Wooden Floors - Some tips on their care and upkeep
I used to receive many phone calls from people regarding care of their floors, varying
from 'How do I clean it properly?' to 'What's the best polish to use?' and all sorts
of variations in between. This page is dedicated therefore to that growing band of
people that has decided that wooden flooring is the thing for you but don't necessarily
know the best method of upkeep. Using the right cleaning and polishing method can
make the difference between having a floor that is a thing of beauty that you can
be rightly proud of - and having a floor that drives you crazy with despair every
time you look at it. Although this page is about wooden flooring specifically, there
are various types, so let's look at these first.
1. Solid wood block, parquet or board floor.
The most expensive of all, whatever the wood chosen, and the most durable. Treated
with little care this type of flooring will last a century - treated with great care
it will last half a millennium! Most people, however, 'inherit' this type of flooring
when they buy a house - often covered by linoleum or carpet!
Generally they can be in a poor state if they have been covered for years, so the
first thing to do is to assess the floor - are the blocks lifting or missing? Are
they loose? It is generally worth having a company who are expert in wooden flooring
out to have a look and get an estimate for repair and refurbishment - though this
can be expensive, solid wooden flooring can be tremendously expensive to buy new
from scratch, so it's usually money well spent.
Having gotten your wooden floor back in shape, how do you care for it? Remember
that wood, being an organic material, will expand and contract with humidity and
temperature. It follows that any protective finish must have the ability to expand
and contract also - we'll examine the different choices a little further on.
The second type of wooden floor is-
2. Laminated or veneered boarding floor.
This type of flooring has shown a tremendous upsurge in popularity recently - and
no wonder. It costs far less than solid wood and comes in a huge range of finishes
and colours - pine and oak being hot favourites. A word of caution here, though.
At the extreme budget, low-cost end of this type of flooring, the veneer is incredibly
thin - and may not even be wood at all! It can even be a photo-transfer effect, so
do make sure you know what you're buying before you part with your cash!
At its best, this type of flooring competes favourably with solid wood in appearance
and durability, with one critical exception. A solid floor may be power or belt-sanded
to remove marks and ingrained dirt, before repolishing commences, during renovation.
Generally speaking, unless top-quality laminate or veneer is used, belt sanding will
ruin it - the sander will simply strip through thin veneers to expose the mounting
board beneath, so be warned!
Always check with the manufacturer to establish if the floor can be sanded or not!
It's the old story - you get what you pay for. If a routine of maintenance is implemented
when this type of flooring is first laid, it should last many years and keep its
good looks indefinitely.
A question I was often was - why polish a floor? Wouldn't it be just as good if
it were kept clean and free from dirt? Well, yes it would - for a short while. The
main idea of a polish on a floor is not to make it shine - that's a secondary bonus
- it's to protect the surface, and on solid wooden floors especially, to protect
the seal beneath the polish.
The idea is that you walk on the polish - not on the floor! I'm sure you've seen
the effect - particularly in shops or shopping malls - of a poor maintenance regime.
When new the floor is beautifully finished but soon 'traffic lanes' appear - particles
of dirt and grit on shoes on hundreds of tramping feet abrade the surface, often
to the extent that the floor cannot be brought back to its original lustrous shine
without a complete overhaul - and sometimes not even then.
Contrast this with floors that have been well maintained and polished - they look
as good as the day they were laid down. So how do you achieve this ideal state of
affairs? First thing is-
I cannot stress enough the importance of preparation to the eventual finish. Skimp
on this part and at best you won't get the results you would like - at worst you'll
have to start all over again! If you have sanded the floor, then it is time to clean
it thoroughly, removing all dust and debris - a good vacuum cleaner is ideal for
this purpose. Personally I then recommend light damp mopping to ensure there isn't
a trace of grease or dust left. And yes, this even applies to a brand new, freshly
laid floor. Trust me!
When the floor is perfectly clean and dry, its time to apply the finish. This differs
depending on the type of flooring you have down and here some choices must be made.
Generally speaking, you can choose to use a wax floor polish, a metallised emulsion
polish or one of the new co-polymer floor polishes but remember this - if yours is
an old wooden floor, chances are that it has been wax polished in the past. Unless
you are ruthless with the belt sander, taking off up to a quarter of an inch of wood,
the chances are that wax will still be lurking in the grain In this case, you are
more or less stuck with wax polish - the slightest trace will prevent the other types
from bonding properly and the surface may 'pickle' or flake. It's also important
to understand the difference between a seal and a polish. They are different things
and people do often get confused, so here are the definitions-
Seal. - A seal is a substance that, when applied to a porous surface (in this case
a wooden floor), prevents the transmission of liquids through that surface. Seals
may dry to a shiny finish when applied to the floor but they are not intended to
be burnished to a shine like a polish is - you'll get your shine but eventually you
will wear the seal through. Seals are intended to be a permanent barrier between
the surface to be treated and liquids (in this case, polish). Some polishes can also
be used as seals (just to confuse the issue) but generally a seal goes down first,
followed by polish.
