How to Remove Dried Paint from Hardwood Floors

Having hardwood floors in your home is considered a luxury these days as it has become expensive to install them anew. If the previous owners of your house decided to paint them or if someone spilled some paint on them, they can become unsightly. So, is there a way to remove paint from your hardwood floors?

To remove dried paint from hardwood floors, you can either sand them or use a paint scraper, soap, and water. You can also use rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol, a paint removal solvent, paint thinner, or cleaning pads. However, some methods require you to take some safety precautions.

In this article, we will discuss how to determine what type of paint is on your hardwood floors, how to remove water-based, latex, and oil-based paints from your floor, and how to remove paint splatters from your floors. We will also discuss how to remove paint from your floor without sanding it. So, let’s get started!

Determining what type of paint is on your hardwood floors

The very first thing you need when trying to remove dried paint from hardwood floors is to determine what type of paint it is. There are three main types of paint: water-based, latex-based, and oil-based. Each of these types of paint has a different removal method.

To determine what type of paint is on your floors (if you don’t already know what it is), take some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and gently rub it on the surface of the paint. If paint comes off, then the paint on your floors is water-based or latex paint. if it doesn’t, then the paint on your floors is oil-based.

If you have hardwood floors in your house that are either partially or fully painted and want to remove the paint (whether it’s oil-based to redo it in a different color or to restore the floors back to their natural state), some challenges might arise. 

How you remove paint from hardwood floors heavily depends on the type of paint, so we have listed several ways you can remove paint from wood floors for water-based, latex-based, and oil-based paints.

Regardless of what you want to do with your floors after removing the paint, your wood must be properly cleaned and prepped beforehand. 

It is also worth mentioning that none of these methods is a one-stop solution to remove all paint from your floors, and you will likely need help from one (or two) of the other methods mentioned.

How to Remove Dried Water-Based Paint from Hardwood Floors

Water-based paints consist of a pigment, a binder, and water serving as a carrier. They are the most commonly used type of paint and also the most eco-friendly type of paint. They dry quickly and have no strong odor. They are also relatively easy to clean. However, you can apply a few different methods to remove water-based paints from hardwood floors.

Sand the paint off

The easiest way to remove large amounts of paint from your floors is by sanding the paint off. This requires an electric hand sander, such as the BLACK+DECKER Mouse Detail Sander, and various grits of sandpaper for the sander (60 grit, 80 grit, and 120 grit work best), which you can get in a pack, such as the BLACK+DECKER Sandpaper Assortment Pack of 12.

Additionally, you will need regular sandpaper for manual use, such as the Fandeli sandpaper sheets assorted grit.

Here are the steps to sand your floors:

1. First, make sure you have all the necessary equipment. If you don’t want to buy an electric sander, you can rent one at your local hardware store.
2. Use your electric sander and start sanding your floors to remove the paint. Start with the 60-grit paper to get rid of most of the paint.
3. Then proceed with the 80-grit and 120-grit sandpaper. These will ensure that your floor is smooth and eliminate any rough sanding marks left by the 60-grit sandpaper.
4. Once you are finished sanding with the electric sander, you may need to do some hand sanding with some sandpaper to reach hard-to-reach areas like corners and between planks.
5. If your plank has deeper grooves that cannot be reached with sandpaper, you may need to use a paint scraper like the Allway Tools Contour Scraper to remove the paint there.
6. Once you have removed all the paint, you can finish your floors in your preferred way, such as waxing, sealing, staining, or repainting in a different color.

Use a paint scraper

If the paint on your floors is already peeling off, you can use a paint scraper like the 3-inch paint scraper by Toughest Tools to scrape off the already loose paint. If you can’t remove paint with a paint scraper, you can try sanding it off or using one of the other methods described below.

Use water and soap

One of the amazing things about using water-based paint is that it can often be easily cleaned with water and soap. For this, you will need a bucket of warm soapy water and a few old rags that you don’t mind getting dirty (and most likely discarding).

Here are the steps to go about removing dried water-based paint with water and soap:

1. Mix some dish soap with warm (not hot) water in a bucket.
2. Use a rag to wet the entire surface of the painted floor with the soapy water. Make sure it’s not soaking wet, but it should remain slightly damp for a few minutes.
3. Allow the water to sit on the paint for a few minutes to soften and loosen the paint from the planks.
4. Then, take the damp rag and scrub over the paint until it loosens up. You can use a brush (an old toothbrush or any other floor brush) to remove stubborn paint or paint that is stuck in a crack in the wood.
5. Use a dry rag to wipe off excess paint and moisture.
6. If there is still paint that hasn’t loosened, you can remove it with a paint scraper or an electric sander.

Use rubbing alcohol

If sanding, scraping, and trying water and soap on your paint didn’t quite lead to success, you can try applying this next method to remove the last bits of paint from your floors. This method can also be used as a first option and then followed by another method if it doesn’t fully remove the paint.

To get the best results with this method, you need to give the rubbing alcohol mixture some time to work on the paint. For this method, you will need a few old rags that you can discard after use, rubbing alcohol (also known as isopropyl alcohol), lemon juice, and a brush to scrub the floors with. So, let’s get to using a rubbing alcohol mixture to remove paint from your floors!

Follow these steps to remove dried water-based paint with rubbing alcohol:

1. Create the rubbing alcohol-lemon juice mixture by mixing three parts rubbing alcohol with one part lemon juice. The amount you need of this mixture depends on how much of your floor is covered with paint.
2. Cover the painted area with a rag soaked in the alcohol-lemon juice mixture. Leave it on for about five minutes to let it soften the paint and loosen it from the planks.
3. Then, scrub the paint with the rag to make it come off. You can use a brush (an old toothbrush or another floor brush) to remove stubborn paint or paint that is stuck in a crevice in the wood.
4. If there is still paint left, you can remove it fully with a paint scraper or a sanding machine.

