Thanks for the great suggestions and making me feel better, L. Merry Christmas.

Paint thinner is about the least harmful of the solvents that will remove oil.

It may take repeated applications, and even letting it soak in some to lift the oil sots if they have gotten into the fiber of the wood.

Oh schoolhouse, I feel your pain! I have a wood floor in the kitchen. Never poly'ed, just waxed. Except that I neglect the waxing and it really doesn't have much wax on it any more. So grease has splattered from the stove repeatedly and I do my best to clean it up, but it always leaves dark spots, Eventually, the spots blend into the look of the wood and I stop fretting. But then, as I have already admitted, I am a neglectful housekeeper and don't fret a lot anyway.

I would love to hear whether your spots came out or blended in, etc.

Happy New Year!

FW

Well, guess what? That's exactly what seems to be happening - the spots are either blending into the look of the wood or I've stopped zeroing in on them. Which ever the reason, they don't seem that noticeable anymore.

Wax? I never thought about there being wax on my floor at one time. According to what I've read, in days gone by wood floors like in schools were "oiled" with special recipes containing linseed oil,ect. But maybe what I see remaining on my floors is a wax treatment. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. What kind of wax have you used in the past?

I really must put down some type of treatment one of these days before the wood dries out completely, it would be a big job but one that I could do now for future owners.

"I really must put down some type of treatment one of these days before the wood dries out completely, it would be a big job but one that I could do now for future owners. "

No finidh you are going to appl;y is going to prevent the wood from "dries out completely."

The finish can (at best) slow the movement of moisture into (and out of) the wood as the relative humidity changes.

Heating season has low humidity and boards shrink, cooling season has higher relative humidity and boards swell.

It is never going to stop.

Maybe "finish" was the wrong word. I should have said I need to "treat" the floors some day, i.e. oil them or wax. You can see right where my feet rest on the floor below my chair in the livingroom, sure I wipe my shoes, but that doesn't mean all gunk comes off. Whatever treatment was on the floor is wore off there and in other spots.

Yeah, floor boards swell and shrink all the time. Every so often the bottom of the library door scuffs the floor when I swing it open, then later it has all kinds of room to swing open easily. I'm used to it.

You might try Bruce Liquid Paste Wax!

FW

"You might try Bruce Liquid Paste Wax! "

Only if you never want to put down a real finish.

It is impossible to remove all the residue from waxes so that a new finish can stick adequately.

Older solvent finishes were more forgiving, the low VOC rules eliminated them though, and the water base finishes have an even harder problem dealing with wax residue.

I think when I'm ready to tackle the job, I'll use a linseed recipe for old floors like the Amish used to use on their one-room school floors. But thanks for all the input!

Brickeyee, thank you for the warning. What sort of wax can a person use that could be removed later for a different finish? And Schoolhouse, do you have a linseed recipe? I would love to care for my floors a bit better in the future!

Fuzzy

Fuzzy, I've used linseed oil thinned with a little turpentine - no specific formula - on a heart pine floor that had been professionally sanded. It must be applied in very thin coats to raw wood - it won't work over wax or other finishes. Once it hardened, I applied paste wax to act as a buffer between soil/grit & the oil finish.

Fuzzy, as soon as I read your request for the linseed recipe I went right to the box on top of the microwave where I stuff all kinds of notes,ect. expecting to pull the piece of paper right out - well, it's not there; and it looks like I deleted it from my documents on my computer. I saved that for a long time. So, sorry. But if you Google, you'll probably find quite a few old fashioned recipes.

Antiquesilver, love your floor, love your kitchen. My floors aren't nearly as nice as that - but maybe they could be. I have a notion to take a rag and try a linseed mix in a small spot and see what happens. Thanks for sharing the pic.

"What sort of wax can a person use that could be removed later for a different finish? "

There are none that I am aware of.

Antiquesilver, Schoolhouse and Brickeyee, thank you for answering. I know now that I cna't do i can't do linseed until I have a raw wood floor, and I will stick with wax for the foreseeable future. I am grateful to benefit from your knowledge.

Also, Antiquesilver, that is one gorgeous floor!

All the best,
Fuzzy