How to Make Wood Florr Shine Again
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DIY HARDWOOD FLOOR REPAIRS + POLISHING
When we bought this house 2 years ago, nosotros were pumped to observe that the entire downstairs already had hardwood. We didn't realize, until after we'd moved in, that they were pretty desperately beaten. This home had been used as a rental for some fourth dimension and they seemed to be a little neglected. Adding to the trouble is that nosotros've been remodeling every weekend since we moved in, which can exist a doozy on floors. They were definitely in need of some love.
So today, I'1000 showing you how I spruced upward our xx-year-old engineered hardwoods then they polish like new - without completely refinishing them. I'm also showing you how to make hardwood floors shine with a natural cleaning recipe won't damage the cease or requite y'all that "deject" streak effect.
THE HARDWOODS - Before
This is a photo from the 2017 real manor list. The house showed beautifully. The homeowners had washed everything correct - it was perfectly staged and nosotros didn't run across a lot of the grimy details.
For example, this rug in the entrance hall was concealing stuck-on surface residue from an old rug pad that had melted (???) to the floor. Information technology too concealed some surfact harm caused by moisture (probably wet feet + rug).
When we refinished the foyer last Fall (yous tin see that whole project reveal here: Updated Suburban Entryway Reveal), nosotros knew it would exist but a matter of fourth dimension before we'd accept to actually resolve these problems.
As we go closer to own our list date, we've noticed some additional problems that we actually caused ourselves! For instance, when we were applying the varnish to the stair treads, our cat ran through the finish in the middle of the night and tracked it all over the dining room.
The result? Dirty-looking true cat paw prints that couldn't be wiped away with a simple flooring cleaner.
Plus, ii years of painting and wallpaper projects (the downstairs has been painted and re-painted at least a dozen times) has left a myriad of tiny paint specs and stale-on wallpaper paste. An ill-placed planter in the dining room left some surface damage from condensation. These floors were looking crude!
So here's how to brand hardwood floors smooth like new, just in fourth dimension for the Spring existent estate market place:
Step 1: Prep the area by removing whatever surface clay and dust with a vacuum. Y'all are going to work in 1x1' sections at a time. Don't wet the flooring within 6 hours of employing this technique, as y'all want the pigment to be completely dry and difficult.
Step Two: Making your mode towards the walls, use your scraper to apply moderate pressure to the floor. Practice non button too hard. Start gently and if you need to rework sections, you can go back with more than pressure level. Utilise enough pressure to moving picture the speckles of pigment but accept care not to gouge your floors or create boosted harm.
Yous volition likely notice your scraper will be covered in dust and dirt. This is expert! Yous're removing surface gunk buildup that your mop and vacuum can't remove! Simply wipe your scraper with a dry towel between each swipe.
Footstep Three: Using your vacuum's detail or upholstery brush, utilize gentle force per unit area to remove the loosened paint specks and dirt. Repeat steps two and three until all surface grime and paint has been removed.
Stride Four: Using a small detail pigment brush, Apply Old English Scratch Comprehend to any gouges or areas where the varnish has been worn and blank hardwoods are apparent. This volition be particularly visible along the edges of the planks.
Step Five: Allow scratch cover to dry out for 24 hours before mopping or allowing surface to become wet. Apply technique in 1x1' sections until unabridged floor has been cleaned. Pay special attention to perimeter of the floor, equally this is where gunk tends to build-up fastest.
Stride 1: Prep the area to exist cleaned by wiping the floors down with a hot, damp cloth. Dry immediately with a dry cloth. Expect to see varnish announced. You lot may need to exist at a particular angle to meet the varnish, if information technology is clear or matches your existing stain. Apply a lamp to spotlight the surface area, if necessary.
Step Two: Saturate a paper towel in nail smoothen remover. Then hold the towel firmly onto the spot of varnish. Press for 10 seconds.
Step Three: Remove paper towel and immediately wipe surface with water-damped cloth. So buff to dry. Repeat steps until all varnish is removed.
DO Not ALLOW NAIL Smooth REMOVER TO SIT ON YOUR HARDWOODS LONGER THAN ten SECONDS AT A TIME. This could remove your flooring finish. You can repeat steps on the aforementioned spot, but take care to wipe with water and thoroughly dry between each awarding.
Earlier we become started, I desire to annotation the departure betwixt surface damage and penetrative harm. Surface damage refers to damage that has occurred just to the finish of the forest finish but has not penetrated the actual wood planks. The almost frequent case of this type of damage is condensation from business firm plants.
THIS METHOD IS Non RECOMMENDED - AND Will NOT WORK - FOR Forest PLANKS THAT Have RECEIVED LONG-TERM, PENETRATIVE Wet. Floors that accept been submerged in water (such equally during flooding) cannot be repaired past a homeowner. They will need to be reviewed by a professional to determine the best methods for repair.
This is also the instance for floor that has received long-term exposure to water from leaking appliances and bath fixtures. Do not attempt to repair this impairment without first consulting a professional to insure your flooring is thoroughly dry and without rot. Rotting woods cannot exist fixed and will demand to be replaced. If you move frontwards with this method on a floor that has not properly dried, you volition further damage you floors by trapping the wet inside the forest.
This tutorial is for pre-finished hardwood floors. On engineered / pre-finished hardwood floors, in that location is a very thick layer of polyurethane covering the stained woods. This is dissimilar from wood floors that have been stained in place (or even refinished). You may take success using some of this method on other types of flooring but I do not recommend moving forward until you have consulted with a professional.
