what is subflooring”, read on). Maybe your existing wood floor is stained from years of child and pet accidents. But unless you’re rocking some type of super water-resistant wood flooring, spills and stains are gonna happen. Rust, too, is another type of stain that latches onto the wood's cellular structure and is extremely difficult to remove. Buying hardwood flooring is an investment—bleaching can save you some serious cash. Not to mention that while you’re sanding, you may even find that you can remove much of your stain—reducing the amount of bleach you’ll need. Bleaching differs from pickling because it is used to revive a floor and is generally not used as an antiquing or distressing technique. To fully bleach the wood, the bleaching solution must be able to reach the wood's cells. It is normal to have to repeat the process several times until you achieve the desired results. Mix with a wood stick or by hand (while wearing waterproof gloves). If you’re using oxalic acid or chlorine bleach, apply white vinegar to the stain to neutralize the bleach before wiping up all the water. MktoForms2.loadForm("//app-sj31.marketo.com", "317-BTU-838", 1170); First of All: Can You Use Bleach on Hardwood Floors? © 2020 FlooringStores, Inc. All rights reserved. Always finish bleaching wood floors by letting them completely dry out, then lightly sanding. Let the flooring completely dry, then lightly sand down the area with a random orbital sander and fine-grit sandpaper. The type of bleach you choose for your hardwood floor should depend on whether you just want to disinfect your floor of mild stains and debris, or whether you’re going after tougher stains. 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