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If you have hardwood flooring, it is susceptible to stains just like other hard materials used to make floors. Different things can cause your hardwood floor to stain. They range from the chemicals used at home, to shoes and spilled beverages. Certainly, these stains ruin the way the floor looks, and it is important for you to know how to get rid of them appropriately. If you use the wrong methods or chemicals when removing the stains, you could damage the affected area of the floor. This may force you to incur additional expenses to re-lay the affected part of the floor. Here are a few things you should know when dealing with stains on a hardwood floor:

Consider the finishing of your floor

Hardwood floors have two types of finishing. The first one is a hard finish, where materials such as urethane are used to give the floor a hard, impenetrable finish. Most modern homes with hardwood floors have the hard finish because of the relative ease of cleaning. On the other hand, there is the oiled soft finish, which is common in homes where the floor was not sealed using the protective coat of polish.

Often, persistent stains penetrate slightly into the wood, and you should be keen to avoid ruining that area of the surface by scrubbing too deep into the wood. They are an indication that the floor has a soft finish.

Dark spots

Dark spots are stains caused by urine from pets and water droplets on the floor. Stains caused by water usually disappear when the water dries up, unlike the stains caused by pet urine. When removing dark spots, apply a thin layer of floor wax over the stain and rub it off gently with steel wool. Lastly, you can apply bleach to remove a persistent stain that has penetrated a floor that has a soft finish. Let the stained wood absorb the bleach for a few minutes and then scrub the stain off with a clean cloth.

Heel marks

Heel marks are another type of stain that your hardwood floor can have. They result from contact between the hardwood floor and hard rubber surfaces such as shoe soles, furniture, and ladders. To remove these black streaks, you can use floor wax and steel wool. Heel marks are easy to remove because they do not penetrate into the wood, regardless of the floor's finish.