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Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors

 

One of the most popular ways of sealing a wood floor is with an oil or a wax. The wax maintains the natural look of the floors and it provides superior protection against water and spillages. There are many types of hardwax oils from many brands. Most hardwax oils are matt, to ensure a 100% natural look. You can also get coloured floor oils.

 

What most people do not know is the fact that oiled floors require regular refreshing and maintenance. An oiled floor requires a refreshing treatment at least once per year, wood floors with very high traffic will require more regular treatment. Oiled floors are sealed with a wax or a natural oil. The oil will provide good protection, but as you clean the floor, day by day, the wax will dry up and the wood will be exposed to water. When refreshing an oiled or waxed floor, you restore the lost oil. A coat of refresher will bond with the pre-existing finish and will provide full protection again. It is that simple. Not a very complicated operation but it has to be done regularly.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors – First sign

 

So you had your oiled floor fitted or you bought un-sealed wood floors you have just sealed with a hardwax oil. The floor looks magic and it looks fully protected. A few months later you will notice that some areas with more traffic, start looking a bit dull. It is not that you are doing something wrong, but all that traffic and all that cleaning to remove the dirt generated by the traffic, has removed a good bit of the hardwax oil and the wood is not 100% protected. The first sign is when dull patches appear.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors – Second sign

 

Your floors are still in good shape but you have noticed that the floor is a bit rough, it gets dirty much faster than before and it creates drag on the mop when you clean it. This is the stage when you have to start planning a refreshing treatment. If you leave it any longer, the water used to clean the floor will damage the top layer of the wood and it will create black “water damage” to the floor. The water damage cannot be removed anymore and the floor will require sanding.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors- Action is required

 

You have two options. You can hire a floor cleaning company or you can do it yourself. It is a relatively easy job. The idea of this short article is to explain to you in detail how to do it and what tools are required. If you don`t refresh your wood floors now, you will have to sand the floors pretty soon. An oiled floor should not need refinishing for at least 10 years if properly maintained. Some wooden floors require refreshing after only 1 month if building work took place or if the owner has used the wrong cleaning products.

 

There are numerous types of oiled floor refreshers from many different brands but not all of them are as efficient or as easy to use. The most popular brands for oiled floor refreshers are Junckers, Bona and Tover. Of course, we are not saying that other brands are not great, but we are basing our quality score on our website sales and our customer reviews. The most sold oiled floor refresher is Junckers HP Recoat. This amazing refresher is matt 100%, quick drying and easy to apply. People just love it. The second most popular type of oiled floor refresher is Bona Oiled Floor Refresher. This quality waxed floor refresher is a bit more expensive than Junckers but it is on the market for much longer and people just love it. The third most recommended oiled floor refresher is Tover Rinovoil Refresher . Affordable, fast drying and very durable. Tover products are becoming very popular.  You can use either of these products.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors- Tools needed

 

If you have decided to do it yourself, you can just start preparing for the job. You will need a proper oiled floor cleaner to start. Bona Oiled Floor Cleaner, Junckers Sylva or Tover Deteroil are the most recommended. A flat mop is also needed and a very soft brush. A bucket will have to be used as well.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors – Preparation

 

Empty the room. Dilute the oiled floor cleaner if required. Some oiled floor cleaners are ready to use while others require dilution. Wet the mop well and wet the whole floor. Wait 5 min. Have a walk around the room and check out dirty patches. Give it a soft scrub with a soft brush. Go with the fibre. Check out the whole room. Use a flat mop to remove the water. Wait 1-2 hours. If you are happy with the floor, you can prepare for refreshing. If the floor still looks dirty, increase the dilution ratio of your oiled floor cleaner (1 to 5) and go over one more time.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors – Refreshing

 

After the floor has dried 100%, you can start refreshing. Use a cloth to refresh around the skirting. Be careful not to touch other surfaces with the refresher. Apply very thin coats. Let the floor absorb whatever it needs and remove the excess. If the room is small, you can treat the whole room with a cloth. If the room is bigger, you can use a flat mop to apply the refresher. Do it as you clean the floor. The floor has to look wet but not soaked. After the floor was refreshed, do not walk on it for up to 4 hours. It will dry in a nice even coat. Job done.

 

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors – Cleaning

 

If your wooden floor was refreshed correctly it should look like new. The floor is fully protected and ready for another 6 to 12 months of use. The most important process in extending or reducing the life expectancy of your floor starts with cleaning. Common sense is required at all times. An oiled floor is sealed with a wax. A wax is an oil. If you use a heavy duty universal floor cleaner and degreaser, you will remove the oil. The degreasers job is to remove grease-oils. Use proper oiled floor cleaners and oiled floor maintainers. Junckers, Bona & Tover sell very affordable oiled floor cleaners that were designed in such a way to remove dirt from your wooden floor without damaging the finish in any way. Here is a short list of the most popular oiled floor cleaners:

 

Junckers Sylva Clean

Bona Soap

Bona Oiled Floor Cleaner

Bona Cleaner

Tover Deteroil

 

Most of these products (besides Bona Oiled Floor Cleaner) are highly concentrated and very long lasting. If you buy 1 l of Junckers Sylva Clean you will have enough detergent to wash your floors a few hundred times. Same with Bona Soap & Bona Cleaner.

 

-never use heavy duty floor cleaners on waxed floors

-never use acidic floor cleaners on oiled floors

-never use one mop for all your floors

-never soak the wood floor when cleaning it

-do not drag or pull furniture on the floor

-do not scrub the floor hard with a scourer

-do not use floor strippers on oiled floors

 

The refreshing can be applied in 1 or two coats. Most oiled wood floors will look perfect after only 1 coat of treatment. For the refresher to work well and to bond well with the pre-existing finish you will have to make sure that the floor is clean and dry

Oiled Floor Refreshing / How To Maintain Waxed Floors

 

If you think that all this work is too much you can use the services of a professional floor cleaning company like Dublin Floor Cleaning. Our fully trained floor cleaning specialists will achieve spectacular results and unique finishes. We have been deep cleaning and refreshing oiled floors for well over a decade. We have seen it all and we have done it all. Ask us for a free no obligation estimate right now

 

Floor Cleaning Dublin – Oiled Floor Refreshing