There is nothing like a wood floor. For those who have wood floors, they understand the great features.
They’re easier to clean; a good sweeping can usually do a nice job. And if you have kids and pets, wood floors are wonderful.
Also, wood floors match nearly any colour scheme and they work well with almost every décor.
Like anything else, there comes a time when the floor gets a little dull, lacks glow and luster.
Fortunately, with a little bit of time and some elbow grease, you can get those floors shiny again!
So, what do you need to do?
It’s basically a two-step process: floor cleaning and polishing.
Preparation for cleaning
To do a really thorough job, you want to move everything off of the floor in each room where you are working.
It might be easier to start in one room, move everything out of it, clean and polish that room. Then return the furniture and go to another room. This helps with the usability of the room and time … in case you run out of it for that day.
Since wood floors can scratch pretty easily, move the furniture carefully. Don’t drag it out but rather, lift it.
Another step in the preparation phase for floor cleaning and polishing is to get the supplies before you start the project. That way, you have them and don’t need to interrupt your momentum for a supply run.
Cleaning wood floors
Before you start polishing you want to get the dust and other debris off the floor.
It’s important to get the corners and against the edges of the room.
And because this is such an important step, you may want to consider sweeping with a broom around all of the edges and corners then use a vacuum over the entire room. It might seem a bit redundant but you want to be sure the floor is as dust-free as possible.
Next, you’ll want to clean the floor.
There are very few types of wood floors where it’s safe to use water. Yet, if you’ve ever had water spill on a wood floor and saw it cause damage, you know that water and wood floorings aren’t always a good combination.
And some wood covers, like lacquer, don’t really like water either.
There are a wide variety of wood floor cleaners on the market which may be a better alternative.
If you know what type of wood flooring you have, solid wood or engineered (covered with a wood veneer), then you might want to get a cleaner that works on that floor.
Unfortunately, once a floor is down, it’s not easy to tell.
And be sure to use the floor cleaner as directed.
As a last point, if your floor has a wax coating, you don’t want to get it wet. So you don’t want to use water or cleaner on it.
Polishing the floor
This is the time consuming part; the get on your hands and knees part. But, it’s also the last part of the project!
Polishing the floor helps to protect it from scratches as well as get that shine.
Similar to the cleaning product you select, you want to both try to get the appropriate polish for your type of floor and be sure to read the directions thoroughly.
When you polish the floor, you’re going to want to do so in a sort of pattern:
• Start in one corner of the room or somewhere against a wall
• Use a cloth and put a fairly thick amount of the polish onto it
• Start rubbing the cloth and polish into the floor in a circular motion
• Go out about three feet or so
• Follow the wall all the way around the room
• Finish the middle section if it wasn’t polished already
Let the polish completely dry before walking on the floor; it might take up to 24 hours.
For a previously waxed floor, use a very thin layer of polish.