Okay guys, I need help. I just finished sanding about 700 sq ft of Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors and the owner wanted it stained. So once I stained the floor, I seen a few foot prints in the stain. Is it possible to fix these areas before I apply the polyurethane? Due to the winter weather, the shoes were wet but before I walked around the floors, I always stepped on dry towels and making sure they were wet anymore before proceeding into the house. Thanks for the help.

Brazilian cherry is one of the hardest woods out there, according to the Janka scale. I'm surprised you were asked to stain it--from what I remember, it's a tight, dense wood. It's harder than maple, and I know I would water-pop maple if I were going to try to stain it.

On oak, I scrape out footprints or edger marks, and then hand-sand with whatever grit screen or disc that I used for the last cut. It blends fine, even with clear water-based finishes that don't hide anything. With oil, it's a slam-dunk to blend it. Oil poly will mask any color splotchiness.


With Brazilian cherry, AND a stain, it might be tricker to get the spot scraping to blend in. I'd try scraping in a closet first, to see how well this technique is going to work. But basically, you can scrape out the footprints, and do the hand-sanding. If you water-treated it, you should do the same for the scraped areas.