Since high gloss is not the best option for high traffic areas in your home, a low gloss finish might be a better choice for those areas. If you want a slighter appearance of high gloss though, and still want a hardwood finish that will last a long time, semi-gloss is your best option.
Aluminum Oxide. We've saved the best for last. Aluminum oxide offers the absolute best protection and durability for hardwood floors, making it the best choice out there for heavily trafficked areas. It's quite low maintenance and available as a low-gloss or high-shine finish, depending on one's preference.
The more gloss you want, the more reflective your hardwood will be and vice versa. Semi-Gloss is the highest of the three and will give your floor a shiny appeal. Satin is considered a medium gloss, and the most popular, giving hardwood a glossy tone that isn't considered over the top.
When you want your hardwood floors to really stand out, a high-gloss finish may be a great option. High-gloss hardwood floors are finished with a sealant that has a high luster level to create an incredibly glossy look.
The gloss of a satin finish disperses light and more easily conceals dirt, dust, and pet hair. Gleaming satin floors will also maintain their new appearance longer than other types of finishes. A matte finish, on the other hand, works well to hide imperfections such as scuffs, dents, or scratches.
Lower gloss finishes provide the more traditional hardwood look, and their less reflective surface is more practical to care for. They're also better for people with poor or low vision, as high-gloss surfaces that reflect more light can be harder to see—especially in areas with steps or transitions between flooring.
Although these floors may easily show marks, they are very easy to clean! With daily maintenance, whether you use a feather duster or a dry mop, your floors should look spotless and shiny. Spot cleaning areas that see higher foot traffic is also a quick cleaning tip.
A high gloss finish is a type of finish that is very shiny and reflective. It is typically achieved by using a high-gloss varnish or lacquer. This type of finish is often used on wood furniture, floors, and cabinets. It can also be used on other surfaces such as metal, plastic, and glass.
We would also advise mopping your high gloss laminate floor weekly or as needed with a cotton mop that is only slightly dampened with warm water and a little laminate floor cleaner.
Semigloss: Provides a sleek, radiant sheen that's great for cabinets and trim, high-traffic areas and high-moisture areas like bathrooms or crown molding/trim. High Gloss: Creates a brilliant, shiny appearance with a glass-like finish. Great for added vibrance on surfaces like cabinets, doors, and trim.
The most durable and easy to clean of all paint sheens, high-gloss paint is hard, ultra-shiny, and light-reflecting. Think appliance-paint tough. High gloss is a good choice for areas that sticky fingers touch — cabinets, trim, and doors.
There are 4 levels of hardwood floor finish sheens: Matte, Satin, Semi-gloss, Glossy (from least shiny to most shiny). The sheen measures how shiny or glossy your floor's finish is. Different people have different preferences.
Polyurethanes
Solvent-borne polyurethanes are one of the most commonly used timber floor finishes, and offer the highest durability of all coatings.
Shellac. In my opinion, shellac is the best natural wood finish for one main reason: it's the most protective natural finish on the market. Unlike other options, shellac forms a barrier on top of the wood, stopping water, dirt, and other things (*cough*crayon*cough) from reaching the pores of the wood.
Polyurethane is the most durable option for indoor woodworking projects. It's highly effective at protecting cabinets, doors, furniture, and floors from scratches and abrasive damage. Polyurethane is also water-resistance and is intended to enhance the natural appearance of the wood with a statin or mid-gloss finish.
Just as high gloss surfaces resist water, dirt and contaminants, these tough finishes stand up to high traffic. High gloss paints also resist bumps, nicks and scrapes from moving items like furniture and even pets. You can't get the strength and durability of high gloss products with any other paint type.
Satin paint is a type of paint that has a medium-sheen finish, making it a great choice for interior woodwork that needs to be painted but is not in perfect condition. Satin paint is less reflective than gloss paint, which means it can help hide small imperfections in your woodwork, such as dents, scratches, or chips.
Matte has almost no reflection and the lowest level of sheen, and high gloss has higher levels of reflection and sheen. Semi-gloss is in the middle, with some levels of reflection. If you're looking for more detail and a dramatic effect in your hardwood floors, opt for more sheen in your floor finish.
Polyurethane is the most popular finish for floors. It's tough enough to handle constant traffic and is resistant to almost everything. There are two types of polyurethane finish: oil-based (solvent borne) and water-based (waterborne).
Reasons your hardwood floors are always dirty include cleaning product build-up, heavy foot traffic, pets, or poor air filtration. Sunlight, tracking in ice and salt, and dust can also leave floors dirty and dull. Dragging furniture, wearing shoes indoors and not cleaning them often are also causes.
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.
Darker floors are better suited for larger rooms and open floor plans. Another seemingly unrelated factor to consider is how often you clean your floors. Light hardwood flooring can hide small flaws, dirt, and debris, but anything larger will be very noticeable.
In short, yes, hardwood floors do darken over time. This process is inevitable, but thankfully there are steps to take to slow it down. You may have already noticed the different shades of your floors when moving furniture or area rugs.
Are Dark Wood Floors Still in Style? Dark wood floors will always be in style, regardless of whatever the latest flooring trend is. Although pale and light-colored hardwood, think Scandinavian style, is still very popular, designers still love and recommend dark hardwood floors as a classic option.