When Your Hardwood Floors Need Extra Care
Your hardwood floor will eventually need extra care. It’s here that much controversy exists.
Damp Mopping
Some professionals recommend that you damp mop your hardwood floor and others cringe at the suggestion. Just remember, if your floor’s finish is in good shape and mopping is done correctly, the water won’t penetrate even the oil and wax finishes. You’re cleaning the finish, not the wood, so don’t use water if the finish is in poor shape.
Damp Mopping is the fastest and best way to deep-clean solid hardwood floors. Depending on how much use your floor gets, you may have to mop it as often as once a week. Use a neutral pH wood cleaner and water, or manufacturer-recommended products. Wet the mop and wring so it’s about half-dry. Wet the floor with the mop. Dip the mop into clean water, wring it as dry as you can and mop over the floor again.
Heavy-Duty Mopping
If floors are property sealed, the little extra water and cleaner required will not injure your hardwood floor, but use common sense. Vinegar – often prescribed to clean hardwood floors – does nothing for removing grease and soil.
Maintenance Coat
If you can’t restore your solid hardwood floor’s luster with deep cleaning or by simply buffing, you may want to apply a maintenance coat. Waxing is an easy way to restore your hardwood floor’s natural beauty. Though a controversial treatment for surface finishes, floor polish or wax can give you a good-looking floor in a matter of minutes. If you don’t want to apply a wax to your surface finish, consult a professional.
Pros: Wax can be easily cleaned, buffed and rewaxed to make it look like its original condition. Wear and tear will be on the wax, not the finish. It is easily stripped and reapplied.
Cons: Waxing may limit some refinishing and re-coating options down the road. If not properly stripped, the wax can cause adhesion problems when re-coating the surface.
Only wax a surface finish if the original finish is in poor shape and you don’t plan to refinish your floor in the near future.
We have an older dog that unbeknownst to us was having accidents in her bed which was on our hardwood floors. There is a slight discoloration where the bed was. Is there anything that can be done other than refinishing our whole house?
We just purchased a rehab property. There are solid wood floors throughout the property and the surface is in very poor shape (this is our first time owning a house with real hardwood floors). They were not maintained, it even looks like they were painted at one point. We plan on sanding and staining but we may be unable to do so throughout the whole house immediately. What’s the best way for us to clean the floors that we are unable to sand and stain right away (to make them livable)? Thanks.
Christina, I’m not sure about making the other floors livable, but to prevent further damage…make sure to dry mop the other floors so they aren’t affected by the dust. And remember, patience is a virtue, so the other floors will certainly be worth the wait!
I plan to use 1/4” cork underlayment glued to the concrete for my finished floor; I had palnned to use a floor wax for the finish. What product would you recommend to seal it and protect it? Thank you. Walker
Eileen, we to had an older pet and took him with us to my mother-n-laws house who had hardwood floors. Before we could catch him he had an accident, right a the base of her spiral stair case. She said it look the best there than anywhere else on the house. LOL But she used a variety of things to blend the finish over she would mop that area a little more often and would use a mixture of vinegar and water as well as the swifter solution for hardwood floors. She said after a few tries that it started to blend, and now today you can’t even tell.
We just purchased a 13 yr. old house with hardwood floors - there are some areas that the finish seems dull and tacky or has a film one ii - what is the best way to clean and remove this film and restore the floor so it may be waxed or ???
looking for an easy way to clean up older hardwoods. They are 67 yrs old! We took up carpet and the floors are in good share. The older padding protected well but was a fine crumble in places. The floors need a good cleaning but were probable previously waxed years ago as this was the custom. I really don’t want to do a lot of work.
My hardwood floors creek when you walk on them but only in the winter. Is there anything I can do to prevent this
How can I remove snow melting salt stains from my hardwood floor?
our hardwood floors are 6 years old and appear to have a dull tacky film on them. What do you suggest to clean them?
There are dull streaks on our hardwood floors, what is the best way to get them to blend in with the rest of the floor.
