How to get 'grease' off a laminate wood floor "

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Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Long story but there is a section with a wax like substance on.
I tried warm soapy water to no avail.
There must be a basic household item that will work**
**as I type I am thinking white vinegar so will try that.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
White spirit? Thats a good degreaser, should harm laminate floor, and is ljablemto be found in the home. Failing that, WD40 is high in something akin to stoddard solvent, followed up by warm soapy water.
 

Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
I'd try a small section first, in case it marks the floor. Yes vinegar, or brake cleaner. WD is good at removing certain things but you don't want anything oily penetrating the wood, so I'd opt for brake cleaner after using the WD as well
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
WD is really good, any bike degreaser, neat washing up liquid, brake cleaner (has lots of uses TBH). If it's thick, might be worth scraping any excess off if you can first.
 

dan_bo

How much does it cost to Oldham?
Since the vid started I've had a spray bottle of 70%IPA with a squirt of washing up liquid on the kitchen side. Bloody handy it is too. Cuts right through oily stuff without damaging most substrates.
 

figbat

Slippery scientist
A simple chemical principle - like dissolves like. So if it is a waxy, fatty, oily substance then something similar will lift it, so a very light oily substance like WD40 or a hydrocarbon solvent like paraffin. An additional approach is detergents, which act to enable the mixing of oil and water, but if this is a wax that is set solid then some heat may help soften it first (hot soapy water). If the laminate is faced with a melamine layer then this should be pretty resistant to most things, but anything really aggressive is worth testing (solvents like acetone, IPA or anything caustic).

When we had our uPVC windows fitted a few years ago the fitter used a solvent to clean the sealant off of the plastic frames - he left the remainder behind and it is a fantastic solvent for lifting most sticky residues; not sure what it is but is smells like ethyl acetate.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
I'd be inclined to try meths or isoprop. Less likely to damage varnish, though risks spreading the stain. Otherwise a lighter, thinner
oil like petrol or paraffin first, the clean off with meths. Things like acetone or carbon tet (probably now banned) risks dissolving the varnish.

As an aside, an anecdote from when my boss and I were staying in a rather splendid faded-glory type hotel. It was always a bit of a shambles with no one in charge but very helpful and friendly staff who'd make decisions in the fly. Anyhow one evening we went to the restaurant for food, and one of the staff apologised that it was closed, but we could go to the "main restaurant", (actually a bare function room) which we didn't know existed despite having stayed there on and off for a year. Anyhow we overheard a conversation "if we use the same stuff on the rest of the floor it'll look OK" - so that might work as a last resort
 
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