Some hardwood aficionados swear by a mixture of equal parts rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, water, and a few drops of liquid dish soap. For scuff marks, baking soda on a damp sponge, plus a little elbow grease, can make them a distant memory.
Shoes, pets, and moving or sliding your furniture around are all things that can scratch up your hardwood floors, making them look extra dull. Even if you start with a well-applied finish and take care of your floors over time with regular maintenance, still your best-cared-for floor will start to show its age.
Buffing a hardwood floor with a buffer is an easy and efficient way to restore its shine without sanding. Make sure that all areas are dry before you begin buffing. Put on the appropriate protective gear and attach the buffing pad to the buffer. It's important to give each area equal attention for a uniform shine.
'Recoating is a great way to restore the look of your hardwood without a full sand down. It's the process of adding a new topcoat of finish to an existing wood floor finish,' explains Brett Miller, vice president, Technical Standards, Training, and Certification at the National Wood Flooring Association.
Since vinegar is an acid, it will actually break down the finish on the surface of your floor, and over time it will reduce the shine, and leave a dull appearance. Using vinegar and water to clean floors can also lead to an excessive amount of water on the floor, which can cause swelling and discoloration.
Olive oil naturally hydrates and polishes wood floors without leaving behind the dirt-attracting film common with store-bought products. It can clean and polish your floor at the same time or allow you to quickly buff dull areas back to a stunning sheen.
Waxy buildup: If the floors were not sealed with a polyurethane finish and rely on a carnauba paste wax to create the shine, the wax can build up and look dull. Even if you use wax appropriately only once or twice a year, eventually, it will build up and turn dull in low-traffic areas.
Vinegar is a natural disinfectant that works well as a mopping solution without leaving any chemical residue on your floors. Although some people don't like the scent, this odor is evident only as you mop and clean—it will fade away rapidly as the solution dries. The results left behind are a gorgeous, clean floor.
One of the most popular ways to make fresh homemade polish is by combining equal parts white vinegar and lemon juice in a spray bottle. Vinegar removes greasy finger prints and grime from wood while lemon juice works as a disinfectant and imparts an appealing fragrance to the wood polish.
A dry Pure Tung oil finish will provide a deep rich color to wood floors. It does not, however, provide a gloss or even semi-gloss finish. To make a semi gloss surface you would need to wax the surface or buff when the floor is dry. Any type of finishing oil can go over Pure Tung Oil at a later date.
Mix up a 50/50 solution of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Liberally apply the mixture to the wood using a cotton rag. You can brush it on if you'd like as well, but I prefer a rag. Make sure you apply a good amount to the surface, not just a light coat.
To clean your floors with this DIY mixture, combine equal parts olive oil and white vinegar, a few teaspoons of lemon juice, and five parts hot water. Dip your mop or rag into the solution, wring gently, and then wipe down your hardwood floors with this homemade wood floor cleaner that shines.
Never use Methylated spirits or any other type of petroleum distillate as it will degrade the floor coating and make your floor look very dull. Wipe up spills as soon as they occur with a dry cloth or paper towel.
Combine ½ cup of white vinegar and 1 gallon of water in a small bucket. Add a few drops of lemon or orange essential oil to the solution if you want a scented cleaner. To clean your wood floors, simply dip a sponge mop in the solution and squeeze it dry. Wipe it across your floors while rinsing the mop out frequently.
Applying a revitalizer gloss is the simplest and cheapest way to refinish hardwood floors. This approach works best on floors that only have surface-level scratches and other minor wear and tear issues. You can get the job done without the need for equipment rentals or hard-to-find materials.
The process for sanding a floor by hand would be, as a general rule, to start on a 40 grit sandpaper and work your way up to 100 or 120 grit paper to leave a fine finish. It is important to keep any sander moving so it does not dig into or burn the floor.
Sanding wood floors is a time consuming but relatively easy procedure. Sanding wood floors & refinishing yourself will definitely save money, and even an inexperienced homeowner can likely do a better job than the lowest bidding handyperson who quotes on it.
Polishing wood furniture naturally
To make your own polish, you can use vinegar and olive oil. This is a great combination to not only clean but also to add shine as the white vinegar is a natural astringent, and the olive oil adds moisture back into the wood.