Hardwood food floors are the beautifiers of your home. But, with time, dark spots or uneven color spots may appear on the face of your hardwood floors. It is pretty natural, but it affects the appearance of your floors. As beauty needs continuous care and preservation, your hardwood floors need a helping hand to stay in order. The reasons for such spots may vary, like over-dusting, pet urine, mold and moisture, other stains, etc. Avoiding unnecessary details, in this article, we will share with you a detailed step-by-step guide on how to fix uneven stains and dark spots on your hardwood floors. So, stay tuned!
How to fix uneven stains on hardwood floors
Before jumping onto the step-by-step guide, let us first gather the tools you need to remove stains from wood floor. Here they are:
- Paintbrush
- Paint roller
- Sandpaper
- Map of Microfiber
- Dust mask
Let us turn ourselves into step-by-step guides to remove the dark stains on wood floors.
Cleaning
First, wear your dust mask and wipe the dust above and below the dark spots. Or, if you have plenty of time, you can clean all of your hardwood floors. Sometimes not always, cleaning alone can remove spots from your hardwood floors. The reason is that some spots are a mere result of over-dusting.
Sanding
Spot the affected spot and sand it. Choose 180 to 220-grit sandpaper for sanding. If 220-grit sandpaper is unavailable, you can carry out the sanding process by hand. Still, other options are available, for example, handheld oscillating sander or electric sander.
Using sanders ease the process of sanding. Sand six inches above the spot and five inches below. While doing so, move parallel to the wood. The process of sanding should be carried out consistently. Never leave uneven stains. Even-sanding will help you in staining, which we will discuss later in our step-by-step guide. Proper sanding is mandatory for proper staining.
Mopping
Mopping is the process of removing wood powder using a microfiber mop after sanding does mopping.
Staining
Successful sanding with proper mopping fixes the look of your hardwood floor to a more significant extent, but staining is still mandatory. So, you should better stain your sand wood floor. Use a dry rag for staining. Properly stain the grains of wood, criss-cross each pass. Make your moves speedy, and then use a dry cloth to remove uneven stains. After staining, forget about it for two to three days. Let your stain dry!
Afterward, observe the results; if necessary, you can even re-stain!
How to fix dark spots on hardwood floors
There is more than one way of removing dark spots from your hardwood floors.
Using hydrogen peroxide with water
Step 1: Spray Hydrogen Peroxide in the dark spots of your hardwood floors
For this purpose, you first need to figure out the dark spots and highlight them. Precision is required here. You have to figure out the dark areas to target accurately. Because spraying on non-spotted areas would be of no use, it may affect your existing floor areas through bleaching.
So, look for actual dark spot targets and spray the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture on them.
Step 2: Remove spraying mistakes immediately
If you mistakenly sprayed the mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide on non-spotted areas, remove it immediately. As with time, the chances of bleaching will increase. After following above mentioned two steps, let your stain areas remain untouched for a brief while so that the Hydrogen Peroxide may take its reaction time.
Step 3: Observe the area
There are chances of your dark stains returning to their spots after a while of blending old and new hardwood floors. So, never pre-assume that your job is done. Monitor your targeted spots to see whether the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture has detained them. If the spots reappear, you should better apply the Hydrogen peroxide mixture again.
Step 4: Clean the surface
After you have ensured that the work is done and the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture has been removed, the staining process is completed. Now, it is time to clean the access of the mixture. Never limit yourself to the targeted spots alone; you should better clean the area around the spots as well. It will help you avoid bleaching. Avoiding bleaching wood floors at first hand is essential; otherwise, you must repeat the process of staining from the beginning.
How to remove black stains with cold water and liquid detergents
Most of the time, the hydrogen peroxide mixture is enough to remove dark stains from the hardwood floors. But, sometimes, the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture fails to remove the dark stains. You may have left the first coat of floor stain uneven.
The reason is that dark stains can be of various forms and can be caused by various things. A particular chemical is required to remove dark spots caused by a particular thing. Greasy items, mold, etc., may cause dark spots. In brief, the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture method is only sometimes sufficient. You may further compensate your hydrogen peroxide mixed with cold water and detergent.
Follow the steps mentioned below to remove your hard-sticked dark spots:
Step 1: Mixing the solution
Mix your detergent and cold water in equal concentrations. Your cold water and detergent concentration should be equal. Please take it as a rule! Always take equal volumes of water and an equal concentration of detergent. Do calculations if necessary!
Step 2: Applying the solution
After mixing the mixture of cold water and detergent in equal concentrations, you must apply them to dark spots. Here as you have done in the case of the Hydrogen Peroxide mixture, avoid targeting unstrained areas. Otherwise, bleaching will be inevitable, further adding to your work.
How to fix uneven stains on hardwood floors: Tips
- Clean your hardwood floors regularly to remove extra dust and stain primordial.
- Remove the spills immediately, so they do not turn into stains or spots.
- It is advisable to use furniture pads to avoid scratches.
- Vacuum your hardwood floor regularly.
- Use a high-quality cleaner to clean your hardwood floors. Always stick to a schedule!
- Keep high-heels away from your hardwood floors and keep your pets’ nails trimmed.
- Avoid oily polish, which can make your hardwood floors look dull.
- Constantly observe your hardwood floors for stains or dark spots.
- Use above mentioned Potassium Hydroxide mixture method to remove dark stains.
- Remove stain spots using the steps mentioned above.
- Ask a professional for help if necessary!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you sand after staining hardwood floors?
It is advisable to sand before the staining process. But you can also sand after the first coat of staining. But remember, after the first coat of staining, it is entirely useless to sand. So, avoid sanding after the first coat. Sand before staining or after the first round of staining.
What do I do if my wood stain is blotchy?
The easiest way is to sand the piece down to bare wood. And after doing that, retain the blotched patch. But for this time, you should be careful while staining so you do not form scars again. Or you can even add a new coat of stain to your blotches without sanding, but sanding before staining is more advisable!
How do you blend stains on hardwood floors?
Use 80-grit sandpaper to sand the area of the stain. Then, vacuum and remove the remaining dust using a rag. Repeat the process of sanding and vacuuming with different sandpapers and then spray the original stain. It is the best way to blend the stain on hardwood floors.
How many coats of stain do I need for hardwood floors?
It depends upon your purpose for staining and the condition of your hardwood floors. Usually, a single stain should be enough if carried out correctly. But, sometimes, due to the staining mistakes and the condition of the hardwood floors, you may have to stain more than once. In such scenarios, the standard coat limit is three. But it is better to keep staining until the desired results are obtained!
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed how to fix uneven stains on hardwood floors. Later we discussed how to fix darkly stained spots on hardwood floors. In this regard, we have discussed two ways Hydrogen Potassium mixture method and using cold water and detergent. Most of the time, Hydrogen, potassium, and water are enough to remove dark stains, but if the stains are fixed and permanent, it is better to use the latter. At the end of the article, we have given you some golden tips regarding your hardwood floors, and at the end, we have answered the frequently asked question.
If you have any queries or confusion, you can reach us in the comment section below. Stay tuned for future posts!
References
- https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-correct-an-uneven-hardwood-floor-stain
- https://homeguides.sfgate.com/fix-uneven-stain-refinished-wood-floors-30189.html
- https://homedecorbliss.com/blending-stain-on-hardwood-floor/
- https://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/11431-uneven-stain-on-hardwood-floor/
- https://extremehowto.com/how-to-fix-uneven-stain-on-hardwood-floors
