Henna Damaged Wood Floor
Repair

F.H. from Minneapolis writes regarding a henna damaged wood floor:

"Some henna was spilled on the floor during a teenager's tatooing operation. On the floor it doesn't look so good, although it seems to be quite similar to a tatoo--I hope it's not as hard to remove!"

Unfortunately, there is no cheap wood floor repair.

This damage resembles cigarette burns.

Of the 100 Ways to Wreck a Wood Floor this is number 101.

It's a new wood floor problem for the ol' director, but to be expected more and more as the world becomes smaller and more cross-cultural.

Can you see where the right and left foot were located as a teenager sat on this bed to henna tattoo her ankles?

Henna marks the skin by burning cells. Those skin cells eventually sluff off to make way for brand new ones.

Unfortunately, a tattoo-ed wood floor needs re-sanding. How deeply the henna burns depends on duration and not on what kind of finish is on the floor.

My advice is to always use a drop cloth, of course. And should henna find its way to the floor, vacuum (DO NOT SWEEP) and immediately follow with a blue Norwex microfiber mop.

If you don't have a good vacuum, get the yellow Norwex microfiber mop, as well. Its static charge beats the suction on most cheap vacs.

Just to re-iterate:

Without a drop cloth, wood floor damage will result from henna regardless of what type of finish you may have.

It will burn and deeply if left in contact with the floor. The damage, above, resulted from a 3 or 4 hour exposure. The teenager was running late and left the henna on the floor until her return, later that evening.Does your teenager ever run late? Then might I suggest an inservice on the effective use of drop cloths?

Drop cloths to avoid this:

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