Fresh or old, paint stains on a floor don’t look great… Did you know that there are effective techniques for eliminating them? Here are the products and methods you need to know to save your tiles or your parquet, whatever the type of paint that disfigures them.
Fresh traces of paint on a tiled floor: action!
Oops, a stain of fresh paint has just fallen on the tiles! A little clumsiness can happen… No worries: with the right tools, you can remove unwanted paint from your tiles.
Acrylic paint ? White vinegar and black soap.
Since acrylic paint is a water-based paint, it is quite easy to remove. Two techniques prove to be as effective as each other.
- White vinegar, slayer of dry marks! In a liter of boiling water, pour half a liter of white vinegar. Pour this mixture into a bucket. Immerse a mop in it and pass it on the floor, without wringing it. After letting it sit for ten minutes, you can brush off the paint stains with a stiff bristle brush. After brushing, mop a second time with vinegar water. Finally, rinse the floor with hot water and black soap.
- Solo black soap for fresh stains. A mop soaked in a mixture of hot water and black soap will be enough to remove fresh paint. If necessary, do not hesitate to make two or three passes.
Glycero paint? An arsenal of stripping products.
The glycero paint is much more resistant. Likewise oil paint or epoxy resin. For these paints, stripping products are necessary. There are several, all effective: acetone, scarlet water, white spirit, methylated spirit.
Choose the one you want and soak a cloth in it. Rub the traces of paint with it, then leave to act for a few minutes. Then scrape gently with a stiff bristle brush, then wash with warm water and black soap. Be sure to ventilate the room well and protect yourself when using these products.
Dry paint on a tiling: the big ways!
Your tiles are stained with dry and super-dry paint, Madam Archduchess? Never mind, there are absolute weapons to overcome!
A few small stains: a chance at scratching
To remove multiple small spots of dried paint, start with a painter’s knife or scraper. Carefully scrape each spot to remove as much paint as possible. Go slowly so as not to scratch the tiles. Secondly, clean the floor: with a diluted household product for acrylic paint, or with a solvent for glycero paint (white spirit for example). Then rinse the tiles generously.
A large surface of acrylic paint, it peels off!
If your tiles are covered with a large area of acrylic paint, nothing is lost. The wallpaper stripper is your chance! With this machine, which combines heat and humidity, you can soften a large area of paint. Run the stripper and let the paint soften. After ten minutes, remove the puddle of paint with a spatula. Finally, clean the last residue from your tiles with a diluted household cleaner.
To remove all the paint from a tile: stripping
If you want to redo all the paint on a tile, you have to remove the old paint. For this type of operation, a stripping product becomes essential. This time you need to properly protect the room and the furniture. Yourself, equip yourself with a mask, protective glasses and gloves, and wear a covering outfit.
- Choose a small area for and apply the paint stripper with a flat brush over the paint.
- Leave to act, then scrape off the paint.
- Do this little by little over the entire surface.
- When you are finished, clean the residue with an abrasive sponge.
- Wash the tiles with soapy water to remove the stripper.
- Finish with a generous rinse with clear water.
Stripping can be done after you have softened the paint with a wallpaper stripper. Softened, the paint peels off with a spatula. The stripping product then intervenes to remove the remaining paint. You can repeat the stripping operation several times, until all paint residue is completely eliminated.
Heavens, my floor is stained with paint!
Rest assured, there are different methods for removing paint from a parquet floor. They vary according to the paint surface to be removed and the nature of the parquet. If the paint stain is fresh or already old, the technique will have to be adapted.
Terre de Sommières: a natural and effective product
This cleansing clay deserves a little presentation. Its secret lies in its incredible absorbency, which makes it a formidable natural cleanser. Known for neutralizing grease stains on various materials (textiles, leather, marble, etc.), Sommières clay works wonders on wood. It can save your floor, whatever type of paint is clogging it.
You just need to do it in three steps: sprinkle dirt on paint stains, let it work three hours, aspire. No need to rub, the earth absorbs the paint on its own. This product acts in the same way on all types of parquet: waxed, floating, vitrified, laminate.
It should be noted that its effectiveness is greater on fresh paint. The drier or older the paint, the longer you need to leave the Sommières soil to act (i.e. more than three hours).
If you want to remove a very old paint, encrusted on the floor, you still have a secret weapon… Just mix the soil of Sommières with a little essence of turpentine. With the resulting paste, gently dab the paint spots. You can then resume the previous technique. When handling these products, be sure to ventilate the room properly and protect yourself.
On a wooden floor, the acrylic paint washes off with soap
Acrylic is a water-based paint, without fixer. To remove it, you just need to use Marseille soap or a simple dishwashing product. Mix soap or dishwashing liquid with water. Put a few drops on a cloth and rub the stain (feel free to add your elbow grease!). If you use an abrasive sponge, be careful not to scratch the floor! Wipe with a dry cloth. If there are traces left, start over again.
On a laminate floor, it is better to act quickly as long as the paint is fresh. On solid parquet, it’s the opposite: wait until the paint is dry.
Glycero paint stains on a parquet floor: make way for solvents!
Glycero paints are made to resist time. To eliminate them, equip yourself with a spatula or a scraper and use a product such as white spirit or acetone. Begin by scraping the stain. But be careful, it is a question of scraping gently, otherwise your floor will be scratched. After the scratching phase, put a little solvent product on a cloth and gently dab the stains to soak them in the product. The goal is to remove excess paint. Let it act a little, then rub with your cloth. If necessary, do not hesitate to repeat the operation once again.
If you have to operate on a varnished parquet floor, we cannot strongly advise you to give it a try in a corner. Indeed, solvent products can dissolve the varnish. Try the technique and reproduce it when you are sure that the varnish resists.
For fully painted parquet, stripping operation
Stripping products are essential if you want to remove all the paint from a painted floor. Start by protecting the room and equipping yourself with eye and face protection, not to mention a covering outfit and gloves.
Apply a good coat of paint stripper to a small area of paint. Leave to act for the necessary time (see product instructions), then scrape off the paint using a wooden spatula. When this area is finished, repeat the operation on the rest of the floor, small area by small area. Once the entire surface has been treated, let it dry according to the time indicated in the instructions. Finally, remove the last paint residues with a cleaning brush.
To respect your parquet, always strip and brush in the direction of the wood grain.