Getting stuck-on latex off a hard wood floor

Factual Questions
1

We had a Pottery Barn seagrass rug covering part of the hardwood floor in our sitting area for about 5 years. (link to the actual rug at Pottery Barn)

A few weeks ago we discovered that over the years the latex backing turned to powder. We pulled up and discarded the rug last weekend, and after vacuuming up all the powder we discovered that some of the latex has stuck to the floor.

In a couple of small areas there is a big splotch stuck to the floor, probably where a spill occurred that we didn’t clean up as thoroughly as we thought we did. And all over, for the entire area covered by the rug, there is a fine pattern of little pieces of latex stuck to the floor - you can see the weave pattern of the rug.

We tried soaking a couple of spots with water, and also with Murphy’s Oil Soap, but it really doesn’t budge much. Extensive rubbing with a sponge seems to wear away the latex, but we’re worried we’re going to damage the finish on the hard wood.

Does anyone know a solvent that will dissolve latex but not harm the finish on the wood?

Obviously we’d rather not refinish the floor if we can avoid it.
Also obviously I’m never putting another rug down ever in my whole house. :frowning:

2

I guess I posted too soon.

I found two good websites that might do the trick.

http://www.pelletierrug.com/blog/latex-rug-backing-stuck-to-floor/
(the picture in this post is exactly what we faced!)
Has anyone had experience with the WD40 or the mineral spirits methods?

And to acknowledge my hastiness in opening a thread -LMGTFY

3

For the latex try goof off and a plastic scraper (putty knife), or something like a dobie cleaning pad. Neither should scratch your flooring. WD40 is awesome for polishing and shining but you will probably still need something scrape with.

4

Thanks - we’ll add those to the list!

5

Not any kind of a guarantee, but:

Get out your blow dryer, get down on the floor, heat up the area, put on a Playtex rubber glove (do they still exist?), and if the floor junk gets soft enough, rub it off the floor. If it’s too hot for your finger, plastic putty knife for scraping. Packing tape might take it up if the blow dryer gets the area hot enough; peel up slowly (this will depend on what type of flooring you have.

Good luck.

With the packing tape: wrap a wide swath around your fingers with the sticky side out, press fingers to blow-dryer-heated floor and peel up.

6

Interesting technique and definitely worth a try, thank you. I am feeling a lot of relief that maybe this problem is not the end of the world.