Waxing hardwood floors

Schumi · 05-22-2009, 09:24 PM

So, the house I live in has some very old hardwood floors. They are in marginally good condition in most places but have a lot of old dirt and stains. We have carpets most places but the carpet in my master bedroom was getting a bit old and so I decided to pitch it. I spent all of this evening mopping and scrubbing with some Murphy oil soap, getting them as clean as possible. There are still some stains where I need some more aggressive scrubbing to clean it up...

The floors still shine nicely while wet (of course)... but have obviously not been waxed within the last 20 or 30 years. I was wondering if anyone has brought back to life old hardwood floors without getting drastic (i.e. no sanding and re-staining/varnishing). Are there any oils or waxes that I can used to get the shine back?

This was the first thing on my summer '09 list of DIY s***.....

Heel n Toe · 10:00 PM

Oxalic acid is good for getting up stains that are deep set in the wood (having gotten past the varnish)... it supposedly also works really well on those dark/black stains left when cats pee on carpet and it leaks through to the hardwood.

http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/oxalic_acid.html

For shine, tung oil would probably work pretty well and is easy to apply (just pour it on a lint-free cloth and wipe it on), but I have never heard of using it on floors. I have used it on a couple of pieces of furniture I refinished and it worked great.

If you are renting, you should probably ask your landlord before you put anything on the floor.

If you mix polyurethane 50/50 with mineral spirits, you could apply a couple of coats easily with a paint roller or paint brush and that would give you a good bit of shine.

Be prepared to run your A/C pretty hard in order to take the humidity out of the air and get tung oil or the poly/mineral spirits to dry. Also run a couple of box fans to circulate the air. Opening windows may or may not help, depending on the humidity level of the outside air.

Schumi · 05-22-2009, 10:09 PM

What would you say is an average amount of time tung oil would take to dry? It's pretty hot right now, with a fair amount a humidity, which is climbing every day... I have to put the furniture all on one side of the room, do it, and then switch... which is a real pain. It doesn't fit in the hallway.

I am renting, but the landlady gave us free reign on any home improvement projects under our own budgets within reason. Last summer I painted and this summer I'm doing floors and trim.

Heel n Toe · 05-22-2009, 10:21 PM

It could be 2-3 days for either finish if it's real humid and you can't crank up some A/C.

djmcmath · 05-23-2009, 04:23 AM

In case you're tempted to sand, stain, and polyurethane, let me convince you otherwise. It is an order of magnitude more painful than you estimate, even after you bump up your estimate by an order of magnitude. It's miserable.

We bought a house this spring with original hardwood floors that had been carpeted over, after having been refinished at least once in their 80 year life. We figured we had 6 weeks left on our rent before we moved in -- it shouldn't be any challenge to pull the carpet up, remove all the staples/nails, sand, stain, and polyurethane, right? (sigh) To make a long story short, sanding off old polyurethane is amazingly hard. The poly binds up the sandpaper, and you go through paper pretty quick. And the floors were a lot more rough than we had thought, so it took a lot of wood to make it smooth.

The next thing we knew, we were moving in to the breakfast nook, because it was the only place in the house that didn't have hardwood floors that we were trying to refinish.

Not to hijack the thread, but as a warning against undertaking the kind of foolishness that we embarked on.

Enjoy!

Dan

Zeke · 05-23-2009, 06:52 AM

Original finish was shellac and paste wax.

You may have gotten them too wet when cleaning, but it they are sealed, the boards hopefully didn't cup. You could use some steel wool dry and vacuum thoroughly. 2 coats of wax 24 hrs. apart should bring them back nicely.

If the floors have any wax residue, putting any finish on will be dicey. As I said, shellac was the preferred sealer in days of old. Polyurethane will look bad on anything but a freshly sanded floor.

targa911S · 05-23-2009, 08:41 AM

what kind of wax? Is there a liquid type that you can mop on? I use Murphy's Oil soap on my floors but they are dull. I would like something easy to give them some gloss.

peppy · 05-23-2009, 01:23 PM

My mom used to use bowling alley wax and an electric buffer. I think it was SC Johnson brand.

Man those floors were slick, like two eels in a bucket of snot.

dipso · 05-23-2009, 01:53 PM

This stuff works great.
http://www.trewax.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=88713XXXX&type=store

I have been using it for years. Your floor will creak less too. The polish will get in between the boards and make them tighter.

It is thin like water and just mops on.

Zeke · 05-23-2009, 03:15 PM

Just paste wax, like Johnsons.

targa911S · 05-24-2009, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dipso

This stuff works great.
http://www.trewax.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=88713XXXX&type=store

I have been using it for years. Your floor will creak less too. The polish will get in between the boards and make them tighter.

It is thin like water and just mops on.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

Johnson also makes a 1 step wax - actually there are plenty of choices for hardwood floor treatments. Home Depot should have several.

Most products you use a damp mop and apply - will help with the micro scratches and possibly help hide the deeper ones as well. I believe they are marketed under polishes - not waxes.

Rot 911 · 04:43 PM

This is bizarre in that right now I am in the middle of doing the same thing. Hardwood floors had carpets on them that took the shine off the floor. Cleaned them real good with Murphy's Oil cleaner then used this stuff in the pictures. You can see the before and after where I placed the bottle (floor is dry). It is a water based polyurethane. Isn't cheap at $18 a bottle at Lowes, but lasts a good 6 months in high traffic areas. Oh and don't believe the "one coat" claim. Our floors took 3 coats to get that shine. The wood really sucked up the stuff. After that it takes about one coat every 6 months to keep the shine.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Slight hijack - what maintenance should one do for polyurethaned wood floors? Wax? Nothing? I had our floors done about 3 yrs ago. They are pretty much covered up by carpets over foam pads. I've been working under the assumption that I can ignore the wood floors. But if there's something I should be doing . . .

dipso · 05-26-2009, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Slight hijack - what maintenance should one do for polyurethaned wood floors? Wax? Nothing? I had our floors done about 3 yrs ago. They are pretty much covered up by carpets over foam pads. I've been working under the assumption that I can ignore the wood floors. But if there's something I should be doing . . .

Wax, polish as long as it is something. You want to wear down the wax or the polish, not the polyurethane.