Horsham Floor Sanding 

Achieving a grey stained floor with simple household products

Grey floors have been on-trend for some time now, and no wonder. Chic and sophisticated, they're the perfect neutral for any home and blend well with all types of wood furniture. You may have wondered how to get a comparable effect for your hardwood floors - well, it's easier than you think. With just a few household items, you can create a beautiful stain for oak that will give you a subtle, aged grey effect in no time flat and limit your exposure to some of the volatile organic compounds present in certain floor finishes.

Creating your iron acetate stain

An iron acetate stain is the ideal way to create that smoky aged look for your oak flooring. This all-natural solution has just two ingredients - steel wool and white vinegar. You can also use nuts and bolts in place of the steel wool if that's what you have to hand. 

The next step is simply to soak the steel wool (or nuts and bolts) in the vinegar for three days - a bucket is ideal for this - before carefully straining out the metal and keeping your newly created iron acetate stain in a bucket, ready to use. Make sure you strain the dye several times for the best effect.

Applying your stain

Because this effect works best on newly sanded oak floorboards, you'll need to hire some dust free sanding equipment or engage a professional floor sanding company to strip any finish from the wood and take it back to its raw state.

Now apply the stain with a rag or a squeegee, working quickly to cover the floor evenly. Because this is a reactive stain, it works particularly well with the tannin in the oak to create that rich grey look.

If you're not certain about the depth of the colour, always test in an inconspicuous place or on a scrap piece of flooring. Finally you'll need to seal the floor and finish with several coats of oil based polyurethane.

Going grey

This is a simple way to buy into the grey floor trend and because your stain is homemade you can control the colour more accurately. Grey floors aren't going anywhere, so have fun creating your own ashy floorboards. Remember, if it doesn't work out, just sand and finish your floorboards a different way!