For most of us, our floors take a real beating on a daily basis. Aside from having everyone’s occasionally dirty feet walking back and forth all day, you’ve got spiky heels, heavy furniture, pet nails, and rampaging children to contend with! In the wake of everything life can throw at your floors, it’s no wonder that they’re looking a little worse for wear. Luckily, a coat of polish can refresh and rejuvenate them in no time.
Small scratches, little dents, and some light stains can be partially or completely removed with a new, fresh coat of polish. It isn’t something you want to do very often because it’s such hard work, but once a year, a fresh coat might be the best type of spring refresh for your gorgeous hardwood floors.
It might seem like a real pain sometimes, but if you want to maintain the gorgeous hardwood floors in your home for decades, you’ll want to keep them looking shiny and new. Hardwood Bargains dives into the simple steps for polishing your floors to leave them looking like they’ve just been installed, no matter their age.
Know What You’re Dealing With
It’s important to know what kind of finish you have on your wood floors. Some finishes require special treatment and may not react well to typical wood polish which is why you need to check. For example, if you are planning on using an oil refresher for oiled wood floors, you will want to use a special one if you have light-colored wood.
If you aren’t sure what’s going on, try using a very small knife or sharp tool and gently scraping the edge of your floor, perhaps near a wall where any mark will be relatively inconspicuous. If you’re scraping just leads to a smudge, but nothing comes up, do not proceed. Your floors only need to be waxed and should not be polished.
However, if you scrape up something clear or light-colored, that means your floors have been finished, and it should be fine to apply a coat of polish to liven them up again.
Sweep Away!
The first thing you want to do is remove all furniture and any rugs or mats from the room. Once it’s completely cleared out, you’re going to have to get down and dirty with a broom and mop to ensure that all dust, dirt, and debris have been completely removed.
Try using a special wood cleaner or soap to gently clean away any stains or stubborn bits of dirt for a mirror shine. It might seem odd to thoroughly clean a floor before polishing it, but the polish is sticky, and any dust will become trapped in it, essentially welding to your floor forever.
If you use any water or liquid to clean your floors, make sure to towel everything off before moving on to the next step. Your floors must be completely dry before you begin polishing.
Spread It Out
Start in one corner of the room and begin spreading a thin coat of polish over the floor. You’ll need a flathead mop to push the polish over every inch of your wood floors, so have one at the ready when you begin this step.
Keep the area well-lit so that you can check for air bubbles or pockets that you might have missed as you go. Unlike mopping the floor, it’s much harder to double back over areas with wood polish, so you want to get everything on the first sweep.
When choosing the corner to start, make sure that you have a way out of the room that doesn’t involve walking over the areas you just polished. If you can back up slowly towards a door or hallway, that is ideal. The polish will take some time to dry, as we explain in the next step, and you won’t want to be trapped in the room waiting for hours.
A word of caution: most polish has a tint or color, and it can stain. Don’t wear any clothes you’re overly attached to, and be careful to apply polish around baseboards and molding, especially if they are light in color.
Stay Out
As we mentioned above, after you’ve laid down the polish, it’ll take some time to dry. Check the instructions for your brand of polish, but generally, you will want to wait at least an hour or two before allowing any light foot traffic in the room. We recommend waiting a day before moving any heavy or sliding furniture back into the room.
Your pets and kids will likely be more than happy to comply with the rule since wood polish usually smells pretty bad while it’s drying. We recommend opening a window, if possible, or otherwise ensuring ventilation, especially if you’re polishing multiple rooms at once.
Get Your Shine On
Voila! Your floors are looking shiny and new! Why not keep them looking that way for longer by using rugs and mats placed strategically throughout the room to give your kids, pets, or guests places to sit and stand where they have a lower chance of dropping anything on your beautiful floors?
Another great option is to declare the house a ‘no shoes’ environment. With the exception of soft-soled slippers, you can make your entire house, or just where the wood floors are, safe from dirt tracked in, muddy footprints, or sharp high-heels. However, be wary: wood floors can be slippery, especially after they’ve just been polished.
In Summary
And that’s it! Polishing wood floors is hard work, especially with all the cleaning involved beforehand, but trust us: you’ll love how your floors look newly polished. Thankfully, you probably only need to polish your floors a few times a year at most, so it won’t become a frequent hassle. Then you can simply sit back and enjoy those fresh, shiny floors!
Sources:
How to Polish Wood Floors and Restore Their Shine | Bob Vila
How to Polish Hardwood Floors—Do’s and Don’ts | Bona
How to Polish Wood Floors – Spruce Up Your Home's Hardwoods | Wood Floors Cleaner
