How To Give Satin Finished Hardwood Floors More Shine

Give wood floors like new luster with the proper polish and technique.

How to give satin finished hardwood floors more shine.

This is easiest to do if you have a solid hardwood floor that was finished on site rather than prefinished in a factory. The dull and shiny spots in your hardwood floor indicate that your installers did not apply the finish correctly. The spray and buff procedure is quite simple. It is advisable to avoid floor cleaners or restorers which contain oil or wax.

Harsh chemicals such as chlorine bleach ammonia undiluted vinegar or pine oil can damage floor finishes. If you re unsure what type of finish is on your floor scrape off a tiny bit from an inconspicuous. Move your furniture out of the way if possible and remove rugs. Once it dries use a lambswool floor buffer to bring back the mirror finish.

In lieu of a commercial cleaner mix a cup of white vinegar per gallon of warm water and use that to mop the floor being careful to dry the floor thoroughly afterwards to prevent water damage. Dull spots in polyurethane floors usually indicate that the finish was not applied carefully the applicator had a dry spot on it or the finish was thinned out with a solvent such as mineral spirits. Clear and clean your wood floors of dust and dirt. You will need to do a screen and recoat instead.

The good news is that you can usually do a screen and recoat to change the sheen level of your floor. You are just sanding the topcoat of protective poly and then redoing that topcoat with an adjusted finish. Basically you would scuff up or abrade the floor s surface with a buffer and redo it with a coat of polyurethane. To completely restore the shine you ll have to strip and reseal the floors.

First give your floor a good cleaning. Clean the floor with a cleaner designed for use on hardwood floors. You are technically not sanding the wood. It s the top level of poly that will give the wood it s shine and luster.