Without an ounce of doubt, cleaning your hardwood floors can be a daunting task, especially if there are black spots.
It can be really stressful getting rid of the stains even after applying all kinds cleaning methods you’ve read or watched online. Well, worry no more, because by the time you’re done reading this, you’ll be an expert in removing black stains from hardwood floors.
We’ve actually done lots of experiments and found the most foolproof method. So, let’s cut to the chase and dive right into it.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
As expected, you need to be prepared. You’ll need the following materials before starting off
- Hydrogen peroxide (the 16 gallon is preferable because you’ll be using lots of it)
- Scrubbing sponge
- Cleaning towel
- More than 24 hours of your time
How to Remove Black Stains from Hardwood Floors - Step by Step Cleaning Process
First, you need to remove your furniture from the spots with black stains. You should perhaps take the furniture in another room or in your storage area. Just keep the furniture safe for about 24 hours.
Secondly, once you’ve noted the black spots on your floor, take out the cleaning towels and soak them with the hydrogen peroxide. You can do this by pouring some of the peroxide in the sink and soak the towels one by one.
The third step is to place the soaked cleaning cloth over the black spots. Leave them for about 24 hours.
The fourth step is jumping to the next day, after the 24 hours. Remove the cleaning towels and use the sponge to scrub the soaked parts. By the time you’ll be scrubbing, some of the black spots will be gone already. You can further dab the sponge on hydrogen peroxide as you wipe off the stains.
Now, sit back and examine if the black spots are all gone. If some spots haven’t made much progress, you can repeat the same process for another 24 hours. By the time you’ve done this for the fourth or fifth time, your hardwood floor will be new again.
It is that simple.
Caution and Tips for Maintaining a Clean Hardwood Floors
Although the steps for cleaning the hardwood floors are simple and straightforward, you need to understand a few tips on guaranteeing the floors are clean.
Here are a few tips on maintaining a clean hardwood floor.
a) Every time you’ve noticed a black stain, perhaps because of a pet urine or food spillage, it is important to do the cleaning immediately. Do not waste time by postponing the hardwood cleaning process to a later time. Do it right away. It is even better if you clean the floor the moment you’ve spilled food.
b) Once you’ve soaked the cleaning towels with the hydrogen peroxide, it’s advisable to leave it soaked for the 24 hours as instructed. Do Not interfere with the black spot areas. If it is within the living room, make sure to transfer your TV in another room and watch your movies from there. I know this is inconveniencing to your daily routine, but it’s best to leave the soaked spots alone.
c) Also, do not use excessive hydrogen peroxide when soaking the towels. You may end up destroying your hardwood floors. This basically means you shouldn’t be using the hydrogen peroxide too frequent. And that’s why it’s best to clean wash off your floors the moment your cat accidentally urinates on the floor.
So, What Causes Black Stain in Hardwood Floors?
These are the common causes:
- Pet urine
- Food spillage
- Water spilling and damping the floor
- Kids’ urine finding itself from the diapers into the floors
- Dog poop
- Ink spillage
- Blood
- Poor floor maintenance
Once any of these spillage or damage occurs in your hardwood floor, it is imperative you apply the hydrogen peroxide cleaning as immediately as possible. It’s advisable to do this as fast as possible before the urine sips deeper into the hardwood floors, which will make it harder to clean.
Although the urine and food spillage are the most common causes of hardwood floor stains, the most significant cause is the lack of proper hardwood maintenance. You need to develop sort of a routine that’s gonna guarantee a clean hardwood floor.
The objective is to try and avoid any instance of the spillage or pet urine developing a mold and mildew on your hardwood floor. This is not only unclean and an eyesore, but it is also unhygienic.
Ways to Refinish and Revamp Your Hardwood Floor to Look New
There comes a time when you’ve done all you can, but some parts of the black stains haven’t gone away. Perhaps you are a perfectionist, and have the OCD thing going on!
Well, once you are done cleaning the hardwood floor with hydrogen peroxide, you can actually revamp the floor without sanding. You’ll need a cleaning chemical known as a Rejuvenate Wood Floor Restorer, which comes with its microfiber cloth cleaner.
The only thing you need to get is a mob. If you don’t have one, you can something that works great with the Rejuvenate restorer – the Rejuvenate Mop.
Both the Rejuvenate restorer and the mop work wonders in restoring your hardwood floors. The restorer actually makes your hardwood floors look anew like it has been sanded.
Steps in Rejuvenating Your Hardwood Floors
The steps are in the Rejuvenate bottle, but it basically involves carefully pouring the liquid over the floor, starting from the corners, and slowly wiping using the mop connected to the microfiber clothing.
You’ll be mopping in an S-shape over the specific parts of the floor. You’ll be moving from section of the hardwood until you are done cleaning the entire room.
As a rule of thumb, when you reach the areas with black spots, it’s best to repeat the wiping using the Rejuvenate Floor Restorer. This makes sure the black stains are completely gone. You’ll also need to leave this for 24 hours; however, when the next day comes, you won’t have to wipe off the liquid. The floor will be restored and look new.
Final Thoughts
As promised, you are definitely an expert in cleaning black stains from hardwood floors. All you need is a hydrogen peroxide, a cloth and more than 24 hours of your time. You simply need to soak the peroxide on the cleaning towel and leave it dry. Then you’ll wipe off the black stains. It is that simple.
However, this method is unique because it insists on constantly using the hydrogen peroxide immediately the stain starts to show. And also, the Rejuvenate Floor Restorer comes in handy.
Good luck cleaning your hardwood floors.