A vase tipped over at my place yesterday and now I have light spots on my oak parquet floor. I already tried wiping them away with a damp cloth, but that didn't help. Can I save them somehow or do I have to get the whole floor sanded?
Try treating the stains with vinegar or lemon juice - just let it sit for a while and then polish it with a dry cloth. With oak parquet, special parquet oils or waxes work pretty well too to cover up those light spots that show up when the wood swells. If it's really soaked deep into the grain, I'd try a professional surface treatment before you go for sanding - that's way cheaper and way less hassle. You really only need full sanding if the stains are still there after you've tried everything else.
With water stains on oak parquet, it's usually worth trying heat treatment - you can run a cloth with an iron over the damp spot (on a low setting, not for too long!), because the heat can drive the water out of the wood. If that doesn't help, I'd reach for a polish made specifically for oak wood. Only if the stains have really soaked in deep or have discolored would sanding be necessary - but that's the last resort. How long has the vase been sitting there anyway, did it just happen or was it a few days ago?
The most important thing is that you don't treat the stains with too much moisture - that usually makes everything worse with parquet! What hasn't been mentioned yet: try toothpaste (the white kind, not the gel version), just apply it thinly, rub it in gently and after an hour polish it with a soft, dry cloth. It sounds weird, but it often works surprisingly well on light water stains because the slightly abrasive effect removes the surface discoloration without damaging the floor. If that doesn't help, I'd go to a parquet specialist before you have it sanded right away - that kind of radical step is usually overkill!
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