Polish - Sometimes called a finish or finishing coat, a polish is a substance that
is applied to a surface to protect it and enhance its appearance. So for wooden floors,
the polish is applied on top of the seal, to give your floor its shine - and to protect
the seal! The idea is that polish can be reapplied and maintained fairly easily,
leaving the seal in place to protect the wood.
OK - what about waxed floors? Well, generally these are not sealed - repeated applications
of wax eventually build up sufficient thickness and hardness to make a seal unnecessary
- but they require vigilance in order to ensure that you don't wear through the wax
to the wooden surface!
So, after your floor is sanded (if necessary), cleaned thoroughly and perfectly dry,
it's time for-
2. Application - Waxed Floors
We'll start with waxed floors. The wax to use is one made especially for this task
and usually comes in the form of a thick liquid - it's usually available from your
local janitorial supplier or hardware shop. To ease application, remove the lid from
the container and stand the container in a bowl of hand-hot water for ten minutes,
until it has become much thinner in consistency. Pour a small amount into a shallow
bowl and stand it on the floor so it won't get knocked over.
There are many proprietary applicators on the market you can buy for the task of
transferring wax to floor, but I've found that one of the best (and cheapest!) is
a 'lambswool' sleeve on a t-bar handle, of the type used by window cleaners. Simply
mount this on an ordinary wooden broom handle and presto! you have your applicator!
Dip the sleeve in the wax and spread evenly and thinly on the floor - if you can
see opaque streaks in the wax, you've put it on too thickly! Make sure the entire
floor is covered, then go and have a sit down whilst it dries, usually about a half
an hour depending on air temperature and ventilation.
Come back. Help! Where's the wax gone? Remember the wood is porous? That's right,
it's soaked the first coat up like a sponge - so put another coat on! Simply repeat
the process, allowing to dry between coats, until a layer (thin!) remains on the
surface when it's dry. Now haul that beautiful new rotary polisher out (you did get
one, didn’t you?) and burnish it until you can see your face in it! Finally get the
fine pads (sometimes made of felt) on the machine and give it that finishing deep,
deep shine. Done! But won't it be slippery, you say? No, it shouldn't be if you've
burnished it enough. The two main causes for slip on waxed floors are-
1. Dust. This acts like tiny ballbearings which skid around under your feet - keep
the floor well vacuumed or swept to avoid this problem.
2. Polish too thick. If the polish is too thickly layered on top of the wood or previous
coats, the polishing machine may burnish the top of the film, hardening it nicely,
but leave the underneath quite soft. The effect can be like a tray on water - the
top layer simply slides along on the soft layer underneath. Result - sore behind
and dented pride - or worse! That's why I go on about applying the wax sparingly
- it's not just to save money!
So much for application - how about-
Maintenance - Waxed Floors
To maintain your waxed floor is easy if done frequently. First clean the floor by
vacuuming if dusty or damp mopping to remove soil deposits. Then, when dry, burnish
it with your polishing machine. Chances are the gloss will be restored without the
need for further wax application, as the heat generated by the brushes literally
pulls wax up from out of the wood grain!
If the finish is not what you desire, or is not restored to its former shine, then
is the time to apply a further thin coat of wax polish - let it dry - and burnish
once more to a beautiful, deep gloss. As I said before - the secret lies in the preparation.
Do that right and maintenance will be easy and quick, and you'll be the envy of your
friends! Now we've had a brief look at wax, let's examine some other options-
This kind of floor polish took off in a big way with the advent of thermoplastic
vinyl tiled floors, seen in hospitals, schools and various institutions absolutely
everywhere. This kind of flooring is tough and hard wearing, but wax doesn't key
too well on it as it is so smooth and non-porous. On wooden floors it's a great alternative
to wax but really needs to be laid over a 
seal as it will periodically need to be
completely removed and re-applied - most metallised emulsion polishes are difficult
to 'patch' on heavy traffic areas and with even the best maintenance will eventually
'traffic-off', leaving worn or even bare patches.
