cleaning and maintaining hardwood floors?

Question

I just recently moved into a house with hardwood floors and previously have no experience with them. It is a rental and so naturally the floors paint sealer or whatever top coat has been rubbed off so pretty much it is JUST wood. How am I suppose to clean and take care of it?

Big reminder..THERE IS NO PAINT SEALER OR SHINE TO THE FLOORS AT ALL!!! They are really old floors and so either never had that or it has been worn away.

Answer 1

if they are that old they originally had a shellac topcoat, which is good. You can use mop & shine, mop & glo, or any other wax designed for vinyl flooring. It won't hold up like polyurethane, but you can reapply every couple of months for a couple of dollars. If and when the landlord refinishes the floor, the wax will not be a problem.

Answer 2

You chould ask your landlord about refinishing them. You never want to put water or liquids on hard wood because too much moisture will make them swell. Even Humidity changes can swell some woods. After you get them sealed, find a spray wood cleaner made by a wood company or flooring specialty company like bruce, shaw, or mulligan. Use that with a swiffer sweeper but with a terry cloth mop cover, not the regular sweeper cover. They sell all that stuff at any flooring company.

Answer 3

I use mop & glow its in a yellow bottle and its especially for hardwood floors, I use one of those strand mops you can pick them up anywhere. It gives the floor a nice glossy shine, clears up messes and spots and also is very gentle. I have the same type of flooring as you, hope this helps

Answer 4

If you do not plan to sand or reseal them the best thing I have found is good old murphy's oil soap. This will clean them and leave them with a little shine. Smells clean too. Buy the concentrate and mix it with water and a damp mop. good luck!

Answer 5

I used Murphy's Oil soap. I also bought one of those buckets with a wringer to make the mop as dry as possible. That way it doesn't get really soaked. It seemed to work well for me.

Answer 6

If it's a rental, you'll need to try and convince the owner to re-seal them. Normally, you would sweep, spray and mop with the appropriate chemicals (Bona X) once a week. I would avoid wetting them with anything until you can get the owner involved with re-coating.

Answer 7

i guess just sweep them to get the dirt and stuff off. or ask your landlord to put some sealer on them.