Cleaning tar-like substance off old hardwood floor
I am helping a friend clean up a 90+ year old house - we took out the carpet and there is beautiful, golden hardwood floors in the house - however, there is a black, tar like substance on the hardwood floor - no idea what it is or what made the streaks.
I tried Murphy's Oil Soap - nothing - I tried denatured alcohol and that removed the black stuff, along with a ton of elbow grease - Does anyone know if the denatured alcohol will ruin the old finish? I assume it's varnish - Or if there is a better cleaner to try on the wood that won't harm the floor. Thanks.
jennymc Jennymc: Some suggestions from Google to clean the tar like substance off old hardwood floor.. would be: Extremely hot water..citrus degreaser..kerosene..light paint stripper.. A trip to the paint store: A trip to Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. might be a good idea and ask what they would recommend.. Hope that helps!!
joyful 
Firefly Identifying the finish is the key. Mineral spirits is safe for varnish and polyurethane (a form of varnish). Test on a spot under a couch or rug first.
emaxxman Thanks for the suggestions
emaxxman - the room is empty now - if I do a test spot of mineral spirits and the surface becomes tacky, is it too strong?
I don't not want to ruin the nice shine on the hardwood nor have to refinish the floors - this black stuff appeared in 2 rooms covering a lot of the rooms.
I was using an oil based Kilz product for painting elsewhere and I used mineral spirits on my hands to clean of the paint so I have it - I'll give it a try tomorrow.
Different finishes require different solvents. As long as you don't use a solvent to clean the tar that will affect the finish, then you should be fine. The trick here is determining the finish.
Depending on the age, shellac could have been used to coat the floor. Alcohol is used as a solvent for shellac so using it as a cleaner will remove the shellac.
Lacquer thinner will remove almost anything.
Since you already used alcohol, did that mar or dull the finish? It's very easy to see if the finish is dissolved. You would see bare wood.
I would add...I personally would try a stronger degreaser such as Dawn dish detergent (extremely strong) or something like Simple Green. Dawn has less fumes and would definitely not remove any cured finish.
I'll repeat...try in a spot that would be covered up by a rug or furniture first. You just don't know with old houses.
mrs. cleanhttp://www.thewoodworksinc.com/articles/solvents.shtml
Scroll down to the "Which solvent to use as a cleaner " section. You want to follow the instructions in that section.
im thinking anything you use MIGHT take the finish off, so even still i would say try sanding it also.
But even better advice, call a flooring place, Hoffman floors, or something like that and im sure they could make the best suggestion.
icicle Thank you emaxxman, that website was very informative -
As for the denatured alcohol, it cleaned the black stuff but did not affect the finish -
I will try the Dawn detergent too as I recall a tv commercial showing them cleaning oil from ducks after the BP spill.
I spent many years in the flooring industry....my only recommendation would be "Afta". You can get it at most quality flooring stores - I've seen it at Hackettstown Carpet, and also some hardware stores. Good luck.....judging from experience, they should probably be re-finished.
The_Idea_Guy I had some grime on my hardwood floors and I used a steam mop and it took it right up. My floors were sealed, though.
Lady Jayne Sounds like you are getting some good ideas, JennyMc..Hope they work for you..those floors are beautiful..
I'm doing the exact same thing with my hardwood floors, right now--in fact, I just did my master-bedroom floor, last week. And I have that same black substance--usually a remnant from the under-carpet padding. Someone suggested basic mineral spirits, and I was AMAZED at how well it worked. It took the black stuff (and other miscellaneous gunk) off fairly easily, without damaging the floor finish.
I used one of those scrubbing sponges--with the sponge on one side and the green scrubbing pad on the other. I'd pour on some straight spirits, spread it around, and let it sit for a minute. Then, I'd wipe it up with the sponge or scrub lightly for tougher spots. I rinsed with a bucket of clean water, which I changed fairly regularly. NOTE that if it's a really stubborn area and you scrub too much, you could damage the floor finish--it won't really damage the wood, itself, but it can remove the clear coating and even the stain underneath. For some tougher spots (like where there were tiny drips of decades-old paint), I carefully used a 1-inch wood chisel to scrape off the spots without digging into the wood.
After I had done all that, I cleaned the entire floor again, carefully, with diluted Mr. Clean, and let it dry completely. I then used some stuff called "Rejuvenate Wood-Floor Restorer" (available at Home Depot). It's fairly inexpensive, simple to use, and it both helps to restore/protect the wood and give it a nice luster. If you consider using it, just be sure to use one of the micro-fiber mops heads (in the same aisle, at Home Depot) to spread it on, as recommended. I also got a small micro-fiber cloth, to do around the edges of the floor, by hand (so I wasn't slopping the stuff onto the floor trim).
All things considered, my floors came out great--far better than I would have expected. Ideally, they need to be completely sanded and refinished--but we're only fixing the house up for sale, and it's not worth it.
LoneWolf Thank you so much LoneWolf - it sounds like you have a similar situation - in fixing up the house with a friend - we were on a strict budget and redoing the floors was not part of the budget. We also had a concern that a future buyer would install wall to wall carpet. Not everyone likes a wooden floors so why put money into a job that is unnecessary. A clean hardwood floor could be a selling point. We actually have a bigger concern - termites ate some of the flooring under the baseboard heat - covered by carpeting, the termites went undetected for years - You never know when you pull up carpet what you will find. It's quite a learning experience. Thanks again! Jenny
Jenny, I don't know exactly how much damage the termites did. If it's very extensive, then you will not likely find an easy solution--especially underneath the baseboards, like that. The only real solution would be to remove and replace the badly damaged boards, which would also mean temporarily removing the baseboards.
