Hello everyone,

I just moved in a new flat that’s almost entirely covered with wooden floors and I have absolutely no experience with that kind of environment. The previous tenants weren’t the most thorough when it comes to floor maintenance and there are quite a few areas that bother me because they just don’t look clean, even though the floor was supposedly installed less than 10 years ago.

One of these areas had a very visible white stain on it. It looked like some old white pain but it just wouldn’t go away when I tried to remove it with my fingernails, so I made the absolutely horrible mistake of using a scraping sponge (one of those yellow/blue ones) to remove the stain.

It mostly went away, but of course, there’s now an awful halo around the spot I cleaned that’s lighter and cleaner than the rest of the plank it’s on. I think I essentially removed some of the finish and it now sticks out like a sore thumb. I feel so stupid!

Here’s what it looks like:

https://i.imgur.com/ICziwHB.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/brISuv7.jpeg


I’m begging you, is there any way I can fix this? If so, how should I proceed?
Also, what wood would that be and how should I take care of that floor afterwards? What kind of cleaning products should I use?

Here’s what the side of the floor looks like, if it helps:

https://i.imgur.com/xv9oUtA.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/FilX0Ag.jpeg


Thanks a lot!
I’m an absolute DIY newbie and now I’m worried about my deposit. I just wanted to live in a cleaner environment.

If you carefully clean the individual plank it may stand out but will be clean. A nylon scrubby doesn't bother the finish much, unless it is a penetrating oil finish. There are special products for that. It looks like you have a film type finish.With normal cleaning over the whole floor with a low sudsing detergent everything will blend in again. Bona floor cleaner for wood and laminate floors is good. Spot cleaning is usually all that is needed. You just got all the dirt that filled the grain of the surface.