Comments on: How Can I Remove Carpet Adhesive From A Wood Floor?

By: gldnsiln

gldnsiln — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:37:08 +0000

You also might try WD-40. It is a lubricant. Spray it on and let it sit for awhile. Then take a rough towel and a plastic or teflon scraper and see if it works.

By: eddiebud

eddiebud — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:11:03 +0000

Try Naptha, it is a solvent similar to lighter fluid and should not harm the floor finish. It’s possible the adhesive was water based and if that’s the case, scraping and sanding are your only good options but you will then need to refinish the hardwood floors.

By: dipndry

dipndry — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:32:21 +0000

Try Acetone in very small qty (Test)

By: After

After — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:33:21 +0000

there is an upright hardwood floor sander you can rent. its worth its weight in gold.

By: al

al — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:28:08 +0000

use mineral spirits

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:55:22 +0000

I recently did this on a set of wooden stairs in my home. My son purchased a concentrated adhesive remover from Lowe’s. I ran out and went to Wal-Mart to see if they had something I could use. They have two items there, the one I chose was OrangeGlo. I painted it on the stairs and left to play on the computer for 30 minutes(cure time), when I returned I fell flat of my back. This stuff is very slippery, please be careful! You will need a straight edge utility scraper for the stubborn places. My stairs are not complete, I will get back to them soon, but I will be more careful on the next try!

By: John G

John G — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:16:52 +0000

Basically a manual operation, Patty. Rip up the old pad, then scrape away as much of the old adhesive as you can. Product such as “Goof Off” and Goo-Gone” may help. Then, rent a floor sander (or hire a floor sanding company) to go after the rest of it.
If YOU do the sanding, do it WITH the grain and KEEP MOVING else the sander will start to dig in. Start with heavt grit belts. Don’t try to get it all in one pass, go back and forth, grabbing some with each pass. Once the bulk of it is up, switch to fine grit. Messy work.