Bleaching Hardwood Floors Before Staining

Choose a method based on the stain composition.

Bleaching hardwood floors before staining.

Bleaching your hardwood floor is an option when you have stubborn stains that will not disappear. If water has been standing on your wood floor for long enough it can seep through the finish and create dark blotches in the wood. Bleaching wood is often a necessary step when staining a dark piece of furniture. Read this before applying finish to your wood floors no matter which finish you have chosen to apply giving the floor one final light polish will take your completed job from the grade of a low b to a solid a.

Apply a generous amount of stain to the floor or project and work it into the grain and then wipe it right off. To fully bleach the wood the bleaching solution must be able to reach the wood s cells. Don t leave any puddles or wet spots. Household bleach oxalic acid or a two part kit containing hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide.

Nails that have been. As for how to apply stain properly it s pretty easy. Wait until every trace of water has evaporated before putting any stain down. Chlorine bleach which is like ordinary laundry bleach will remove dye color from wood but not the wood s natural color.

You wipe it on and wipe it right off. All the bleaching chemicals pose health and safety hazards to varying degrees. 8 let the stain dry overnight then finish the floor with 2 or 3 coats of oil or water based floor. Wipe off the excess before it dries going with the grain of the flooring with the second rag.

Bleaching may also be necessary before refinishing wood that is stained by water spots or if the color has become blotchy and uneven in certain places. Oxalic acid is commonly employed to bleach out water or rust stains. Floors made of maple birch and coniferous woods especially pine or fir are all very difficult to stain evenly. Wipe it down with water or mineral spirits on a clean soft rag then go over every surface with a dry cloth.

Sand down any part of the wood floor covered in a protective layer to bare wood. Maple and birch are tight grained woods with very small pores and the density of the pore wall fibers varies drastically. Do clean your wood. Wait a day or two for it to dry thoroughly before bleaching.

After sanding thoroughly clean all dust from the. How to bleach dark spots from wood floors. Before applying stain to your wood floor you need to know what species it is. When you have finished using both the.