Wood floor polish adds a protective finish to your flooring or other hardwood product, and helps to repel stains and spillages while preventing scuffs and scratches and reducing the potentially damaging impact of wear and tear. Polishing adds sheen, and can also help to fill tiny scratches, making them less visible to the human eye.
What’s more, you don’t need any particularly specialist equipment for the task. But, as with any job, you should be properly prepared. Here, we give an overview of some of the key ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ to think about.
DO’S
Pre-polishing prep
To get the best results, you need a floor that’s dry and clean. Then measure your floor to work out the square footage of your room. (Just multiply the length of the space by its width to get the square footage.) And, this way, you’ll learn how much polish you need.
Next remove furniture and rugs, then dust, sweep, mop or vacuum the floor. Do also use a suitable microfibre pad to apply polish. Work in sections so that you remove any residue from each section before you move on to the next one. And don’t forget to rinse and wring out your cleaning pad as you go.
The next step is to test your floor polish in a discreet area to be sure you are happy before you use it across a wider area of wood.
Pour the polish straight on to the floor so that it forms an ‘S’ shape. Dampen the pad with polish and start to work it in.
DONT’S
If you handle polish wrongly, or use an incorrect technique, you can end up with a milky, cloudy-looking floor. So don’t have water anywhere near your polish. Equally, don’t contaminate it by transferring it to a different container.
And don’t pour polish into a spray bottle or a bucket, or use it with a sponge, string or wring-out mop. Don’t wring or rinse out the pad while polishing.
Scrubbing won’t get the best results, nor will applying polish too thinly. (You also need to apply it evenly.)
Once you have opened the polish, use the bottle within a year or it will not be as effective.
Finally, don’t walk on the floor for a good hour or two post-polishing. (And then only walk over it in socks.) Don’t resume regular foot traffic for 24 hours, when you can put furniture and rugs back in place. If you want to apply a second coat, allow a further 24 hours.
How we can help
If all this sounds too complicated, or means there’s too much to think about, we understand. Royal Stone Care works for domestic and business clients, helping them to gain the most from their real wood floors, furniture, staircases or other wooden products. That way, these items stay looking their very best. Our services include wooden floor polishing in London – take a closer look. And then get in touch today for an informal chat about what we could do for you.
