How do you get dried, sticky, black carpet foam glue off hardwood flooring?

Question

I just ripped up a carpet in my new apartment. Underneath the carpet foam was hardwood flooring which was covered in sticky black gooey stuff. It seemed like old glue. I was able to get it up by rubbing it with my finger, but who wants to do that to the entire floor?!? When I tried wetting it, it just turned more sticky....it was like it was water resistant or something! Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Goo-B-Gone or Undue was my first thought.  It might damage the stain, but you're probably planning to refinish the floors or get new carpet.  You could try the stuff in a little corner.  You'll probably need a ton of it.  Maybe you should go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask them if there's something in a bigger container.

Answer 2

anything sticky will break down with oil... baby oil, cooking oil (not motor oil)

Answer 3

I would invest in a whole lot of WD-40 and a wide blade scraper.  Just be careful you don't gouge the wood if you plan to refinish the floor.

Answer 4

The only thing I  can think of  is using a deck brush some turpentine and scrub the floor the hard way.

Eventually it will get  rid of the glue.

Good luck

Answer 5

There is no easy way to get this off. Any good hardware store will stock adhesive remover which (along with a scraper or putty knife) can be used to remove the mastic. It is smelly and time consuming. Your floors underneath will need to be sanded and refinished after this process.

I would recommend calling a few hardwood floor refinishers to get an estimate on having the floors refinished. A well established, reputable company has seen many of these glue jobs. They can be found in your local Yellow Pages under "Floors - Refinishing".^

Answer 6

Goo-Be Gone and a hard plastic spatula or plastic putty knife.