Our office has hardwood floors. We purchased a plastic chair mat to go under our desk & office chair. Where the mat is it has scuffed & marked up our floor. Is this something that can be buffed or fixed? The mat seems to attract dust, etc and collect under it as it is very static. I am not sure whether to keep the mat or chance wheeling the chair without the mat.
Hello, If you truly want to deep clean your hardwood, laminate, cork or bamboo floors, then you need to use the LamanatorPlus system. It deep cleans first with a mild stripper that won’t harm your original finish, then you coat it with their Restoration product. Finally, they also carry a high-end, low alkaline neutral maintenance cleaner that you can clean with from that point on. The maintenance cleaner works on all hard surfaces including tile, vinyl, linoleum, etc… Good luck and enjoy your beautiful and easy to maintain floors! For more info, I find them at www.lamanatorplus.com. Bob
There are separations appearing between the slats in our new hardwood floor. What can we do to stop more coming? Charles
We have new hardwood floors that have scratches (not deep) from pulling chairs out. How can we repair these scratches? Or minimize them?
We have a worn spot where the computer chair sits and is wheeled around. How can we fix it? There is also some water damage to the wooden floor?
Thank you, Jessica
Our hardwoods are two years old and have been swept and mopped with hardwood floor cleaner regularly. They, however, have many scratches and are dulled as a result of heavy use - children, dog, high traffic. They are sealed…what would be my next best step to help restore their original shine?
I have hardwood floors with a matte finish. I must have used a cleaner with wax in it and the scuff marks will not come out. How do I get the wax off? The hardwood is sealed. Thanks.
We have hardwood floors that have been damaged by the sunlight coming through the curtains in some areas. Is there a way to fix this without sanding and refinishing the entire floor.
We just moved into a house with hardwood floors in the hallways. My dog’s nails seem to be leaving little scratches. I will trim those nails (often), but what can I do about the scratches now that they are there? Also, I heard there may be a polish to put on the dog’s nails that may help reduce the scratching. Do you know anything about that? Thanks so much.
My wife has a good amount of hair spray on my 5 year old prefinished Bruce 3/4 hardwood floor.It is like a mist.Can anything be done to remove.
My solid hardwood floors have a lot of scuff marks from shoes that I cannot remove. What product can I use to remove the marks and not damage the finish or the wood?
I recently purchased a duplex built in 1930. All floors are oak hardwood and as rental property have been neglected. A complete refinish is not a possibility this year. How do I clean the floors and what can I do to add luster and shine to the floors? I need a deep cleaning first as there is some serious dirt to deal with. Then, can I wax and what type of wax should be used? The original finish appears to have worn off (or is covered by dulling attempts to clean). Should I be looking for a paste wax that needs buffing?
I have a new home..I can’t keep the footprints off the wood floors..my whole main floor is wood..I’m planing on buying a streamer..can you recommend the best one on the market?
Having pulled the carpet from 49-50-year-old oak hardwood floors, I find several places discolored (both dark and white) from dog urine and plants which were overwatered. Best ideas for removing the stains and the urine itself? Thanks so much.
I have marks from the chairs in the kitchen on our hardwood floors. We were told that they have 13 coast of shlac on them. How do I get the marks out?
my hardwood floor shows some accumulation of wax on some areas. what can you suggest to take this off and blend the rest of the floors. pls. give products to restore the shiny wood that i have thanks.
We just purchased a house with hard wood floors, built in the 1900’s. I have no idea how to care for them. Most of them are in fairly decent shape. We have a small dog and I plan to put soft paws on her to minimize her toes nails damaging the floors. What do I clean them with? Everything I read says no water - call me dumb but how do you clean with out water?
We had our oak hardwood floor refinished 20 years ago with a dark oak stain and hard wax finish. At one point we refreshed it with a colored hard wax paste and a buffer which worked really well. While it still looks pretty good, it has had many years of rough treatment. There are some lighter spots where spills have been cleaned up.
I would like to repeat the cleaning and waxing process, but wonder if I need to also use a stain on the lighter spots or if using wax with a color will be sufficient. I need to clean the floor first, but with what? I want to do this myself and do not want to have the floor sanded down. Any suggestions? What products will do the job?