How to Strip a Floor: A Step-by-Step Guide to Removing Old Floor Finish

Intro

Winter is hard on floors. Salt, slush and sand get tracked in by the bucketful, and they grind into your finish day after day. By spring, a floor that looked great in October can look dull, yellowed and patchy.

That's why November is the right time to strip. Taking off the old, worn finish and laying down fresh coats gives you a clean, protective base before the worst of the season hits. Daily maintenance gets easier, and your floor holds its shine longer.

Stripping a floor isn't hard, but it does reward doing things in the right order. Skip the neutralizing step or let the stripper dry, and your new finish won't stick. Below, we walk through the full process, from roping off the area to the final rinse.

Watch: How to Strip a Floor

Want to see it done before you try it? Our team walks through the whole process in this video, from mixing the stripper to recovering the slurry and neutralizing the floor. Watch it once through, then keep this post handy as your checklist on the job.

Prefer it in bite-size pieces? We're releasing shorter clips for each stage, so you can jump straight to the step you need.

What You'll Need

Gather everything before you start. Once the stripper is down, you won't have time to go looking for a pad.

Equipment

• Rotary floor buffer or walk-behind auto scrubber
• Floor buffer solution tank
• Wet pick-up vacuum (if using a buffer)
• Floor drying fans
• Mop bucket and wringer, mop handles and wet mops

Chemicals and pads

• Floor stripping solution
• Floor stripper neutralizer
• Floor stripping pads
• Handheld strip pads for edges and corners

Safety and setup

• Floor stripping protective boots
• Safety supplies: gloves, eye protection and respiratory protection
• Wet floor signs
• Trash can liners to line your bucket

How to Strip a Floor in 6 Steps

1. Prep the area

Clear out furniture and anything else on the floor. Then mark off a starting section of about 200 to 400 square feet. Working in small sections keeps the stripper from drying before you can scrub it.

Rope off the full work zone with caution and wet floor signs. Set up an exit area with mats so your crew can take off their stripping boots without tracking slurry through the building. Finish prep by dust mopping to pick up dirt, grit and debris.

2. Mix your stripper

Line your mop bucket with a 20 to 30 gallon trash bag. The stripper stays in the bag, and your bucket stays clean for everyday mopping.

Read the SDS for every chemical you'll use, then pour the stripper into the lined bucket. Concentrates like CleanFreak® Easy Lift SC mix at one quart per five gallons of water. Dilution rates vary by product, so always follow the label directions. Gear up with stripping boots, nitrile gloves, safety glasses and respiratory protection.

3. Apply and scrub

Mop a generous coat of stripper over your section and let it dwell for about 10 minutes. This gives it time to break down the old finish. Keep the floor wet the whole time. Stripper that dries on the floor is much harder to remove.

Next, put a stripping pad on your buffer or auto scrubber.

• Auto scrubber: Make one pass with the squeegee up, then lower it and scrub again while recovering the solution.
• Rotary buffer: Start in the corner farthest from your exit mat and work slowly back toward it.

Heavy buildup may take a few passes. For corners and baseboards, use a black handheld utility strip pad or a baseboard stripper.

4. Pick up the slurry

Get the dirty solution off the floor right away, before it can dry. With an auto scrubber, lower the squeegee and recover as you scrub. With a buffer, use a wet vac built for stripper recovery, like the Trusted Clean 'Quench' 18 Gallon Wet Push Vacuum with its 24" front-mount squeegee.

5. Neutralize and rinse

This is the step people skip, and it's the one that decides whether your new finish holds. Stripper is alkaline, and finish won't bond to a floor that isn't neutral.

Fill a clean bucket with water and add 1 to 2 ounces of neutralizer per gallon, such as CleanFreak® Film Off. Mop or machine-scrub the whole area with a fresh pad, and wipe down baseboards and corners. Rinse once or twice more with clean water. Want to be sure? Check the floor with pH test strips.

6. Clean up and dry

Rinse your tanks, mops, buckets, squeegees and hoses thoroughly. Stripper left in equipment can harden and damage your machines.

Let the floor dry completely before you apply floor finish. An air mover like this 2,800 CFM fan speeds things up a lot.

Common Floor Stripping Mistakes to Avoid

• Letting the stripper dry. Work in 200 to 400 square foot sections and keep them wet. Dried stripper bonds back to the floor and means more scrubbing.
• Skipping the neutralizer. Leftover alkaline residue keeps new finish from adhering, which leads to peeling and powdering.
• Reusing your stripping pad to rinse. Switch to a fresh pad for the neutralizing step so you're not spreading residue back around.
• Forgetting the edges. Corners and baseboards collect the most buildup. Hit them by hand with a utility pad.
• Rushing the dry time. Finish laid on a damp floor won't cure properly. Run fans and give it time.
• Cutting corners on safety. Stripped floors are extremely slippery. Wear stripping boots, keep the area roped off and post wet floor signs at every entrance.

Ready to Strip?

A freshly stripped floor is the foundation for a finish that lasts all winter. Take your time with prep, keep the stripper wet and never skip the neutralizer. Do that, and your new coats will go down smooth and hold their shine.

Watch the full video, keep our Stripping a Floor guide open on the job and shop floor strippers and stripping pads to get stocked up. Not sure which stripper or machine fits your floors? Our product experts are happy to help.

Next up: Once your floor is dry, follow our guide to applying floor finish.