Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Help I Stained My Floor To Dark How Can I Lighten It?

Well i stained my wood floor minwax provicial and it much to dark nothing like it was on the can anyway to lighten it up???

To change the stained color of wood will require sanding to remove stain to get down to bare wood so that you can apply the desired stain. Go to www.finishingwoodfloors.com for helpful info.

Originally posted by bill stewart
Well i stained my wood floor minwax provicial and it much to dark nothing like it was on the can anyway to lighten it up???

Provincial is generally a light colored stain, particularily with Minwax as most of their stains require 2 applications of stain to achieve the desired color.Have you put poly down or is it still bare stain?

If it -has not- been coated with poly you can lighten it slightly without having to take it all down to the bare wood and starting again by wiping it all down with mineral spirits and clean rags. Wait until the mineral spirits have dried (naptha serves the same purpose costs 3x as much but dries 10x faster) and lighty sand the entire floor surface with fine sandpaper(by hand so you have some control).

You can also try lightly sanding with 220 and instead of useing mineral spirits(which leaves a resido) use denatured alcohol it will lighten nicely.