Regular wood floor maintenance is vital in order to keep your floor looking its best. So what do you need to do before embarking on any kind of maintenance on a wooden floor? Well the first thing to do is decide what type of finish the wood is treated with, is it a penetrating finish like oil hard wax oil or is a surface type finish (a lacquer or varnish).
Oak floor refinished
Most people know how to spot the latter as the product “sits” on top of the wood and has a certain depth and sheen to it, but they are less sure about the oiled or hard wax oiled floors. Firstly, oiling floors is relatively specialist often people will know that this is what they have. Secondly look to see if there is surface build or if it appears that there is nothing on the surface. Thirdly floors that have just oil will sometimes have a more worn appearance and some signs of penetration by water or other spills.
Hard waxes are the most difficult to spot to the untrained eye as they may well have some surface build and are chemically very resistant, however for these reasons it is not so bad if you do get it wrong (whilst it wouldn’t be technically correct to clean these floors like a lacquered one and then coat with an emulsion, it would be unlikely to damage them)
The next step is to assess the level of damage done to the floor. An oiled floor (or any of the derivatives) can be cleaned providing there is some oil left on the floor and while this can be done with the neutral pH cleaner and a mop, it doesn’t really make a significant difference. Much better is to use a refresher product designed for this type of finish which will both clean the floor and top up the oil in one go.
With a lacquered floor it is possible to clean the floor with a rotary machine. So what if your lacquered wooden floor looks dull and lifeless after cleaning? What about using a professional emulsion just like you would on some other surfaces? Wood floor emulsions come in basic form and also in a non slip variety and are applied pretty much in the same way as for any other surface, thinly with each coat applied at 90 degrees to its predecessor and avoiding too much build up at the edges.
Effective wood floor care and maintenance is best left to the professionals. Our providers often offer maintenance services to keep your wood floor looking its best. Find your local floor maintenance expert for more details.