# How to get 'grease' off a laminate wood floor "



## Dave7 (21 Apr 2021)

Long story but there is a section with a wax like substance on.
I tried warm soapy water to no avail.
There must be a basic household item that will work**
**as I type I am thinking white vinegar so will try that.


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## Drago (21 Apr 2021)

White spirit? Thats a good degreaser, should harm laminate floor, and is ljablemto be found in the home. Failing that, WD40 is high in something akin to stoddard solvent, followed up by warm soapy water.


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## Electric_Andy (21 Apr 2021)

I'd try a small section first, in case it marks the floor. Yes vinegar, or brake cleaner. WD is good at removing certain things but you don't want anything oily penetrating the wood, so I'd opt for brake cleaner after using the WD as well


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## fossyant (21 Apr 2021)

WD is really good, any bike degreaser, neat washing up liquid, brake cleaner (has lots of uses TBH). If it's thick, might be worth scraping any excess off if you can first.


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## DCLane (21 Apr 2021)

Baby wipes. Not that I'd know about needing to do that ...


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## sleuthey (21 Apr 2021)

Rub it with the brown (top) side of a chocolate digestive.


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## PaulSB (21 Apr 2021)

Sugar soap?


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## winjim (21 Apr 2021)

Steam mop and a dilute solution of Murphy Oil Soap.


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## dan_bo (21 Apr 2021)

Since the vid started I've had a spray bottle of 70%IPA with a squirt of washing up liquid on the kitchen side. Bloody handy it is too. Cuts right through oily stuff without damaging most substrates.


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## MichaelW2 (21 Apr 2021)

Swarfega works on floors and carpets.


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## figbat (21 Apr 2021)

A simple chemical principle - like dissolves like. So if it is a waxy, fatty, oily substance then something similar will lift it, so a very light oily substance like WD40 or a hydrocarbon solvent like paraffin. An additional approach is detergents, which act to enable the mixing of oil and water, but if this is a wax that is set solid then some heat may help soften it first (hot soapy water). If the laminate is faced with a melamine layer then this should be pretty resistant to most things, but anything really aggressive is worth testing (solvents like acetone, IPA or anything caustic).

When we had our uPVC windows fitted a few years ago the fitter used a solvent to clean the sealant off of the plastic frames - he left the remainder behind and it is a fantastic solvent for lifting most sticky residues; not sure what it is but is smells like ethyl acetate.


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## Hicky (21 Apr 2021)

Baby wipe, if that fails IPA diluted to 70% with 30 being water.


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## Gunk (21 Apr 2021)

DCLane said:


> Baby wipes. Not that I'd know about needing to do that ...



Baby wipes are brilliant at cleaning almost everything, they have a small amount of alcohol in them.


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## Profpointy (21 Apr 2021)

I'd be inclined to try meths or isoprop. Less likely to damage varnish, though risks spreading the stain. Otherwise a lighter, thinner
oil like petrol or paraffin first, the clean off with meths. Things like acetone or carbon tet (probably now banned) risks dissolving the varnish. 

As an aside, an anecdote from when my boss and I were staying in a rather splendid faded-glory type hotel. It was always a bit of a shambles with no one in charge but very helpful and friendly staff who'd make decisions in the fly. Anyhow one evening we went to the restaurant for food, and one of the staff apologised that it was closed, but we could go to the "main restaurant", (actually a bare function room) which we didn't know existed despite having stayed there on and off for a year. Anyhow we overheard a conversation "if we use the same stuff on the rest of the floor it'll look OK" - so that might work as a last resort


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## fossyant (21 Apr 2021)

Gunk said:


> Baby wipes are brilliant at cleaning almost everything, they have a small amount of alcohol in them.



It's scary how good baby wipes are - I got paint out of my new trousers at weekend with one. 

Then you use them on a new born's botty  - *poossibly* the most disgusting place on earth though !


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## MichaelW2 (21 Apr 2021)

fossyant said:


> It's scary how good baby wipes are - I got paint out of my new trousers at weekend with one.
> 
> Then you use them on a new born's botty  - *poossibly* the most disgusting place on earth though !


In my experience baby wipes will remove babies from most surfaces, even carpets.


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## I like Skol (21 Apr 2021)

Definitely a job for white spirit.


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## Drago (21 Apr 2021)

Peanut butter and gloss paint. You'll scrub that mess off so hard it's guaranteed to remove the stain beneath.


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## figbat (21 Apr 2021)

Gunk said:


> Baby wipes are brilliant at cleaning almost everything, they have a small amount of alcohol in them.


I agree at the efficacy of baby wipes - they make excellent frame wipes for clearing off chain fling and for cleaning white saddles and bar tape. However I was surprised to see they may contain alcohol so looked it up. No alcohol but plenty of other stuff.


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## winjim (21 Apr 2021)

Baby wipes are horrible things. Use a cloth, then wash the cloth.


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## MontyVeda (21 Apr 2021)

Brown paper* (not glossy) and an iron on a low setting. the waxy stuff melts and paper absorbs it.

*a couple of sheets of kitchen roll will probably work too


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## ColinJ (21 Apr 2021)

I've just worked out that IPA in this context is probably *I*so*P*ropyl *A*lcohol _not _*I*ndia *P*ale *A*le!


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## I like Skol (21 Apr 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I've just worked out that IPA in this context is probably *I*so*P*ropyl *A*lcohol _not _*I*ndia *P*ale *A*le!


Which reminds me, I'm nearly out of IPA....


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## ColinJ (21 Apr 2021)

I like Skol said:


> Which reminds me, I'm nearly out of IPA....


I like IPA (the drink). Unfortunately, I am an '_all or nothing_' kind of guy, and my past attempts to drink all of the IPA didn't go well!


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## sleuthey (21 Apr 2021)

Gunk said:


> Baby wipes are brilliant at cleaning almost everything, they have a small amount of alcohol in them.


Found them very good for getting Turtle Wax of the cars black bumper


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## glasgowcyclist (21 Apr 2021)

Barkeepers’ Friend is the ideal tool for the job. 

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/295789670


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