How to Remove Spray Paint From Wood Floors – 4 Steps Formula

Spray paints can be a wonderful tool in creating beautiful personalized paintings in the building. To some people, it’s an art. To some people, it’s a lifestyle. Some just can’t live without it.

Once you learn the basics, you’ll find it addictive. And the big plus is, as you spray, it dries. So you wouldn’t have to wait until a coating is dried like oil paintings and latex. You just get your design on and on and on till you’re satisfied.

But you can’t be very careful with spraying, and so a little stain is not so bad. Just keep in mind that there’s no better time to remove paint from the floor than when it is wet. Be it spray paint, oil-based, or even gloss.This time, just a rag and a little scrub would get your floor back shinning. But, let’s say you forgetfully ignored it or you didn’t even notice till it was dry. 

Or maybe, there’s a graffiti mural you just have gotten tired of, and you want to get it off your floor. You need to know how to remove spray paint from wood floors.

There are a lot of cleaning chemicals you can use, but I’ll take you through the making of anon toxic homemade cleaner that would offer you the same service as the commercial cleaning products that you can see everywhere.

Things You Will Need

To get this done, we will need

• ¼ cups of Lemon juice
• ¾ cups of Alcohol
• A plastic putty knife or a dull butter knife
• A rag (soaked in acetone)
• A soft toothbrush.

How to Remove Spray Paints From Wood Floors

 Step One: Scrape the surface of the hardwood floor with a scraper or a dull butter knife. This would get the excess paint off the part. A rigid plastic putty knife is the best tool to use for the job. But in the absence of this, a butter knife is okay.

It is therefore advisable to use a dull knife as it would lessen the chances of you scraping not just the paint but scratching the cured surface of your wooden floor.

If the paint has settled into the gap between a pair of boards, use the corner of the pull scraper to remove it. You can also use this same corner of the scraper to remove paint from wood grain depressions.

Step Two: Combine 1/4 cup lemon juice and 3/4 cup rubbing alcohol into a bowl. Stir slightly. Dip the soft toothbrush into the mixture and begin scrubbing the remnant of the paint that has refused to be scraped as much as possible.

This will mostly soften the paint and make it removable by just the use of a rag. Continue applying the cleaning mixture with the toothbrush, then scraping with the putty knife until no more paint is coming off the wood.

Step Three: After this, you can then proceed to dip a rag into acetone and rub it over the spot. This will remove the rest of the paint. Be careful to switch to a clean part of the rag after each swipe, or else you’d be reapplying the paint to the floor.

Step Four: Run a dry rag over the surface once more to get out the residue. With this, the surface should be sparkling clean. And if for any reason you still can’t get it away, just get a soft cloth dipped in mineral spirits and run it over any traces you might still be seeing.

Once the spray paint is gone, you might need to clean the whole floor again with a hardwood cleaner.

The above-mentioned ways are one-off in getting rid of spray paints on your wood.

But, you might need to use commercial paint removal products. 

If and only if the above-mentioned ways are not so efficient, you can then and only then decide to use these commercial products. Why do we warn against them? They seem to be toxic. Some just wouldn’t wait on your wood before they tear your wood finish apart. Doing far above what you’d sent them.

But we know very well that there are just some situations that demand chemical-based paint removal products. So in these cases, here is a list of options to chose from.

Oxalic Acid: Diluted oxalic acid may be applied directly to a paint stain. Oxalic acid is often used to remove rust and stain. While it works perfectly well, we’ll only recommend using it as a last resort because it is highly corrosive and toxic.

Goo Gone: Goo gone is a popular commercial cleaning product

 Home DIY to remove Paints from Wood

Hand Sanitizer

Do you know a hand sanitizer that can remove stubborn paint splatters? Because of its high alcohol content, it can melt the paints, and you’ll just scrub the surface with a rag.

Scrapers

In place of scrapers, you could use a dull putty knife, Spent spatulas, and even old credit cards.

Dish Detergent

When mixing lemon juice and rubbing Alcohol together, add a squirt of dish detergent. This will create a rich lather that will pull the paint off the surface of the floor and ease scraping.

 Toothpicks Too

A toothpick is also another tool that can save the moment during the paint removal process. Use the pointed end to lift up a corner of a stain. And then scrape it off, or then you can bring in the use of

Tweezers

They, too, can be useful in the cleaning process. Instead of using your nails, just grab a corner of a lifted dry paint and peel it off. And the stain is off.

Hairdryer

There are times that your wood might need an elevation from scraping or solvents. It may really need some heat before it really clears off the floor, and in place of a heat gun, you can just run a hairdryer over the surface.

How to remove paint from the wood floor without damaging the finish and wood

The first thing Is to know what kind of paint you are trying to clean off. Is it oil-based or water-based? Water based paint is in one way easy to remove from wood. With the help of a scraper, you’re pulling it off or just with a solvent.

Oil-based stains are hard to remove. They may necessitate the need for chemicals, and the solvents in these chemicals may damage the wood. So, it is advisable to try out methods like the ones I’m about to show before resorting to chemicals.

Using Scrapers And Dishwashing soaps

You can scrape the surface of your floor with a plastic putty knife. Using sharp objects because you feel they can be an option that can cause drastic damage to your floor, so be selective in choosing what to scrape the floor with.

You can as well use a hammer to hit the putty knife when you get to hard spots. After gently scraping the floor, add a drop of mild cleaning dish soap to a damp paper towel, and rub the paint stain.

Get the stain wet with the towel and then rub the towel back and forth for a few minutes. Be mindful of rubbing and not scrub, as too much pressure might make you damage the finish. By now, the paint should be easy to remove. So grab a dry clean rag and run it over the surface. There you go!

Use Paint Removals

This method is probably the quickest way to get paints off your wood without damaging the surface. There are just so many paint removals to choose from on the net and local stores.

Just drectly apply the paint remover on the dried stain by using a cotton ball or swabs and leave the product to soak for about 15 minutes to break down the paint. Wipe out the paint removal and the stains with a paper towel or a rag. If the area is greasy, clean it with mild soap and water to avoid slip hazards. And ta-da!

Another Alternative is Using Denatured Alcohol

 You can always get denatured Alcohol too at your local store. Put the denatured Alcohol on a clean rag. Then wet it on the surface and leave it for some minutes. Probably 20 to 30. The paint will absorb Alcohol and break it for easy removal.

Use a scrub brush to brush the paints. Make sure to apply in a back and forth motion with pressure bringing the bristles of the brush over the entire surface of the stain. This enables thorough and even cleaning.

Rub off the remaining paint with more denatured Alcohol.

Wipe off any excess denatured alcohol with a damp rag or paper towel. And your floor is as good as new.

Cleansing Pad

Buy Alcohol based cleansing Pad at the local store. You can request for cleansing pads designed to fight acne, the acids in them will help break down the paint stain. Scrub the pads on the stains over and over. Change the pad to new ones whenever it dries or get covered in paints till you have completely removed the stains.

Conclusion- How to Remove Spray Paints From Wood Floors

Bottom line is, no matter what paint, the first thing to keep in mind is clean stains when they’re fresh. Nothing works better. And if you find yourself in a situation where you just need to clean them off, avoid the use of chemicals. They can be extremely caustic and can damage your hardwood floor.