If you were planning to redo your own floors, then all of the power to you, because this is definitely a task that requires a lot of attention and skill. One of the first things that you will need to do when you redo your floor is to, of course remove the old floor and the old adhesive that held the floor in place.
Of course, unless you are the Incredible Hulk or Superman, you aren’t going to be doing this with your biceps alone. It takes the right kind of product, a good floor adhesive remover, in order to accomplish this task. This is exactly what we are here to help you find today the best floor adhesive remover of 2021. We have a really good buying guide and some great products for you to take a look at.
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- Carpet safe
- Fast and easy
- Works on most adhesives and glues
- Super heavy duty
- Can remove the toughest of solvents
- Ideal for many substrates
- Cost effective
- Should work fine for most household needs
- Ergonomically designed
- 2 for 1
- Easy to use
- Works with standard air hammers
- Ideal for hard floors
- Very fast and easy to use
Overall #1 Rated Pick
Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover
When it comes to floor adhesive removers, the best thing that you can use is a simple solvent that will remove the glue, but not damage anything else. When it comes down to it, the number one rated product for floor adhesive remover out there is Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover, which as you can tell, is a very heavy-duty product designed for the largest and toughest of jobs.
One of the main reasons as to why this is the top pick is due to the fact that it is safe to use on so many different surfaces. You can use this product on various surfaces including painted surfaces, finished wood, porcelain and ceramic, glass, metals, and plastics. So, if you have a wooden subfloor, then Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover could be the perfect option for you.
Moreover, this stuff is so powerful that it has the power to totally remove glue, adhesives, sealants, tree sap, grease, tar, grime, wet paint, asphalt, ink, soot, marker, wax, and oil. What you nay also like about this product is that it also has the power to remove bad carpet stains without hurting the carpet.
Just be sure to use Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover in a very well ventilated area, as it does have strong fumes, and whatever you do, do not ingest it, as it is fatal if ingested.
Floor Adhesive Remover: Buying Guide
Before we get to room reviewing the best floor adhesive removers, let’s first take a look at some of the most important facts that you need to know about this type of product. Right now we want to go over a list of safety tips, a variety of products or methods for removing floor adhesive, as well as a guide on how to do just that.
Why Remove Flooring Adhesives?
You might be wondering why you wouldn’t just slap a new floor and more glue over the old stuff. Well, the reason is quite simple and it’s because if you don’t remove the old adhesives from the subfloor before you put the new floor on, the new adhesive probably won’t stick all that well.
Old adhesives continue to degrade and check chip away, thus infecting the overall integrity of the new floor. In other words, this means that the new floor might not adhere well to the old subfloor. Moreover, all that he says can also be safe havens from mold, mildew, and bad smells.
If your old, adhesive is already infected with any of those things, and you don’t remove it, then that mold, mildew, and smell is going to transfer to the new adhesive and the new floor.
Finally, many older flooring adhesives contain a lot of poisonous chemicals, even things like asbestos, mercury and lead. Therefore, if you already ripped up your floor, you also want to take out that potentially poisonous adhesive. There is no benefit from leaving old poison under a new floor.
What Removes Flooring Adhesive
The next important thing that you need to know about here is what types of products and tools that you can actually use to remove flooring adhesive. Let’s take a look at all of the most common products and tools that you have at your disposal to get rid of flooring adhesives, so you can start making a new floor.
Generally speaking, there are two methods for removing flooring adhesive. These two methods include chemical removal and mechanical removal.
Are you short on time or just want a quick answer?
Check out our list below for a summary of our results.
- Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover
- 3M Specialty Adhesive Remover
- Klean Strip Green Odorless Liquid Floor Adhesive Remover
- Titan Multi-Purpose Scraper Set
- Firecore FS18375 Tile & Flooring Adhesive Remover Bit
Mechanical Floor Adhesive Removal
Mechanical removal, as the name implies, means that you are using your hands and physical tools in order to quite literally scrape and chip away at the flooring adhesive. If it is a very small space that you are working with, then something like a simple scraping tool may do just fine, or even a hammer and a wide-head chisel.
Moreover, there are also various accessories that you can fit onto grinding tools, special heads designed for adhesive and material removal. Finally, there are also special flooring machines, kind of like buffers for wax, fitted with special heads, which are designed for this exact purpose.
