ᐅ Oiled Wood Flooring Has Stains – Any Experiences?

Three years ago, I had engineered wood flooring installed over underfloor heating in my new build, which was initially treated with three coats of Osmo hardwax oil. By now, I have many ugly stains, especially in the kitchen and under the table. The flooring is surprisingly sensitive to (water) stains.

How can I restore the flooring? I would prefer not to sand it because the top layer only allows for one sanding. After just three years, that seems too soon.

Can I simply apply a new layer of oil over the stains? Or do I need to treat the stains first? The water stains are darker than the wood floor but not black or oxidized. The grease stains are also darker but without oxidation. So I have these wood-colored but darker spots all over the floor.

I hope someone here has experience with this. Thanks in advance!

The floor already looks very worn after such a short time. Haven't you maintained or oiled it in the meantime?

I would simply re-oil it (hard oil or hardwax oil). This will darken and enrich the leached wood again, making the stains less visible or hardly noticeable at all.

I added wax to the cleaning solution, but only mopped approximately every 4 to 6 weeks.

The stains appeared fairly quickly from the beginning, but not as fast as they do now. I urgently need to re-oil.

Thank you for your tips!

It is open-pored, so these floors are very sensitive.
I once had an open-pored wooden table, and after a while, you could see every grease stain. Water stains could somehow be wiped away.
I then applied a generous amount of oil. I don’t recommend that, because you end up with a greasy surface for weeks.
So, oil it—but only according to the instructions. My experience with tables has led me to choose a lacquered parquet floor.

Good luck, it would really be a shame to have to keep looking at the floor because it basically has a nice color.

ypg schrieb:

Good luck, it would really be a shame to have to settle for just looking at the floor since it basically has a nice color.

Thank you very much!

I can report that I worked on the floor yesterday. It was quite an expensive process, but it was worth it. First, I sprayed all the stains with "spotstop" from Boca. It’s some kind of product for removing grease. Very handy—you spray it on the stains, and the moisture in the product evaporates fairly quickly, leaving behind a white powder that you can sweep away.
After that, I cleaned the entire floor with a cleaning agent, using "Wisch-Fix" from Oslo. I actually used much more than the recommended amount in the mop water.
Afterward, the floor already looked good, but it was still dry.

Then, in the evening, I applied oil (more precisely, hardwax oil). This morning, everything looks very good. The floor is ready to walk on.

Unfortunately, you can still see some roller marks here and there. Now I’m considering applying another coat of hardwax oil. What do you think? Would that help to eliminate the roller marks?

Hello Bertram100

These stains can be removed using diatomaceous earth (also known as Kieselgur) and stain remover solvent. Here is the procedure: mix a paste from diatomaceous earth and stain remover solvent, apply it to the stains, let it sit for 6–24 hours, and then wipe off the powder. This method is simple, does not damage the parquet flooring in any way, and can be used without any special precautions. Both ingredients are available at most pharmacies or drugstores (at least here in Switzerland).

Best regards