Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and wood

I take showers every day! Really!

Skyanth — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:43:46 -0800

How does one get body grease off a wooden table? Instead of a desk I have a rough old wooden table. It looks very cool. I'm behind my laptop quite a lot, and after two years you can very clearly see where I usually rest my arms on this table. Not so cool.

How do I clean off the grease? I've thought about sanding and I might do that, but I'm afraid I might ruin the old ruggedness of the table.

Please bear in mind that I live in the Netherlands and that American product names might mean nothing to me, or that the products could well be unavailable here - if you have a great tip, I would appreciate it if you could use a more generic description, if at all possible. Thanks!

How do I clean the blood stain from my hardwood floors?

gemmy — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:06:55 -0800

I cut my foot pretty severely on a broken glass, and now it looks like someone slaughtered a pig on my hardwood floor. How do I get the blood stains out? While cleaning this afternoon, I accidentally broke a glass, overbalanced, and stepped on some of the shards with my bare feet... I'm absolutely fine now, it's not even that painful, but I bled pretty profusely from two cuts on my foot for a little while. Once I had patched myself up (and finished lamenting my own stupidity), I tried to clean up. Unfortunately, I live in an old building where the lacquer topcoat for the hardwood floors is all scuffed up, and in places almost gone, so now it looks like my blood kind of soaked into the wood itself. I did my best to clean it (cold water, murphy's oil soap), but it still looks really bad - like something out of a CSI episode.

I have been Googling for cleaning tips, but most everything is how to clean blood from clothing and sofas and things, or places recommending exactly what I did to no effect. Does anyone have experience cleaning blood off wood? Is there something I can do to at least make it less red, so its not so obvious? Would some hydrogen peroxide or bleach help, or do I risk an even bigger stain? Thanks, Hive Mind!!!

Wood and water don't mix?

ascullion — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:29:21 -0800

We've got a wooden shelf in the bathroom in our (rented) apartment. We've been here two years now and it's gone very pale, and is stained a funny colour where water has landed on it. What should we do to return it to its former glory? (pretty much cleaning/DIY noobs, to be honest...)

Olive Oil vs. Unfinished Red oak floor

Scoo — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:15:12 -0800

I spilled olive oil on our new red oak hardwood floor, the day before the contractors are coming to sand, stain and finish it (a small bottle fell off the shelf and the top popped off) . How screwed are we? Mrs. Scoo and I managed to clean it up within two minutes of the spill with soap and water. About 5 minutes elapsed for the entire epiode. There is some visible staining hours later. Will the sanding take care of this? How deep in to the wood could the oil have penetrated?