Make Your Hardwood Floors Shine

You have just installed hardwood flooring in your home. Now what? How do you 

keep your hardwood floors clean and shiny? 

A: Do not use an oil based cleaner or wax cleaner on a hardwood floor, 

especially if  it is a polyurethane finished floor, it leaves an oily residue

on the surface which can not only make cleaning the floor more difficult, 

but after a period of time, when the floor is showing signs of wear and needs

to be buffed and recoated, this residue can present adhesion problems. 

When cleaning any hardwood floor, or furniture, minimal water should be used.

In other words, wipe with a dampened, not wet cloth. Adding a capful of vinegar

can help and is suggested by the National Wood Flooring Association. However,

most experts believe the vinegar is too acidic and can break down the finish

eventually. 

The absolutely simple and safe way to clean any sort of wood that is finished

with a urethane is to use polyurethane cleaners which are manufactured by both

hardwood flooring manufacturers and manufacturers of polyurethane.  These 

cleaners are usually blue in color, and mixed 4 parts water to one part cleaner

in a spray bottle. Mist some on a cloth and wipe. You can use this to clean 

any wood finished with urethane top coats. 

"We bought a beautiful old home with wonderful wood floors throughout which

were installed in '93. They looked pretty good when we moved in two years ago,

but now they look dull and mottled. Our cleaning person uses ****** for floors

and some floor dusting cloth called ********. Could they be the problem? What

can we use to get the shine back?"

A: There are any number of cleaners on the market, found in a supermarket that

say they are for hardwood floors. Beware! Your safest approach is to purchase

a cleaner created by hardwood flooring manufacturers or floor finish 

manufacturers.  Best bet is the Hardwood retailer who specializes in hardwood.

It is also likely that the cleaners being used on your floors are leaving some

sort of film on the wood surface. This can create the situation you are 

describing and can make buffing and recoating in the future impossible to 

achieve due to adhesion issues.  Sometimes even re-sanding can be very 

difficult in completely removing this film. 

To sum it up, your best bet to make your floors shine is to purchase a cleaner

created by hardwood flooring manufacturers or floor finish manufacturers.