Maintenance oils and lacquers for wood floors are a great bonus for anyone whose floor has a tough life, because they truly breathe new life into a tired looking floor. Designed to be applied over your floor’s existing finish, maintenance oils and lacquers are thinner than their full floor finish equivalents and don’t require any sanding or specialist skills to apply.
Prior to looking at the benefits of maintenance oils and lacquers, it’s worth going back to the cleaning and maintenance basics that will keep your floor looking great. When it comes to keeping your wooden floor in tip top condition, here are a few guidelines which will help avoid the need to carry out too many large scale maintenance jobs:
Sweep (with a soft brush) or vacuum the floor regularly to pick up dust particles, which are sitting on the surface of the wood. Dust can play havoc with wooden floors if left too long because it acts as an abrasive, effectively dulling the surface of your floor.
To clean the floor, use a damp (not wet) mop. TOP TIP: to make sure your mop isn’t too wet, use a diffuser spray to apply a mist of water. To get a great end result, choose the most appropriate specialist wood flooring cleaning product for your specific floor type. Specialist cleaners are designed to avoid smearing and streaking. If you need help to select the correct product, your floor supplier will be able to help you. Remember to work along the grain of the wood as you clean.
If your floor needs more than just a good clean and is beginning to look a bit tired, it may be time to carry out a larger scale maintenance regime. At this stage, maintenance oils and lacquers are a real lifesaver. Once you’ve cleaned your floor you’ll be able to apply your selected product. Because they are thinner than final floor finishes, these products are much easier to apply, lending themselves well to the DIY approach.
Wood floor maintenance oils and lacquers often come as part of a wood floor maintenance kit, which contains all you need to give your floor a thorough treatment. Typically offered in a couple of colour options, you need to choose the best option for your floor. When it comes to making sure you have selected the right maintenance oil or lacquer for your floor first time around, it’s well worth double checking with your wood floor supplier.
