10 remedies for mark-ups on wood floors

Here are 10 secret weapons that'll help you remove pesky messes and stains from your beautiful wood floor.

• For any finish, cool gum with an ice-filled plastic bag until it is brittle enough to crumble; then remove with a plastic scraper.

• If you have a wax or penetrating stain finish, put a brown paper bag over the crayon or wax, and heat with an iron until the bag absorbs the stain.
• With a shellac, varnish or polyurethane finish, use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish, rub with fine steel wool dipped in wax.
• If the stain or spot remains, sand with fine sandpaper.
• Follow up with steel wool dipped in mineral spirits. When mineral spirits evaporate, stain to match the original colour.
• Apply wax and buff.
• With shellac, varnish or polyurethane finishes, use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• If you have a wax or penetrating stain finish, treat these like water stains.
• If they remain, soak them with bleach or vinegar for an hour.
• Wipe with a damp cloth, then wipe dry.
• Sand lightly with fine sandpaper.
• Stain to match your original colour and apply wax with a cloth.
• If you have a shellac, varnish or polyurethane finish, use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish, rub gently with a damp cloth. Rub dry, then apply wax.
• For shellac, varnish or polyurethane finishes, again use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish, saturate a cotton cloth with hydrogen peroxide and place it over the stain. Saturate a second cotton cloth with ammonia and put it on top of the first. Repeat if necessary. Let dry; then buff with a cloth.
• With a shellac, varnish or polyurethane finish, use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish, apply a small amount of wax with fine steel wool; rub in and buff with a cloth.
• With a shellac, varnish, or polyurethane finish: Use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish, apply a cleaner designed for wood.
• With a shellac, varnish or polyurethane finish, use a cleaner designed for hardwood floor finishes.
• Sand and refinish areas where the mould or mildew is beneath the surface.

• With a wax or penetrating stain finish simply apply wax.
• With a polyurethane finish, fix with a touch-up kit made for urethane finishes sold at flooring stores.
• With a shellac or varnish finish, fix with a hardwood floor finish restorer.

• If you have a wax or penetrating stain finish, remove the old wax with a stripper made for wax. (Do not use furniture stripper.)
• Remove residue with a cloth and fine steel wool. Let dry, then wax and machine buff.
• If you have a shellac, varnish or polyurethane finish, don't wax these finishes. It can make the floor dangerously slippery and interfere with subsequent finishes. If you have used it, take it off with a commercial wax remover.