'Recoating is a great way to restore the look of your hardwood without a full sand down. It's the process of adding a new topcoat of finish to an existing wood floor finish,' explains Brett Miller, vice president, Technical Standards, Training, and Certification at the National Wood Flooring Association.
Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Solution
A combination of olive oil, hot water, and lemon juice does a great job of removing stains from floors while also living them looking rich and shiny.
Most use linseed or tung oil, or a combination of the two, as a base, but soy, sunflower, china wood, safflower, hemp, and other oils are also used. Moreover, some formulas include resins or waxes (from carnauba, candelilla, or bees) to enhance durability.
Wood Floor Cleaning Method: Castile Soap and Essential Oil
To get started, I filled a bucket with 1/4 cup castile soap, a few drops of lemon essential oil (but you can use whatever you prefer), and one gallon of warm water. Then I dipped my microfiber mop with the solution and cleaned my floor.
An easy way to fill in microscratches and shine wood floors is to polish your floors after mopping. After dusting and spray mopping, use a designated microfiber mop pad to apply polish to wood floors to add shine. Bona floor polish is easy to use and adds a protection and shine with every application.
If your floors are heavily damaged, it is best to use a trowel filler, a thinner wood filler that spreads and covers large areas (Image 1). You will apply this with a large putty knife. But if your floors are less damaged, use a wood patch filler on individual spots (Image 2). Let the filler dry completely.
You can use a commercial wood-cleaning product, like Bona or Murphy Oil Soap. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions. You can also make your own cleaner by mixing one part vinegar to 10 parts warm water. Add a few drops of liquid Castile soap.
Rub a clean cloth saturated in mineral spirits over 2-foot sections of the floor at a time, letting the mineral spirits dwell for 5 minutes on each section before wiping away with a fresh cloth dampened slightly with water. Then, dry thoroughly with a fresh, dry cloth.
Generally speaking, it is almost always less expensive to refinish your hardwood floors than to replace them. That's because replacing them involves paying for additional wood, the installation itself, as well as labor costs for tearing up and hauling away the existing hardwood.
Since vinegar is an acid, it will actually break down the finish on the surface of your floor, and over time it will reduce the shine, and leave a dull appearance. Using vinegar and water to clean floors can also lead to an excessive amount of water on the floor, which can cause swelling and discoloration.
They'll dull or scratch the finish. Don't rely on lemon juice or a vinegar-and-water solution to clean hardwood floors.
Do not wet mop wood flooring. Damp is good. Dripping wet is bad. If you can ring out the mop or pad, you're working with too much water.
Only use water and a pH neutral cleaning product that is suitable for timber floors. Avoid using household detergents or methylated spirits as these can remove the varnish that protects the surface of the floors. It's also recommended not to use polish or wax products as these can make the floor surface very slippery.
Use a broom or hardwood floor mop for cleaning wood floors daily. A microfiber dust mop pre-treated with a dusting agent will pick up dust and dirt and prevent scratches. Vacuum your hardwood floor once a week. Use your vacuum's “hard floor” setting.
Why Should I Oil My Hardwood Floors? There are plenty of benefits to oiling your hardwood floors. But two in particular — protection and natural warmth — stand out among the rest. Protection – Regularly oiling your hardwood floors adds an extra layer of protection to prevent dings, dents, and scratches.
Baby oil can work wonders gently buffing away and lifting dirt and grime. And dish soap is a gem when it comes to removing food stains and scrubbing bathtubs clean, so it comes as no surprise that it works well on flooring too.
A little coconut oil (solid or warmed to the point it melts) on a cloth can also be rubbed into hardwoods to produce a rich, burnished surface.
Avoid ammonia – Ammonia will discolor, deteriorate, and dull the finish. Using ammonia to clean a wood floor will take years off of its life. Steam cleaners are bad news – You should only use steam cleaners on carpets and other surfaces that they are designed for.
You can use a broom or a vacuum without a beater bar (the beater bar can damage hardwood surfaces) to clear away the debris. But the best choice is a microfiber dust mop. The fibers in the mop attract and trap the dirt, and you can then toss the mop head in the washer so you have a clean mop each time.