I want to polish my wood floor how do I do it without hiring someone?

Answer 1

pamela answered your question well, but she covered the two extremes, rather than the middle ground.
first question, has your floor ever been polished? if not, the wood will suck in a lot of sealant (like wax, or urethane, or even pledge).
whatever you do, first clean the floor as well as you feel like, just keep in mind that what you leave down stays down. if you decide to sand, that is the cleaning step.
once your floor is clean, you can apply wood polish (like pedge) with an old rag. you can do the same with sealant, but a mop is much faster. you can buy sealant at any hardware store. there is really no trick to applying it, though you do get better with experience. when it dries: if you put down too little, it streaks, if you put down too much, you'll see where it pooled and little air bubble spots. streaks you can cover with another coat, so the safe bet is to err on the side of too little.
if you want to rent a scrubber, you can get one from a tool rental place. if you want a buffer, they often call them the same thing. you can use the scrubber to buff the finish once it has dried (maybe, 1 hour per coat, depending on air circulation and humidity) and cured (about 1 day per coat). the scrubber is a low speed, meaning 100-400 rpms. a high-speed buffer is 1000-1500 rpms. some scrubbers/buffers have a switch that goes from low to almost high. scrubbers and buffers do take some practice though. if you have never used a low-speed, keep it away from anything when you start it (it can break stuff and hurt you if it gets away from you), and the trick is to guide it, not force it. with the high-speed you cannot leave it any one spot while running, it needs to keep moving, or it will burn off your sealant and then into your floor.
they say urethanes are permanent seals, but they are not. they last long, but when they give out they look like crap.
i would just sweep, mop, wax. no machines.

Answer 2

If you just want to polish it, you can go to your grocery store and check for the cleaning agent that works for your type of floor. If it is sealed, pledge has a polish that works well. Orange glo oil makes floors look beautiful, but is slippery and a bit greasy.

If you want to strip and refinish your floors, head to your hardware store. You can rent sanders there - just ask. Also you can get new finishing supplies. If you go to some place like Home Depot, there are usually people who will explain how to do it step by step. You will have to remove the old finish with a sander, clean the area VERY well to get rid of dust, then apply a couple of coats of finisher to re-seal it again. Good luck! It is messy work.

Answer 3

I'm way too lazy to go to all of the work mentioned above me. If I just want to rejuvenate the shine on my hardwood, I use Howard's Restore A Finish. It is inexpensive and available at most home improvement centers in the paint/stain aisle. It comes in colors tinted to various wood tones if you have scratches to fill or just clear if you want to restore the shine. It is easiest to apply with a sponge mop for large areas and does a beautiful job making the shine reappear without removing or damaging the factory finish.

Answer 4

If you just want to shine it, buy some paste wax made for floors. Then you can buff it out buy sliding around on a couple of soft towels--or go pick up a floor buffer. They have them at the Goodwills all the time for under $10.00

Answer 5

You should go get a paste wax for wood. SC Johnson makes the best. Rub the wax in with cheese cloth. This will give you a nice shine and not be slick to walk on.

Answer 6

Johnson's paste wax - good coat all over the wood floor. Let dry.
Rent a floor buffer and shine it up.

Answer 7

well i just told some body the same just go to store and buy a furniture polisher its a orange bottle pure some in the floor and then mop it and that's it it was a pleasure answering you're question.

Answer 8

Strap a couple of clothes to your knees and get one in each hand - get down on all fours ..and get a can of Mr Sheen... spray it all over the floor - there you are a human floor buffer upper..

Answer 9

You do it yourself.