Choosing and Using Wood Floor Polish
Find out how choosing the right wood floor polish can keep your hardwood floors looking great.
Hardwood floors provide a rich beauty to any home. To preserve this beauty proper care and maintenance is required. Before you run out and buy the first type of wood floor polish or wax you see it is important to find out the type of finish that is now on your floor.
If you're one of the lucky ones with a new floor, then most likely you know the type of finish. If you have no idea what type of finish your wood floor has, it's important to find out before you apply any type of wood floor polish.
Water based acrylic waxes (example, Mop and Glo) will usually give the floor a patchy, dirty look when they start to wear off. If your floor has been waxed, it will repel any other coating you choose to use. In this case, you most likely will need to strip the wax and apply a coat of high quality wax. Even stripping the wax will not remove all of it and that's why it's best to re-apply wax on a previously waxed wood floor.
Wood Floor Polish
If your floor was prefinished before it was laid and wax has never been used you can purchase a floor refinisher. After you thoroughly clean your floor, you apply the refinisher and give it a couple of hours to dry. This doesn"t need to be done more than two or three times a year in heavy traffic areas.
Before you use any wood floor polish you need to test your finish for soundness. To do this you apply a few drops of water on the most worn area of your floor. If the water drops bead up and stay on top for a few minutes your finish is sound. If this is the case water based cleaner and waxes are ok to use.
If the water soaks into the wood or turns it dark, your finish is not sound. In this case you should not use a water based product to clean or polish your floor. The important thing to understand is that different types of finishes will react differently with cleaners and polishers.
Basic finish types are tung oil, shellac, polyurethane and waxed. If you don"t know what type of finish you have, be very cautious about using any type of wood floor polish until you are able to determine the finish. Following this rule will help keep your floors from looking dull and worn.
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