Chemical Floor Adhesive Removal
Now, with that being said, mechanical removal can take a whole lot of time and be extremely difficult, especially when there is a large space involved. Therefore, for medium size and large spaces you do want to opt for chemical floor adhesive removal.
As you are about to find out from today’s article, there are plenty of different solvents and types of floor adhesive removers out there. These are quite easy to use as you generally just have to pour and rub them over the glue and the glue will then start to dissolve, at which point you can then just pull it off or maybe use a mechanical scraper to remove any remaining adhesive.
How to Remove Floor Adhesive: Step by Step
There are a few different methods for removing floor adhesive that you can follow. So, let’s take a look at the easiest and most popular ones right now.
- A Simple Scrape Job
- A Solvent & Scrape Job
- Solvent & a Floor Adhesive Removal Machine
If you just have a very small space to work with, or if the adhesive is not very plentiful, then you can always just use something like a scraper or a putty knife to scrape away the old adhesives. That said, if there is a lot of adhesive or it is very strong adhesive, then a simple putty knife may not be enough to get the job done.
If you’re working with a large space, there is a lot of adhesive, or it is very strong adhesive. Then you will want to opt for using a solvent. A solvent will help dissolve the glue and loosen it, so you can then scrape it away. What you need to do here is to apply a generous amount of your floor adhesive, solvent of choice. Let it soak as directed by the instructions, and then use that putty knife to start pulling it off. If there is remaining adhesive, keep repeating these previous steps until all adhesive is gone.
The other option that you have at your disposal here, in the event that you’re working with a very large space and tons of strong adhesive, is to use a good solvent and a special floor adhesive removal machine. The process is exactly the same as the above process of using a solvent and a putty knife, with the difference being that of course here you are using a floor adhesive removal machine that is electronic in nature as opposed to a manual putty knife.
Safety Tips
Floor adhesive solvent and other such products can be extremely poisonous to your health. Therefore, there are a few safety tips that you need to follow in order to keep yourself safe when working with any such product.
- Always read the label and the instructions on your product very carefully.
- When working with any kind of solvent of this nature, always work in a very well-ventilated area as the fumes created by these products can be noxious and poisonous.
- The solvents in question may be so poisonous and create so many noxious fumes that you may even need to wear a respirator.
- Something else that you want to do is to wear gloves that cannot be melted by the solvent in question. Generally speaking, a good pair of rubber gloves will come in very handy here.
- Always wear clothing that is very thick and covers all of your skin, because if these solvents are strong enough to melt adhesives, they are probably strong enough to burn your skin.
- On that same note, wearing some professional eye protection is probably not a bad idea either.
The Best Floor Adhesive Remover
The top best product [hide]
Goo Gone Pro-Power Professional Strength Adhesive Remover
Although we did already cover most of this in our opening description of this product in the section about the overall number one pick, the simple reality is that whether we're talking about silicone caulking, adhesives, glue, tar, oil, paint, or anything in between, this product is able to remove them all. Moreover, it can do so on a wide variety of surfaces. With that being said, when it comes to flooring, this product is best used for ceramic, tile, and wooden subfloors.
- Awesome tile adhesive remover
- Works very fast
- Safe on most surfaces
3M Specialty Adhesive Remover
It can even loosen and remove those adhesive that require a catalyst or hardener. Moreover, this product has the ability to remove adhesives from a variety of substrates, with it working best for ceramic, tile, vinyl, and concrete flooring. With that being said, this is not a product that should be used on wood.
- Excellent tile adhesive remover
- Can remove solvent and non-solvent based adhesives
- Easy spray on function
Klean Strip Green Odorless Liquid Floor Adhesive Remover
Now, with that being said, this is definitely not the strongest adhesive remover, but it does come in a very large quantity, so you should have more than enough to get the job done. Not to mention that it is also very cost effective. Moreover, the fact that it is odorless does make it great to use because it means not even having to open your windows when you use it.
- Works on all common flooring materials
- Works on all common flooring adhesives
- Odorless
Titan Multi-Purpose Scraper Set
- Small and large scraper
- Fine for use on most surfaces
- Cost effective
- Comfortable to use
Firecore FS18375 Tile & Flooring Adhesive Remover Bit
- Large
- Durable
- Very easy to use
- Ideal for concrete and more
The Verdict
The final verdict here is that there is just nothing better to use for floor adhesive removal that Goo Gone. It works on virtually all surfaces and adhesives, it is easy to use, and very cost effective too.
