When you plan to repaint your wood floor, you must remove the old paint first. However, there is more than one layer of paint to work with, which is quite challenging because you need to protect the wood finish while working.
How to Get Paint Off Wood Without Damaging
Whether you want to strip off the old paint on your wood floor or remove the splatters of paint on the wood floor surface from your previous project, it is better not to use sandpaper or paint stripper.
These tools are great for removing paint but can damage the surface.
You can use a credit card or a putty knife and scrape lightly with it, but don’t force it if the paint doesn’t come off easily to prevent damaging the surface.
If it doesn’t work, you can first soften the dry paint with olive oil. Let it sit for an hour by covering it with a cloth before stripping it with a plastic paint scraper.
For larger areas of paint, you can first freeze them with ice before scrapping them with a plastic paint scraper.
Different type of flooring and paint uses a different type of remover. So you should consider what type of paint you want to remove and what type of wood flooring you have.
Paint Thinner on Hardwood Floors
You may wonder why can’t people use paint to remove the splatters because this looks effective as a remover.
Paint thinner is harsh. It should be used only when you find no other method works in removing paint from your wood floor because using paint thinner might cause damage on the surface.
Does Vinegar Remove Paint from Floors?
Does vinegar remove paint from floors? The answer is yes! While it doesn’t remove, vinegar works by softening the paint so you can strip off it easier.
Vinegar is used a lot because it is cheap, non-toxic, and easy to find. However, you still need to pay attention to how you scrape the paint after applying vinegar to keep the wood floor’s surface safe.
To use vinegar as a paint remover, heat it first. Heat, not boil it. Once it is hot, you can soak a sponge or paintbrush in it and apply it to your wood floor.
Let it sit for 10 minutes before scrapping the paint. However, if you have a hardwood floor, avoid using vinegar, as it can damage the finishes.
How to Get Paint Off from Hardwood Floors
Since you can’t use vinegar for your hardwood floors, what else can you use? You can still use a cheap and easy-to-find alternative, the dishwashing detergent.
This works if your paint is water-based typed. Add a little dishwashing detergent to warm water, and use a cotton rug to rub the floor.
Another option is a mix of lemon juice and rubbing alcohol in a 1:3 combination. This should sit on your hardwood for around 5 to 10 minutes before getting rubbed. Use the same cotton rag for applying, and rubbing is best.
How to Get Acrylic Paint Off Hardwood Floors
Denatured alcohol is a paint remover that can work well with almost any type of paint, including acrylic paint. It can be easily used by soaking a cotton ball or a cleansing pad and then rubbing the surface.
Let it sit for some minutes to soften the paint before wiping it with a damp rag.
Finish it by wiping the surface with a soapy washcloth to clean the alcohol residue left on the surface. Denatured alcohol best cleans your hardwood floors, even to the most stubborn dried paint.
You just need a little of it to dampen a cotton ball and soften the acrylic paint.
How to Get Paint Off Laminate Floors
Laminate flooring is more durable in terms of the resistance of stains compared to hardwood floors because they are coated with melamine resin and aluminum oxide particles at the top surface.
However, you still have to take some precautions when painting them off to not damage the surface of the floors.
Using homemade cleaner is better since it doesn’t have toxic chemicals. Making a mixture of white vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and water in the same parts added with six drops of dish detergent works well for roving paint off laminate floors.
Make sure to clean the floors from any dirt and debris before using the cleanser.
Rub the floors back and forth with a clean rag wet in the mixture while rinsing the rag before repeating the process until you get the paint off the laminate floors.
How to Get Oil-Based Paint Off Hardwood Floors
While water-based paint is easy to remove, oil-based paint is another story. It requires special treatment to be removed, but you don’t want your expensive hardwood floors to get damaged on the surface.
Sanding is the best option to get oil-based paint off hardwood floors. However, it doesn’t work well if you just want to remove some stains because it can damage the grainy pattern of the flooring.
So the better option is to use paint thinner.
Just soak a rag in it and wipe the paint on your hardwood floors. Repeat wiping the surface until the paint has gone because one attempt might not work. You need to do this twice or three times.
Make sure to clean the residue of the paint thinner with a clean rag after the paint has been successfully removed.
Use warm water to clean any residue left, and don’t forget always to wear gloves during this process because paint thinner contains harsh chemicals that could irritate your skin.
Can You Sand Paint Off Wood Floors?
If you intend to repaint your wood floors, sanding is necessary because you need to have a smooth surface before starting.
It should be done after the old paint is removed. You can use finer grits of sandpaper to smoothen the wood surface.
However, if you just want to remove splatters of paint on your wood flooring, then sanding is highly not recommended.
