Start with coarse 80-grit sandpaper in a manual hand sander or power sander. Using enough pressure to remove the paint but not so much that it damages the wood. Move to medium 150-grit abrasive and finish with fine 220-grit, brushing away dust from the surface each time you change paper.
Depending on how much paint is left after using paint remover, you can use either an orbital floor sander or a drum floor sander. Drum sanders are capable of ripping off even the most stubborn paint from wood floors. This also means that they are capable of stripping off much of the wood from the floor or gouging it.
Mix Isopropyl Alcohol and Lemon Juice
Use the damp rag to scrub away the loosened paint. If the paint still won't budge, dip an old toothbrush or small nylon-bristled scrub brush in the solution and scrub away the paint. Finish by wiping the area with a rag dipped in clean water and wrung until just damp.
Apply sandpaper with hand sander or sanding block. Use enough pressure to remove the paint, but be very careful not to damage the wood. Use 180-grit sandpaper on most coats, but switch to a coarser 80-grits when removing thick old paint.
Using sandpaper
It's also a natural and chemical-free way to remove varnish. It can however be labour-intensive: Start with 150-grit sandpaper and sand the entire surface. Then, move onto 220-grit sandpaper and repeat.
Your floor needs to be sanded in stages with progressively finer abrasives for the best finish. Starting with grit 40, then grit 60 and finally grit 100 is tipically a good procedure for most wood floors. The goal with the first coarse abrasive is to remove the old surface coating and to flatten the surface.
180 – 220 grit is primarily used for the sanding finish or to sand in-between coats. It is also great for distressing! There are instances where you can use 180 to 220-grit to rough up a piece in preparation for paint, but you do not typically use these grits until after your first coat.
Caustic paint removers take off most finishes and are particularly good at getting rid of thick layers of paint and varnish. They give off fewer fumes than solvent-based paint strippers, are cheaper and tend to work faster.
Three common ways to strip paint from wood are heating, chemical stripping, or sanding. There are a handful of different products to choose from for each of these methods.
For this scenario, the common choice is using paint thinners to assist in scraping off those hardened paint stains. Use a rag and dampen it with paint thinner, then rub it off the stained area. For the remaining stains on your wooden floor, you can use a putty knife or vinyl card to lightly scrape them out.
For large, flat surfaces, sanding is usually the best option. For smaller, more detailed pieces, stripping might be a better choice.
Removing Paint From Floor Using WD-40
Irrespective of how stubborn they are, if you want to remove paint stains from your floor, WD-40 Multi Use Product gets the work done in a few minutes. All you need is a can of WD-40 and you will have a sparkling clean floor at your disposal.
Sanding wood floors & refinishing yourself will definitely save money, and even an inexperienced homeowner can likely do a better job than the lowest bidding handyperson who quotes on it. Once you understand the basics, a quality final result on your wood floor is more about patience than anything else.
Before painting over old paint on wood, scraping all loose, cracking, chipping, or peeling paint must be abrasively removed. Once this is done, wood is ready for a good bonding primer. Allowing primer to dry, your finish coat will properly bond, lasting many years.
'To make your own paint remover, simply take a dish or vessel and pour in one part ammonia, one part borax (both naturally occurring elements) and one part washing soda,' Michael says. 'Also add a small amount of water. Two tablespoons is perfect for one cup of each ingredient, so scale up/down from there. '
Acetone can also be used as a paint stripper and to clean up after projects.
So, through the tried and tested process of trial and error, they discovered that vinegar does a pretty good job of removing paint from wood surfaces.
For heavy sanding and stripping, you need coarse sandpaper measuring 40- to 60-grit; for smoothing surfaces and removing small imperfections, choose 80- to 120-grit sandpaper. For finishing surfaces smoothly, use a super fine sandpaper with 360- to 600-grit.
You could use 120 as a medium, do all the things sandpaper, 80 grit if you want to really rough up a finish or do a little shaping and 220 grit for final sanding between coats of paint or poly. But if you want a little more flexibility, here is a fuller picture of the sandpaper grits and their uses.
#180–#220 Grit: Fine
Sometimes, fine-grit sandpaper is used to roughen glossy paint in preparation for applying another coat. Bare wood that will be stained often should not be sanded with higher than 220-grit paper. Fine or ultra-fine sandpaper grits are used for furniture work.
Sandpaper grits for wooden flooring generally range from 16 to 150 grit, with 150 being the finest grit. The more damage you intend to sand away, the coarser your grit should be. Most sanding jobs start with the grit in the 30s and then go for the finer options to achieve a smoother finish near the end.