Water stain on floor

[R Clark]

Daughter lives in Stuttgart Germany; she contacted me about stains on the floor.  Checking with the brain trust to see what can be done.

Apartment was renovated and had new floors when she moved in last Summer.  I can't determine from the pics if the flooring material is traditional tongue-groove hardwood or an engineered hardwood in some species of oak.  As I look closely, the knots in adjacent pieces lead me to believe it's likely traditional.

Daughter was ironing and somehow spilled some of the water out of the steam iron onto the floor.  She put the steam iron away and wiped up the water using a towel.  The water was on the floor for a few minutes.  Several days passed, and now there are some stains where the water was on the floor.  She tried to remove the stain using a Magic Eraser (I've already told her to not do that).

Pic 1

   

Closeup:

   

   

It's obvious to me the tannins in the wood reacted to something.  The water in the steam iron was tap water, and I think most modern steam irons use plastic water reservoirs, so I it's not obvious to me that it's a likely source of dissolved iron to cause that discoloration.

Does anybody know of any product that can help lift these stains?  I can't recommend sanding, even light sanding.  Daughter and son-in-law have no experience at that and so the risk is too great, particularly if this turns out to be an engineered hardwood floor.

It's also obvious to me that the flooring has a less-than-resilient finish on it, but I can't control that.  

Any ideas?

[brianwelch]

Wood bleach, oxalic acid maybe...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4aKiJvQFXE
https://www.amazon.com/oxalic-acid/s?k=oxalic+acid

[Cooler]

Wood bleach, oxalic acid maybe...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4aKiJvQFXE
https://www.amazon.com/oxalic-acid/s?k=oxalic+acid

I would certainly use oxalic acid for rust stains and if I were refinishing the floor.  It may be too strong to easily modulate for this application though.

I would suggest using hydrogen peroxide.  It will take a while (8 - 12 hours) and perhaps more than one application to get the job done.  But it is safe, easily obtained and the slow reaction allows for frequent inspections.

https://www.woodfloorscleaner.com/faq/ca...od-floors/

Hydrogen peroxide solution is one of the best homemade wood floor cleaners that is effective at cleaning dirt and grime. It is environment friendly and safe for both pets and human beings.

I would note that hydrogen peroxide will also kill mold if sprayed on it daily for a week.  Much slower than bleach, but much safer and it does not smell.  A tradeoff.

[R Clark]

Thanks, all.

I sent the info about hydrogen peroxide to my daughter.  Since they're living in Germany, many of the stronger chemical compounds/cleaners we see here are simply not available; I think anything other than the peroxide would be tough to find over there.

[Cooler]

Any word on whether the peroxide worked?

[R Clark]

Any word on whether the peroxide worked?

I don't know if she tried it, yet.  The time difference makes ti inconvenient to communicate sometimes.

[Cooler]

Any word on whether the peroxide worked?

I don't know if she tried it, yet.  The time difference makes ti inconvenient to communicate sometimes.

That's why the Good Lord invented emails.
Time zones are easily conquered sending emails.