Now that we’ve covered how to remove water-based paints, we can move on to removing latex-based paints from your floors.

How to Remove Dried Latex Paint from Hardwood Floors

Latex paints are very similar to water-based paints. However, they can sometimes be more difficult to clean or get rid of and require stronger cleaning materials. There are a few methods you can try to remove latex paint from your floors.

Sand the paint off

Removing large amounts of paint from your floors can be a laborious task, but sanding is by far one of the easiest ways to get the paint off. For this, you will need an electric sander, different grits of sandpaper for the sander (preferably 60 grit, 80 grit, and 120 grit), a paint scraper, and some regular sandpaper that you can use by hand.

Here are the steps to sand your floors:

1. Sand your planks with some 60-grit sandpaper on your electric sander until most of the paint comes off.
2. If the paint doesn’t come off easily with the sander, you may need to heat it up first with the heat gun or a hairdryer.
3. Hold your hairdryer (set on the highest temperature setting) or heat gun about 3 inches away from the paint for about one minute. The heat will reduce the adherence of the oil-based paint to your floors.
4. Once the paint is warmed up, you can remove the paint again with your sander. You’ll need to regularly reheat the paint as you move to a new spot.
5. Then, once most of the paint is gone, you can smooth out the floor with the 80-grit and 120-grit sandpaper to remove any paint residue.
6. If there is still paint left in the corners of your room, between the planks, or in scratch marks on your floor, you can remove it with a paint scraper or normal sandpaper.
7. Now that you’ve got rid of all the paint, you can clean your floor with a vacuum and then apply a fresh coat of finish to it.

Use a paint scraper

If paint is already peeling off from your floors, you can use a heat gun or a hairdryer to soften it and then scrape it off with a paint scraper. If there is still paint remaining on the planks after that, you can remove it with a sanding machine, paint solvent, or paint thinner.

Use denatured alcohol

The next method you can try is using denatured alcohol to remove the paint from your hardwood floors. For this method, you will need a few old rags that you can discard after use, denatured alcohol, also known as rubbing alcohol, lemon juice, and a scrubber or toothbrush to scrub the floors. So let’s get to using a denatured alcohol mixture to remove paint from your floors!

Follow these steps to remove dried latex paint with denatured alcohol:

1. Soak one of your rags in denatured alcohol or rubbing alcohol.
2. Cover the area of the floor you want to remove paint from with the denatured alcohol-soaked rag.
3. Soak your rag again and rub the paint off your planks. You will need to resoak your rag regularly as denatured alcohol evaporates quickly.
4. Wipe off excess paint and alcohol with a dry rag to keep your floor clean and dry once you’re finished removing the paint.
5. If there is still paint left, you can remove it with a scraper or sander.

If denatured alcohol didn’t remove all the pain pigments from your planks, you can try using one of the above methods or the one explained next.

Use a paint removal solvent

An effective way to remove paint from a large area of your floor is to use a paint removal solvent. You can get a variety of paint removal solvents at your local hardware store. Just make sure to get one that is made for latex paints; otherwise, it won’t get rid of the paint. You will also need some rags to apply and wipe off the product.

Follow these steps to remove dried latex paint with a paint removal solvent:

1. Apply the paint remover to the area of the painted floor with one of your rags.
2. Allow it to sit on the paint for the recommended time mentioned on your solvent bottle to let the solvent break the paint down so you can remove it.
3. Then, wipe off the dissolved paint and excess solvent with a dry cloth. If the solvent has made your floor slightly slippery, you can clean it up with some water and dish soap.
4. If there is still any paint left, you can apply one of the methods mentioned above to get rid of the excess.

Now that we’ve talked about how to get rid of latex paint, let’s discuss how to remove oil-based paints from your hardwood floors.

How to Remove Dried Oil-Based Paint from Hardwood Floors

Oil-based paints consist of a pigment, a resin, a natural oil (such as linseed) or synthetic oil (such as alkyd), and a solvent thinner used as a carrier. Oil-based paints are very durable and are used on surfaces that aren’t meant to have their color changed frequently or things that need to withstand regular contact, such as surfaces we’re about to discuss.

Sand the paint off

One of the best ways to remove significant amounts of oil-based paint from a hardwood floor is by sanding. This requires an electric sander, sandpaper for the sander with different grits (60 grit, 80 grit, and 120 grit work best), normal sandpaper for hand use, a paint scraper, and possibly a heat gun like the PRULDE Dual Heat Gun with Temperature Setting or a hairdryer.

Here are the steps to sand your floors:

1. Make sure you have all the equipment you need. If you don’t want to buy something like an electric sander or heat gun, you should be able to rent these at your local hardware store.
2. Use your electric sander and a 60 grit of sandpaper to sand your floors to remove most of the paint.
3. If the paint doesn’t come off easily with the sander, you may need to heat it up with the heat gun or hairdryer first.
4. Hold your hairdryer (set on the highest temperature setting) or heat gun about 3 inches away from the paint for about one minute. The heat will reduce the adherence of the oil-based paint to your floors.
5. Once the paint is warmed up, you can remove the paint again with your sander. You’ll need to regularly reheat the paint as you move to a new spot.
6. Then, once the majority of paint is gone, you can smooth out the floor with 80-grit and 120-grit sandpaper to remove any paint residue.
7. If paint remains in the corners of your room, between the planks, or in scratches on your floor, you can remove it with a paint scraper or normal sandpaper.
8. Now that you’ve removed all the paint, clean your floor with a vacuum, and then apply a new coat of finish to it.

Use a paint scraper

If part of the paint is already loosening and peeling off from your floors, you can use a heat gun or a hairdry