How to Remove Stains on an Oak Floor With Peroxide

Low-concentration peroxide slowly lightens the color of oak wood.

Use hydrogen peroxide to bleach the color out of dark stains in oak flooring. Pet messes and plant drainage often leave stains when left to dry on wooden floor boards. These types of stains are often deep below the surface of the wood and cannot simply be sanded away. Hydrogen peroxide soaks into the oak to remove the stain from below the visible surface. Make spots on an oak floor disappear with common household hydrogen peroxide.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton swab
• Hydrogen peroxide, 3 percent
• Towel

Instructions

1. Saturate one end of a cotton swab in hydrogen peroxide. Do this next to the stain to avoid dripping in transit.

2. Press the peroxide-soaked cotton swab onto the dark stain. Wipe up any hydrogen peroxide that drips or runs over to parts of the floor that aren't stained. Leave the peroxide on the stain overnight.

3. Examine the color of the stain under a bright light. Continue with a second application of peroxide if the color of the stained area is still darker than the surrounding oak.

Tips & Warnings

• Sand and refinish the bleached area after it has been left to dry for at least two days.

• Do not attempt to bleach a stain from dark-stained oak floor boards. The amount of color loss is unpredictable and may cause a more noticeable bleached spot.

References

• Home Improvements Depot: How to Remove Black Urine Stains From Hardwood Floors... For Under a Dollar
• Old House Web: Best Solutions for Removing Old Pet Urine Stains From Hardwood Floors