Will Bleach Affect Hardwood Floors

How to mop hardwood floor with bleach water.

Will bleach affect hardwood floors.

What does bleach do to wood floors. Mopping your hardwood floors with diluted bleach comes with a number of benefits. Common laundry bleach or chlorine will effectively remove stain or dye color from wood but will not affect the wood s natural color. Generally clorox regular bleach 2 is suitable for disinfecting floors made of hard surfaces like ceramic tile vinyl and linoleum not marble or other porous surfaces that aren t safe for bleach.

Bleach is a great solution to use when you have deep cleaning that needs to get done. Don t mix the bleach ahead of time. Here s how to strip bleach and neutralize your hardwood floor. Find an inconspicuous area of the hardwood.

Get a clean sponge and apply it to the wood in the same way you applied the bleach to neutralize the bleach. Bleach can damage hardwood if not used properly. Bleach can affect hardwood floors differently depending on the age quality and type of finish of the floor. This method is not always successful because depending on the amount of bleach spilled and how long it sat in the spot on the floor the fibers in the hardwood may have become damaged by the bleach.

You ll see all kinds of opinions about whether to use bleach on hardwood floors but when it comes to maintaining the beauty of hardwood i suggest you refrain from using bleach. Bleach will damage hardwood floors. Neutralize the bleach with a 50 50 white vinegar and water solution. Try sanding the affected area and staining it with the original stain used on the floor.

Some bleach kits include a neutralizer along with the bleach. It also reverses the aging effect on wood that causes it to darken. Stubborn stains and grime on your floor can easily be removed with the right type of solution. Finish composition quality and the age of the floor vary from home.

A commercial paint and varnish remover will work on most other finishes. Wood is porous and generally we only recommend bleaching exterior finished wood surfaces not interior hardwood floors. The bottom line is that bleach is a caustic agent that can damage hardwood floors. If you re interested in generally cleaning your wood or using bleach on hardwood floors to remove dark stains from tannins and iron stains from metal fasteners and you want to leave the natural color unchanged use oxalic acid.

Lacquer thinner dissolves lacquer finishes commonly used on modern wood floors while denatured alcohol removes shellac. Bleach however is a harsh chemical that has a tendency to ruin surfaces and materials in which it comes in contact. After applying your bleach mix a solution of half white vinegar and half water. Bleach gets rid of tough stains on wood while enrichening its natural color.