How to remove masking tape residue from hardwood floors

I am remodeling an old house. New hardwood floors were installed throughout and then they were covered with resin paper held down by special tape (so I thought). It looks just like masking tape, though. The people wno put the paper down were not very careful, and a lot of the tape was stuck onto the floor itself. It's been about six months now, and when we removed the paper/tape we discovered that the tape has left a sticky glue-like residue on the floor. This is not our house, we are doing it for someone else, and we don't want anything to happen to the beautiful finish of the floors. They are prefinished maple and red oak. Please help!! What product is best to use for this purpose? My wife swears by vegetable oil.....is she right? Thanks for your answers.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Vegetable oil might work. Personally I'd try paint thinner first but then I always seem to have some handy There are some commercially prepared glue removers but I don't know the names Products like 'oops' or 'goof off' might also work.

 

Thanks, Marksr. I had an idea. We have some left over pieces of the hardwood flooring--I'll just rub a few different products on different areas of a piece, and see what happens. That way I'll know which ones are safe to use. By the way, I tried the vegetable oil remedy, but it was too slow to be practical for a whole house of adhesive residue spots. I'll report back what I find out. SJJ

 

If you have a polyurethane finish, acetone bubbles up like on a duck's back with no damage. You can use an acetone based remover. Always test any product first in inconspicous place.

 

I know it sounds weird, but I use charcoal lighter fluid for that. It won't harm the finish and takes the tape residue right off.

 

Charcoal lighter contains naptha and is a pretty good solvent. Acetone also works well. I'd recommend good ventilation with either.

 

Thanks to all of you who answered my question with suggestions. I ended up using spray-on Goof-Off with good results and no damage to the floor. SJJ