Get Paint Off Hardwood Floors
How easy it is to get paint off hardwood floors depends on two things. First, the type of paint. Some types are much easier to clean up than others. Second, how long the paint has been on the wood floor.
Instructions
Get Paint Off Hardwood Floors
1. Assess what type of paint is spilled on the hardwood floor. Water-based paint is almost always fairly easy to remove, especially if it is fairly fresh.
2. Clean it up with the appropriate thinner right away if the paint is still wet. Use a rag wet with water for latex (water-based) paint. Use paint thinner for oil-based paint.
3. Use hot water, and plenty of it, for dried latex paint. Soak an old towel in the hottest water you can. Bunch the towel up and press it down over the paint. Hot water actually sort of melts latex paint, especially if it is less than a month old. By holding a hot, wet towel over it, you are softening the paint. Remove the towel once it starts to cool and rub at the paint vigorously. Use plenty of water. It's fine to have a small puddle over the paint spots. Keep turning the towel and rubbing. Re-wet the towel as necessary.
4. Try a scrub sponge to get older, hardened latex paint off hardwood floors after wetting it with the hot towel. To help prevent scratching the floor, put some furniture oil on the sponge. If you don't have furniture oil, any sort will do. Cooking oil works just as well. The wetter the area is while you are using the sponge, the less likely it will be dulled.
5. Buy some latex paint remover from the hardware store if the other steps don't work. But the commercial removers don't work that much better than hot water and some scrubbing on old dried latex paint.
6. Scrape off excess hardened oil based paint with a razor knife. This will only be possible if the paint is in blobs or thick drips. Resign yourself to touching up your wood floors afterwards.
Removing Dried Oil-based Paint from Hardwood Floors
7. Don't bother using paint thinner on dried paint of any sort because it simply won't work. If you have old dried oil-based paint on your wood floors, you may have to touch up the varnish after removing the paint, since most floor finishes are oil-based, and anything that takes up the old paint will also take up the floor finish.
8. Scrape off excess hardened oil-based paint with a razor knife. This will only be possible if the paint is in blobs or thick drips. Resign yourself to touching up your wood floors afterward.
9. Dampen a rag with acetone or nail polish remover (it's the same thing, basically) and start rubbing at the old paint. Turn the rag frequently and re-wet as necessary. This will take a while, and remember you will be removing the underlying varnish at the same time. There is really no way around this. If there is a considerable amount of paint, you might even consider using paint remover and re-staining and varnishing the floor afterward.
10. Get the closest match you can for the varnish. One quart will go a long way. Most floors are coated with a satin finish. Use a soft, high-quality china bristle brush to apply the varnish over the dull spots. There will be visible brush marks at first, but as the varnish cures they will be less apparent.
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