Step I: Confirm your wood flooring plank has non been penetrated. Surface damage will cause the acme layers of varnish to peel back. The result will be a flakey appearance that will look white in some spots while darker in others. Yous may besides see a "rippling" upshot in the finish.
To confirm that your hardwood was not penetrated by wet, take a scraper across the surface to gently remove the peeling varnish. If your scraper begins to penetrate or scrap off chunks of the woods - no thing how small-scale - cease straight away and call in a professional person. This is indicative of forest rot and you cannot utilise this method to repair your flooring.
Once you lot've confirmed no wood is coming loose, you may continue scraping the varnish until no additional flakes appear.
Step Ii: Vacuum the loose varnish, using a detail or upholstery castor and light pressure.
Step Three: Utilise a coarse castor or paddle to remove whatever additional flakes.
Stride Iv: Gently sand with a 120 grit sandpaper. A palm sander can be used, but don't apply much pressure. Sand only the areas with affected varnish. Don't sand in a round pattern. Rather, run your sander lightly with the grain.
Step Five: Vacuum all grit and residuum, using your upholstery or scissure particular attachment.
Your surface should now exist smooth. If it's not, echo steps 1 - v until it is shine to the impact.
Step Six: Using a minor detail craft brush or a clean rag, apply your stain + poly in one to the at present unfinished flooring spots. Utilize in the management of the grain.
Permit to dry out 12 hours. Then echo procedure until the refinished spot looks as closely in color to your existing flooring.
Remember to stand up back every bit yous are working. While the floors may never look perfect up-close, y'all will find that this will camouflage the problem expanse very quickly. You may always know it's there, just anyone who isn't looking for it won't see it.
STREAK-Costless NATURAL Wood FLOOR CLEANER
It's the eternal quest for a lot of people who have hard surface floors - finding a natural cleaner that doesn't brand your floors look all foggy is really hard. In fact, I've never found one at the store that works. So I had to get crafty and develop my own. I've at present been using this recipe for almost a decade and have passed it on to countless friends and family unit members who take sang its praises as well.
It'south simple and easy but before I give you the recipe, I want to be sure to signal out ane thing about how you clean your floors that may be damaging them or even counterproductive to the goal.
Once y'all begin employing this cleaning method, y'all must commit to it fully. You can't go dorsum. Hither'due south why: the fogginess traditional cleaners get out backside is actually dried residue from the actual cleaner itself. It's not dirt. And then it takes a few mopping cycles to get all of the excess cleaners you've deposited over the years to actually fully dissolve. Once they're gone, you don't want to utilize those cleaners again or you lot're back to Square One.
I know that Mr. Make clean floor cleaner with Febreeze is genuinely the best-smelling stuff on the planet so information technology's really difficult to give it up. Trust me, I speak from feel. If you lot still crave that smell, and even so have some bottles left, experience complimentary to fill your sink with this cleaner any time you want. Just don't put it on the floor. And don't fifty-fifty get me started on those dispensable systems that hardly clean your flooring just cost an actual arm and a leg. Just walk away from all of that.
Second, if you're using a traditional mop head - the kind that looks like a cabbage patch doll's hair - STOP. These things are lies. They don't work that well and they leave a ton of water on your flooring, which is super damaging to hardwoods. Instead, you desire to use a mop with a apartment, washable, microfiber head (like this 1) and you want to make sure y'all utilize it correctly.
Here'southward my mopping method:
Add one/2 c flooring cleaning solution to your sink. And so fill with hot h2o. Not warm. HOT. Habiliment cleaning gloves to protect your easily from the estrus because you lot want this to exist Actually HOT (these are mine and I've had the aforementioned pair for over a year and still boot). Place your mop head in the sink and permit to soak for at least thirty seconds. And so, wearing gloves, remove it and wring it out thoroughly. It should be DAMP merely not WET. Attach it to your mop handle and begin cleaning your floors, going with the grain.
Mop in 5x5' sections at a time. Betwixt each section, utilize your sink's sprayer hose to rinse the mop head. Wring. Then saturate in the hot solution for an additional xxx seconds.
This recipe will get your floors shiny without harsh chemicals and leftover residuum that could damage the wood. Blend all the ingredients together thoroughly before mixing with water to insure they are properly distributed.
NATURAL HARDWOOD Floor CLEANer RECIPE
1 loving cup white vinegar
ane/2 cup rubbing booze
10 drops essential oils for odour (I actually similar this Harmony blend for cleaning my floors)
The alcohol is especially important because it allows the water to evaporate faster than water would on its ain. Lots of household cleaners contain booze for this very reason. Virtually household cleaners also contain lather that leaves a remainder. This doesn't so it won't. You lot can actually fifty-fifty use only alcohol and water to clean your windows and mirrors simply I utilize the vinegar on my floors so they don't dry before all the dirt has been removed.
My favorite parts? This cleaner is prophylactic for pets and kids plus it'due south super cheap to make! I detect this method really helps cut down on the frequency with which I have to mop my floors as well. I sweep my kitchen every day, effectually meal times, and because I utilize this small broom/dustpan combo, I'm able to use the scraper on the end of the broom to remove any food particles that might be stuck to the floor. It's a pretty genius design, if you lot ask me!
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HAPPY Spring CLEANING!
xoxo
Teri
Source: https://www.tmoorehome.com/blog/how-to-make-hardwood-floors-look-brand-new
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