Removing soot from floorboards

[Nathan Critchlow-Watton]

We've just bought a cottage which requires some fairly substantial renovation, so I'm sure I'll be posting here more often than I have in the past (I promise not to mention land reform, magnetic water softeners, S*niflos or Agas).

In a fit of enthusiasm we cleared out the hearth to the original dimensions, prior to fitting a wood stove. However, we stupidly didn't protect the pine floor boards, which are now quite sooty.

We want to sand the floors at some point; will sanding take the surface soot of, or just ingrain it into the wood? If so, any recommendations as to how to get the soot off?

thanks, Nathan

[Chris Bacon]

Yes, that's what it does.

Erm... a pail of water, a damp cloth, and some soap?

[sPoNiX]

Detergent and s scrubbing brush should work.

If not, try sanding.

If that fails, turn the floorboards upside down.

[Stuart]

If you are going to sand the boards at some point then currently all you are interested in doing is cleaning the boards to make them presentable .Use water and some cleaning agent to stop the immediate problem ..sanding later witll remove any residue but if you clean them properly there shouldn't be any Stuart

[Andy Dingley]

That depends on how carefully you sand them.

Scrub the boards (sugar soap) clean before sanding (sooty or not). Work the sander carefully, so as not to need to walk over both dirty and sanded areas. When working on the sanded floor, wear clean footwear (a cheap pair of canvas espadrilles, bought for the job).

Your sander will remove soot from the boards, but you need to be careful not to track old soot from other boards onto the cleaned ones.