Help cleaning stains off laminate
Hi all, hoping you might be able to help me. This seemed like the closest Tildes category to post in. Maybe a year ago, I noticed I had tracked something into my apartment on my shoes and it left gunk on the floor. I cleaned as best I could and most of it came off but one major spot stained. Everything I tried wouldn't take it off. Over the last year it darkened and is the darkest spot in the photo.
I was never able to clean it off or figure out exactly what I got stuck on my shoe to cause it. Until a couple days ago when it happened again. And eventually I put two and two together. There's some type of tree that drops some kind of nut or seed near the parking area and when I walk to my trunk after parking I accidentally stepped in one which smushed into my shoe and tracked into the apartment. I don't know what kind of tree or seed it is, but that's what stained it.
Now that it's happened again it's even worse and I cannot for the life of me clean this off. I have tried 409, rubbing alcohol, Goo Gone, bleach, hydrogen peroxide and nothing cleans this crap off more than it is in the photo. Even scrubbed it with a sponge scrub pad and nothing. It's a smooth surface so it's not like a chunk I can scrape off, it's just like stained the laminate floor.
Any suggestions on what else I can use to clean this gunk once and for all without damaging my apartments floor?
Thanks! Here's the photo: https://imgur.com/a/pQ5hw36
Have you tried a Magic Eraser (or similar melamine foam sponge) yet? Those things moistened with a bit of rubbing/isopropyl alcohol have worked wonders for me in taking off stubborn stains from all kinds of surfaces.
Haven't tried that yet, will try that and see if it works
I do something like this for a living. It's hard to tell from the picture what's going on with the floor finish, but it doesn't look great.
My first shot would be thinners. Dampen a bit of rag and give it a wipe. Don't let any excess product sit.
If that doesn't work, it's likely in the finish. If there's a decent build to the finish, and the staining doesn't penetrate too deep, there's options to scrape, buff, and touch up re-spray. A good result is within reach of someone who's handy.
Beyond that, how would a little rug there look?
So here's something to try - whitening toothpaste (usually contains a peroxide) and a soft scrub brush. I've gotten berry and beet juice stains out of plastic cutting boards that way. The fine abrasive in toothpaste doesn't damage tooth enamel, though there's no guarantee it won't dull the laminate finish slightly.
Toothpaste is an interesting idea, I can give that a shot
Another alternative is an enzyme-based stain remover, like this, before a conventional oxidizing stain remover. The enzyme solution should help break down any waxes, oils, and proteins that are holding the pigments in place. I've used enzyme-based pet stain remover successfully to get red wine or dried blood out of white wool carpet (thanks, cat!).
A random Reddit thread about removing stains suggested checking what your flooring’s manufacturer recommends, which probably isn’t a bad idea. Also note that some laminate floors have a wear layer of sorts that will have the same image printed through it — so you “might” be able to very carefully sand down through the stain, unless it somehow soaked into the solid plastic.
I have no idea who the manufacturer would be, and I don't really want to ask my landlord that lol. I could try sanding a tiny bit to see if that'll be a good idea or not haha.
A magic eraser will do the sanding at a gentler pace, that's basically what it does. I'd start with that before progressing up to sandpaper
Ah, I apologize -- I didn't realize that you were renting! 100% agreed with DefinitelyNotAFae (and cfabbro); a magic eraser is the better option. For context, melamine sponges (such as the magic eraser) act as an extremely fine abrasive, as they're constantly breaking down into microplastics while in use. They're super cheap and probably safe, but best to use in a corner you don't expect the landlord to look in first.
I'll throw this idea out there, even though it doesn't exactly match the story with the fruit trees... In the past we had mysterious stains that eventually came out with acetone, nail polish remover. They were light brown glossy stains on door frames that, in hindsight, someone doing work on our home may have left behind, and we tried all sorts of cleaning products, and none worked, until we finally tried acetone
Acetone is a pretty damn strong solvent, so I don't know if I would recommend using it on laminate flooring. It would probably dissolve the laminate finish and maybe even the adhesive holding all the layers and wood fiber together. So it would definitely be a last resort sort of thing for me, personally.
That's a really good point. Be careful with acetone OP @semsevfor