However, if it's just a bunch of small holes, you MIGHT be able to get away with some minor patching with wood filler. It will never come out perfect--but it might be good enough. You will need either good-quality stainable wood filler or pre-colored filler. If you go with the former, you should spread some out on some scrap wood and stain to, to see how it will come out--you might find you'll need a lighter or darker stain than expected.
I used some of the little jars of Minwax pre-colored stain, on my floors, to fill in little holes such as those caused by the tackless strips from previous wall-to-wall carpeting, and it looks great--you don't even notice it. But, if you've never used it before, be warned--once you unseal those little jars, the stuff likes to dry up on you, even if you re-close the jar. It's best to do all of your filling at once.
Thank you all for your assistance in this matter - My friend decided to take the plunge and hire a professional hardwood floor man to fix the termite damage, clean the floors, resand and refinish.
I was not looking forward to crawling around on the floor cleaning the black stuff so this is a great blessing to me!
LoneWolf - the termite damage was extensive on several boards - they became sponge like and you could stick your finger through with no problem - I guess its a good thing the carpet held the couch leg from falling through the floor. Thanks again for your time.
This is what the termites did - I wonder if they are still active in the home ?- The house has a dirt floor in the basement and was very damp. I am just a helper in this project, the homeowner's son will be in charge of calling an exterminator.
Jenny, if the termites were there and they were never exterminated, there's too much risk that they're still there. And they could have caused far more extensive damage than you can see--like structural damage inside the walls. A good exterminator should be a high priority. If you need to find one, let me know--I know a licensed pro who knows what he's doing.
And, yes--it sounds like you do need a professional, to fix the floors properly, if the damage was that bad!
My husband and I bought an 1860's house. the tar-like substance just appeared one da. I cleaned it off, but it reappeared. What is it?! We and our very professional carpenter have no idea what it is. Help! It's somewhat creepy how it reappears. Thank You for Advice!
Pam and Ormand Moore Enatured alcohol is a better solution for cleaning but it is harmful for shining of wood flooring otherwise it is good.
RTA Cabinets I had tiles that were put down with tar, on concrete, at my last house. Only thing that took it off was Methylene chloride, but you don't want to use that. Nasty stuff. Kleen Strip (think that's what it's called) worked alright, not great, and was fairly safe to use.
MeisterNJ 
laurie phillips I hope jenny was able to get the tar out by now. She's had enough time to tear out the old and mill her own flooring. LOL.
MAN 
So I have this exact thing. The tar sports are small but thick as in they slightly protrude from the floor. I am not looking to save the finish as i plan to sand and refinish anyways bit was concerned how well it would sand if i left the tar stuff on there. Can i sand over that, or did anybody mention a good way to get rid of it if you are not concerned with old finish?
Devin 
On a side note, I did try to scrape the thicker spots with a 12" mudding knife then used industrial strength goof off but isn't getting it all the way. This pic is what I was able to get it down to with this method.
I've dealt with that before. I used mineral spirits, sometimes with a scrub sponge (since scratches won't matter). When that wasn't enough, I kind of "shaved" them off, with a sharp one-inch chisel--keeping the blade tight to the floor but never gouging it, and leaving the mineral spirits on the floor to ease the blade.
If you try just sanding, with those gummy spots, it probably won't really harm anything--but it will quickly gunk up the sandpaper, and you'll have to keep changing it, which can be annoying (and cost money). The more you can remove, before sanding, the better.
4catmom I tried goof off but there is still slight spots after I scrub the crap out of it. I am sanding them anyways but was wondering if I could just take sander over top of all this stuff or should I get at least the spots that potrude?
I used borax, soapy water in a spray bottle and a spin brush to get sticky stuff off my floor. I had tried everything before that and was surprised that it worked. Test a spot first, not sure how it reacts with wood.
Use some 2000 grit sandpaper. Dip it in a cup of water to moisten it before you start sanding. With some gentle rubbing you’ll be able to remove the stain without rubbing through the polyurethane coating.
Our house has a 50 year old parquet floor. Last summer the painters left drips on the floor. I used non acetone finger nail polish remover on the spots after I tried goof off and mineral spirts. It worked. Then I washed it by hand with dawn dish soap. I then put teak oil on the wood. It looks good but is sticky . How do I remove the sticky? This was in a closet. Now I need to do the floor. Please send solutions
Dana Tar coming out from wood floors are annoying but there are a lot of ways to clean tar stuck on hardwood floors, but could be a little physical effort. It is important to use the right hardwood floor cleaner for your floor depending on how bad the tar issue is and how old the floor is.
Sanding, using cleaning solvent, and scraping using a dull pointed object are the common ones.
When scraping the tar, use a pointed one but is gentle enough not to cause damage on the floor.
Sand the floor after scraping the wood to smoothen it.
When using a cleaning solvent, put an adequate amount of dry solvent on a clean cloth and rub the tar spill thoroughly. Wipe away the remaining residue with a fresh cloth.
asprucedhome I found pure crunchy peanut butter (no additives, except maybe salt) works quite well on smooth surfaces, such as your hardwood flooring.
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