A seal is therefore necessary for three reasons - firstly to create an impervious
layer through which the polish cannot soak, secondly to provide a good 'key' for
the polish and, thirdly, to act as a last barrier of protection should the polish
be worn through. Seals very rarely need to be stripped from the surface and indeed
it is usually quite difficult to so do. Metallised emulsion polishes come graded
by their 'solids' content -- the higher this is, generally the better the shine but
very high solid content polished can be tricky to handle and maintain - go for one
with about 12 - 18% solids and you will find it much easier to handle. The other
option available is -
Co-polymer Emulsion Polish
A relative newcomer, this type of polish has the advantages of being easy to apply,
quick drying times (typically ten minutes in a dry, well-ventilated room!) and it
can be 'patched - in' to worn areas without the need for complete stripping off.
It gives the deep shine of metallised emulsion polishes although is perhaps not quite
so hard-wearing - this is offset by the ease which it can be 'patch-applied' to worn
areas. Both these kind of polishes are easy to apply and straightforward in their
care needs, although different products are necessary to look after each one. So,
here goes with-
3. Application - Emulsion Floor Polishes
The method of application for both types of emulsion floor polish is the same, although
metallised emulsion polishes should be applied on top of a seal when used on a wooden
floor. An ordinary, clean mop of the round-headed type (kentucky mops can be tricky
due to their size) can be used and is cheaper than an applicator. Ensure the applicator
or mop head is rinsed with clean water 
beforehand and squeezed until just damp.
Tip a small amount of the polish into a clean bucket - about one inch depth of polish
is adequate. With the floor cleaned as described above and dry, dip the mop into
the polish, taking up a small amount, then spread thinly and evenly, using broad
strokes, onto the floor. The object is much the same as wax polish - the floor should
look wet but should not show opaque streaks - if it does, you've applied the polish
too thickly! When the floor is completely coated, rinse the mop head out and wait
for the coat to dry - probably about half an hour, or ten minutes for copolymer polish.
When you go back to have a look, the polish will have dried to a bright finish (hence
its other, often-used name, 'dry-bright emulsion') The seal has not allowed the polish
to penetrate the wooden surface, so it has bonded to the seal and formed a thin,
tough film. All that remains is to repeat the process - four or five coats should
prove adequate - until a sufficient thickness of polish has been built up to allow
burnishing to take place. This is accomplished using a rotary floor polisher and
floor pad (check with the pad manufacturer as to which colour to use - tan is usual,
but this varies according to maker and can be red or even blue!).
Spray a small amount of polish onto a couple of square yards of floor surface using
a trigger spray type atomiser (as used on your roses) - be very sparing with this,
as it only serves to lessen the resistance on the polishing pad for the first few
seconds. As you burnish, you will soon see the floor assuming that 'six-foot deep
shine' you want - don't be tempted to rush this, though. The action of burnishing
hardens the polish, giving greater slip-resistance and wearing qualities and is important
if the polish is to be durable and long-lasting,
When you're satisfied with the finish, move on to the next couple of square yards
and repeat until the whole floor gleams. There! You've done it! Now go and invite
the neighbours around for coffee!
Maintenance - Emulsion Floor Polishes
Once you have attained the quality of shine your floor deserves it makes sense to
maintain its shine. This is easily achieved if carried out on a regular basis.
Mop the floor to remove soilage, or vacuum if dusty - though personally I would always
mop as well! Slightly different products should be used for metallised emulsion and
copolymer polishes - if in doubt, check with the manufacturer of the polish. When
the soilage had been removed, mop over again with the maintenance product - I know
this sounds tedious, and that you can use the maintainer to clean the floor in one
stage instead of as described above, but you'll get better results this way.
When the floor is just about dry, burnish over with your floor polisher - any really
dry bits can be 'eased' slightly with a puff or two from the atomiser which should
contain maintainer in this case, not polish. You should find that the floor resumes
its good looks in very short order!
That's a very brief, though fairly comprehensive guide to caring for your wooden
flooring. I don't pretend it's the last word and manufacturer's instructions can
and do differ from those above (and should be followed!) but in the absence of other
instructions, follow these guidelines and you will not go far wrong. Look out soon
elsewhere on this site for care of linoleum and thermoplastic vinyl floors - and
thanks for your visit!
Got any TIPS on how you look after YOUR floor? Click here and share them with us!
Karcher’s FP222 floor polisher - an ideal domestic machine.
Heavy-duty twin-speed commercial floor polisher
Two typical professional series floor polishing machines
