Expert: Eileen Cronk - 4/27/2007

Question
I have removed all carpeting from my home and I am going to have my hardwood floors sanded and refinished.  The staircase and baseboard are very dark from years behind the carpet.  I would like to clean/strip this GUMWOOD before the men come to do the floors.  What should I use to do this?

Answer
Hi Brendan
Nice to hear from you.
Stripping with paint stripper will get you back down to bare wood and I think that is what you want to do.
I cannot imagine that just cleaning will get the results you want.
But keep in mind this will be a tremendous job to undertake...I've done it LOL
And as I sit here thinking of this awful job, I wonder if you should first try a cleaning. Perhaps its worth a try before anything else. Even just a test area to see if it looks ok.
Get a box of medium steel wool and a bottle of mineral spirits (varsol).
Use the steel wool as a scrubber dipped in the varsol.
Varsol will remove wax and dirt and is an excellent degreaser too.
If this suits, then a top coat should be applied to protect the wood.
If this fails, then any good paint stripper will do the Job. Personally I use "Circa" brand.
Good luck and thanks for a great question.
Regards
Eileen