Hydrogen peroxide works great as a chemical cleaning agent on various surfaces, including wood floors. It can effectively clean, disinfect, and deodorize your hardwood floor without bleaching out the color of your hardwood floor.
Hydrogen peroxide can effectively clean, disinfect and deodorize hardwood flooring. It can be combined with baking soda to create a powerful pet urine stain and odor remover. Dip a microfiber cloth on hydrogen peroxide solution and lay the cloth over the stain overnight or at least eight hours
Will hydrogen peroxide damage hardwood floors?
While hydrogen peroxide is an effective wood surface cleaner, it also has bleaching properties that may discolor your hardwood floor. However, that’s unlikely to happen, unless you’re using a very powerful hydrogen peroxide formula.
To prevent hardwood floor discoloration, always test out the hydrogen peroxide on a small, concealed section of the floor first. This is especially important if you have a dark hardwood floor, like walnut or red oak, that’s more likely to change color due to bleaching.
You may also cause permanent damage to your wood floor planks if you mix hydrogen peroxide cleaner with other floor cleaning solutions. For instance, you should never attempt to mix it with vinegar solution. The reaction forms peracetic acid, which will corrode your hardwood planks and cause irreversible damage.
Read more; How to Get Cat Urine Out of Wood Subfloor
Can you clean hardwood floors with hydrogen peroxide?
Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most effective cleaning agents for hardwood floors. It effectively gets rid of dirt, dust, and debris built up on wooden surfaces.
Hydrogen peroxide will also effectively break down staining compounds to get rid of liquid stains. This makes it specifically great for hardwood floors, which are porous and readily absorb moisture, pet urine, and liquid spills.
Hydrogen peroxide also has anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. It will, therefore, get rid of any mold fungi, or disease-causing germs within your hardwood floor planks. These properties make it great for sanitizing hardwood floors and preventing potential health issues.
How to Clean Wood Floors with Hydrogen Peroxide
DIY cleaning of old hardwood flooring using hydrogen peroxide is easy and economical. Here are the tools and materials that you’ll need for this task:
- A pair of cleaning gloves
- Microfiber cloths/microfiber mop
- Three-percent hydrogen peroxide
- A spray bottle
- A mop bucket
- 2-3 gallons of water
Here is a procedure for cleaning hardwood floor with hydrogen peroxide;
1. Dilute the Peroxide Cleaner
If your hydrogen peroxide solution comes in a concentrated form (more than 5%), you should dilute it first to avoid bleaching your wood floor. For every 2-6 ounces of hydrogen peroxide, add a gallon of water. You should only dilute as much cleaner as you’ll need, depending on the size of your hardwood floor.
Before starting out, don’t forget to put on protective hand gloves when handling hydrogen peroxide. Failure to do so may result in skin burns and blisters. Hydrogen peroxide may also trigger allergic skin reactions like itching and skin irritation if exposed to concentrated amounts of it.
Note: If you’re using 3% hydrogen peroxide, you can skip this step.
2. Spot-Clean any Stains
Pour the hydrogen peroxide solution into an empty spray bottle and spray directly onto any grease stains or liquid stains on your wood floor surface. Then, let the cleaner sit on the stain for 5-10 minutes. The peroxide cleaner will disintegrate the stain, making it easier to remove with a piece of microfiber cloth.
Once the wait time elapses, use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the wood floor area that you’re working on. Microfiber cloths and mops are less abrasive than regular mops and won’t leave any scuff marks on your hardwood surface. What’s more, they hold less water and thus won’t leave behind excess standing water that will cause moisture damage to your wood floor. For extreme stain leave the hydrogen peroxide to sit on the stain for at least 8 hours.
Read more; How to remove Urine Soaked Into Hardwood Floor
3. Clean the rest of the wood floor
With spot stains already eliminated, you can now proceed to clean the rest of your hardwood floor with the hydrogen peroxide solution. For this part, you’ll need a mop bucket and a microfiber mop.
- Mix the hydrogen peroxide cleaner with a gallon of water inside the mop bucket.
- Then, dip a microfiber mop inside the mop bucket and wring it well to remove excess water that might cause damage to your hardwood surface.
- Run the mop over the wood floor, starting from the furthest corner of the room and working your way towards the door.
Once done, wipe off excess water from the wood floor surface using dry microfiber cloths. The end result should be a clean, shiny, germ-free, and odorless hardwood floor.
Does hydrogen peroxide remove urine stains?
Hydrogen peroxide will effectively get rid of unsightly pet urine stains and the accompanying smell. Dip a microfiber cloth inside a hydrogen peroxide solution before laying the cloth over the stain for at least eight hours.
After the waiting period is over, wipe off the excess solution and dissolved pet urine stain off the wood floor surface with a dry microfiber cloth. If the stain isn’t completely gone, repeat the process all over again.
However, if you don’t fancily repeat applications, consider combining hydrogen peroxide cleaner with baking soda for an even faster pet urine removal solution. Cover the urine stains with microfiber cloths/paper towels dipped in/sprayed with 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and wait for at least eight hours.
After eight hours, remove the cloths or paper towels and apply baking soda directly onto the stained sections. Let the baking soda dry up completely to fully neutralize the urine smell. Finish off by sucking off excess baking soda off the floor surface with a vacuum cleaner.
Take note that applying hydrogen peroxide on wood to remove pet urine stains may cause wood discoloration. If this happens, consider screening and recoating the affected planks to restore their original look and shine.
