You might have made a mistake that led to spilling oil on your wood, and that is left you searching for how to remove oil based stain from wood. Maybe you have spilled oil on your friend’s wooden furniture, and you are desperately looking for ways to get out of the situation you have found yourself in. No matter whatever spot you find yourself in right now, this guide is here to provide you with easy steps on how to remove oil based stain from wood.
The truth is even the best and most careful people end up making mistakes, and we could end up not being so careful that we mistakenly spill oil on any wooden furniture, floor, or item in the house. Fortunately, you can get rid of any oil based stain on wood no matter how bad it is, so you do not have to put up with allowing a slight mistake alter the appearance of your wood.
In this guide, we will show you how to remove oil based stain from wood, and you can trust any of these steps we want to talk about to help restore your wood back to its previous look or appearance. When it comes to working on oil based stains on wood, it isn’t something you achieve if you are in a hurry or if you have little amount of time. Handling oil based wood stains is one that requires you to do things calmly in order to achieve desired results.
We will like to introduce you to all of these steps, but first how does oil stain happen? Natural wood is a porous wood which makes it very easy for oily substances or oil to penetrate wood. When oil spills on a wood, it will leave an unwanted stain on it, and the ability of oil to sink and penetrate deeply into wood makes it difficult for this stain to remove. The good aspect of all this is there are homemade products or items you can use in dealing with oil stains.
On most occasions, oil stains happens from oil from greasy foods, cooking oil, cosmetic products, and oil based lotions, and either of this product is capable of causing a large mess on wood. There are cleaning products like commercial wood cleaners and furniture polish that can leave oil stains on woods if they are not cleaned up immediately, and there are few steps you can adopt in cleaning up recent oil stains.
How To Recent Oil Stains
You are very lucky if you mistakenly spill oil on your wood and the oil is yet to dry up. This means you have little time on your hands to get rid of the stain before it completely dries off and leaves behind a huge stain on your wood. Whatever you want to do needs to be done as soon as possible, or you risk allowing the oil penetrate the wood deeply which will make cleaning it up very difficult. The materials you need to wipe off the oil stain includes;
- Gloves to protect the skin
- Paper towel
You can easily shop for any of these products in stores around you, so you do not have to waste more money or time.
How To Remove Oil Based Stain From Wood
Below are some steps you can take when getting rid of recent oil stains from any wooden surface or item;
Steps
- Use the paper towel in drying off the stain
- The paper towel should be held firmly against the wood
- Do not remove the paper towel until the oil stain is completely soaked
Mix Soap
You will find surfactants in dish washing soaps, and dissolving grease and dirt is what surfactants are very good at. Grease and dirt is the primary stain you will find on pots, plates, and spoons, and surfactants makes washing them away from wood very easy. Here are the materials you will need when using a dish washing soap that contains surfactants.
- Handwashing soap
- Bowl
Steps
- Get a bowl and put some water in it
- Add the handwashing soap to the water in the bowl
- Mix thoroughly until lather is well formed
- Use the mixture to wipe off the stain from your wood
Cleaning The Stain
After getting a good lather from the mixture, the next you should do is pouring it on the part of the wood that has the oil stain on it. Get a clean rag and use it to wipe the affected area, and using a clean rag is very necessary if you don’t want to make the wood look more dirty.
Steps
- The mixture should be poured on the area with the stain
- Use a clean rag and gently rub the stained area until the stain disappears
- Avoid rubbing too hard or you will end up scratching the wood
Rinse The Wood
Rinsing the wood is the last step that follows immediately after you wipe the oily stain on your wood using the mixture. You will need a clean rag to rinse off the area of the wood you have worked on, and this is a very crucial step that will get rid of any oil stains left on the wood. If there are soap buds left on the wood, rinsing it off using a clean rag will definitely get rid of it. All of these easy steps will get rid of a recent oil stain on your wood.
Handling Stubborn Oil Stains On Wood
You do not need to worry much or despair if you find a stubborn oil stain on your wood, but using Fuller earth is one of the ways you can deal with this problem. Fuller’s earth is a material that is formed from clay properties which provides it with the ability to absorb oil stains with ease. Sprinkling Fuller’s Earth on the area of the wood stained with oil and allowing it remain on the stain for about ten minutes is the first step you must take.
This provides the material with much time to absorb the stain, then you make use of a stiff-bristled brush in wiping off the stain from the wood. After doing all of these, use a detergent in cleaning the surface of the wood with the oil stain and allow it dry off. You will need to mix the Fuller’s Earth with a small amount of water if the first steps mentioned doesn’t get rid of the stain. After mixing with water, spread it across the area with the stain.
Allow this mixture to stay on the stain for as long as twenty four hours, and you can use a palette to get rid of the paste at the end of the twenty four hours wait. It will be very helpful if you remain careful while scratching the stain off the wood, and cleaning and buffing the surface immediately after scratching is the next step to take. This final step will handle any stubborn stain you have on your wood surface.
How To Protect Wood From Stains
Preventing spontaneous oil stain from wood is almost impossible, but there are few things you will be able to do at home to protect your wood from these stains. Dirt and oil spills will get absorbed rapidly due to a wood’s porous nature, and this causes the stain to be intolerable over a short period of time. One of the ways you can prevent this from happening is through cleaning up furniture and floors constantly.
Every wooden furniture you have in your home should be cleaned at least once every week to make sure they are free from oil stains. Wooden floors should be cleaned once every day, and consistent wood care and regular use of wood polish are pivotal in making sure your wood doesn’t have to deal with a stubborn stain or get stained at all. It is true that wooden floors and furniture add so much beauty to our homes.
Creating a warm and rustic ambience is one of the ways wooden furniture and floors help beautify our homes, but all of these will be destroyed if they get stained by oil. This is why proper cleaning and handling of wooden furniture and floors is very crucial if you want your home to retain its beautiful look, and trust all the methods we have discussed in this guide to improve the appearance of your wood after getting rid of the stain on them.
How To Remove Oil Based Stain From Wood – Final Thoughts
Looking back to every step and method we have mentioned in this guide, you will see that getting rid of oil based stains on wood isn’t as difficult as it seems. If you know what needs to be done, you will get rid of oil based stains from your wooden furniture and floors.
All of the warnings listed in this guide should be followed to avoid causing more damage to your wood, and we wish you good luck as you prepare or follow any of our methods in getting rid of oil based stains from wood.