Cleaning maple floors- mysterious stains
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We used the Rubio clear coat on our flat sanded maple floors. I don't remember the stain appearing for a number of weeks after we did the finish. Embedded stains that cannot be removed with polishers, cleaners harsh or natural, magic sponges, etc. Is the stain then embedded in the finish? Do I have to resand and darken the stain?
Maple Floor
7 answers
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Did you use any protective clear stain before you used a clear coat?
Janet Pizaro
on Jan 14, 2016
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I don't know what this is but my hard pine did the same thing. My floors were dark so doesn't show as much. maybe something to do with saw-blade they cut the wood with.So don't know if making them darker will help. Sorry
Wanda.ll
on Jan 15, 2016
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Thanks Janet, Rubio is a mono coat an oil-wax finish from Belgium I think. We used the clear on the Maple. We also used it on our oak floors, but the deeper brown brown doesn't show the dirt ;-)
Alison Pentland
on Jan 15, 2016
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Go here and see if anything can help. Also go to their website and see might even call Trudy and have her look she might can help you fix. http://www.happyhandyman.com/Johnnies-Tips-s/1826.htm
Wanda.ll
on Jan 15, 2016
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Here's a link to the magazine for The National Wood Flooring Association regarding how to finish maple wood flooring. My previous home I had red oak flooring, which I had professionally refinished, which had the sealing finish done, but followed by polyurethane to protect the finish. http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/sanding-finishing/how-to-sand-stain-amp-finish-maple-wood-flooring.html
LD
on Jan 15, 2016
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My hardwood floors in places have lost its shine. Without sanding them any ideas how to fix
Michele Ross
on Jan 17, 2016
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Keep in mind I am talking specifically about Rubio Mono Coatings and Sugar Maple Floors. The Mono coat is a hardwax-oil that colours and protects the wood in one single layer, not Polyurethane or urethane finish. My problem, notwithstanding, does not change my love of the Rubio products. Think of it more like how you care for an antique table, low VOC, low lustre and need occasional attending to, so Rubio is not for everyone. It looks like I will have to refinish my floor. Rubio's manufacturer said from the photo, stains aside, that we would need another coat anyway to insure complete coverage. General floor trouble-shooting, Ray suggested these steps. 1- Contact the contractor to see how the floor was sanded and prepped. Since we are the contractors, I can safely say we sanded all the floors the same way and applied the Rubio in the same way. The big difference is the Sugar Maple versus the Oak and most of us know how hard it is to properly coat maple with stain. Ray also gave the following recommendations. 2- Try more aggressive cleaners to remover the deep ground in dirt, but understand you will need to recoat to replenish the oil that was stripped. I tried 4-5 ready made cleaners, including Rubio, and 2-3 homemade cleaners, even polishers and magic pads. Nothing worked. Rubio would not recommend any particular cleaner, but Ray emphasized DON'T get a cleaner with a wax base which will leave a residue and cause problems for future recoatings and DON'T use a bleach based cleaner, it may burn the wood itself and create a blotchy look. 3 - If cleaning still doesn’t remove all the deep dirt you will need to sand and recoat to insure the proper oil protection. It's clear that, in spite of our best efforts, this stain is deeply embedded probably in the first two weeks we did it. I will repost after we have redone the floor, but first we need to figure out our plan of action so this doesn't happen again. Thanks for everybody's support.
Alison Pentland
on Jan 21, 2016
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