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CLEANING WOOD FLOORS
If the finish manufacturer
is known, follow the manufacturers recommended cleaning procedures and products. However,
if the manufacturer is not known…
For surface finishes,
including urethanes:
Keep grit off the floor,
dust mop or vacuum regularly and keep doormats clean. Wipe up spills promptly with a dry
cloth. Use a slightly dampened cloth for sticky spills.
For general cleaning (if
the manufacturer is not known) use a generic hardwood floor cleaner, available at your
local retail wood flooring store. If the luster does not return to traffic areas, the
floor may require recoating. Consult your wood floor professional for this process.
Do NOT wax a urethane
finished floor. Waxing a urethane finished floor will cause the wood floor to be slippery,
requiring continuous waxing as your maintenance, and any re-surfacing will require a full
sanding process.
Acrylic impregnated floors
require a spray and buff system as recommended by the manufacturer.
For waxed floors:
Keep grit off the floor,
dust mop or vacuum regularly and keep doormats clean. Wipe up spills promptly with a dry
cloth or dry paper towel, use a slightly dampened cloth for sticky spills
and buff with a dry cloth to restore luster. When the floor looks dull, buff first to see
if luster can be restored before waxing. When areas of heavy use no longer respond to
buffing, wax only those areas and buff the entire floor to an even luster.
When the whole floor needs
attention, clean the floor with a solvent based wood floor cleaner and then wax. Your
floor should only need to be completely rewaxed once or twice a year depending on traffic.
Cleaning a waxed floor with
water will leave white water marks. For additional information on cleaning and
maintenance. visit the Caring for
Wood Floors Section of the National Wood
Flooring Organization's website.
Information
Provided by the National Wood Flooring Association |
