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Re: Removing Vinyl Adhesive Glue from Hardwood Floors

From: rosaulsbury@yahoo.com
Category: Flooring
Remote Name: 205.167.182.250
Date: 04 Jan 2006
Time: 02:24 PM

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Question: What adhesive remover do I use to remove the adhesive glue and some vinyl backing from hardwood floors? This vinyl floor has been down for many, many years. Thanks.

Builders Websource® Answer: Various products are available to remove adhesives and mastics from previously installed vinyl flooring, tile, and carpeting. Before using any adhesive removers on a large area, always test in small, well ventilated area to avoid damaging the floor. Anytime you deal with wood, chemical solutions can react with the wood, causing buckling (from moisture), staining, or bleaching. Generally, after you're done stripping any adhesives, you'll need to resurface and refinish your hardwood floors to make them look like new. Products to try include Krud Kutter® Adhesive Remover (available in 32-oz spray bottles), Roberts 1920 Lift Off® Carpet and Adhesive Remover, or Sentinel 626 Adhesive Remover. If you can't find Krud Kutter Adhesive Remover, try Original Krud Kutter®, which contains the same active ingredients, although the proportions may be slightly different and more dilute. The aforementioned butyl-based adhesive removers are available from flooring specialty stores as well as some home improvement warehouses.

Analyzing the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each of the above products provides some insight into the active ingredients and relative concentrations. Keep in mind that each product MSDS does not show precise formulations and may not include other trade secret ingredients that improve the product performance, such as wetting agents, surfactants, and so forth. Furthermore, often the same chemical has multiple aliases, further confusing consumers about similarities and differences between products. To simplify comparison between  products, the CAS registry number is shown for each. CAS is the Chemical Abstracts Service which has assigned millions of chemicals a unique ID that's internationally recognized. Nonetheless, these products have common components as shown in the following table. For convenience, some common aliases are shown for chemicals that go by more than one scientific or common name:

Always wear protective clothing, goggles, and gloves when using chemicals and solvents. Note that Potassium Hydroxide is highly corrosive.

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